Horror Aficionados discussion

The Strange Case of Horror Authors Who Don't Read is an interesting look into recent authors' inspiration. The books written by authors influenced only by movies are easy to pick out, and, for me, are often the ones that I put down half way and never finish. It's sad that there are horror authors out there who think they can write a book because they can identify what makes a good horror movie.

What? How can an author of any type not read especially in the genre he wants to specialize in?

Lindsey wrote: "The Strange Case of Horror Authors Who Don't Read is an interesting look into recent authors' inspiration. The books written by authors influenced only by movies are easy to pick out, and, for me, ..."

Fascinating. I noticed a similar dilemma with the "goths" who read Rice but never Stoker or Beckford, and forget Radcliffe. Thanks for posting the link.

Excellent article, thank you for posting it

Lindsey wrote: "It's sad that there are horror authors out there who think they can write a book because they can identify what makes a good horror movie. "

It's sad and bizarre that *any* author thinks they can write without reading (and reading a lot!), and I don't understand it. In particular, the conventions of horror movies are wholly different than books--movies can rely on the soundtrack, sudden frights, and visual splatter to scare the audience. Authors don't get to rely on the first two at all, and the third is weak.

I guess this book is pretty scary, after all...

The benefits of being old - we grew up with only three channels on TV and had to read to find most of our scares.

I'm not sure how a person could write a book without reading them. The more you read, the better you understand the writing language, and the mechanics of good writing. I think that writers should take the time to read, as much as they can. It makes your world that much wider.

Yes, any professional author will tell you that if you want to be a good writer, you must read, read, read! In any genre!

Yes, what Danielle said. I think every book has the potential to plant a great story in a motivated writers imagination. That sounds corny as all get out, but I believe it to be true.

Stephen King is a voracious reader and I've read about his huge library. I think that's why his imagination hasn't run dry yet (although some no doubt wish it would).

I think this is another perfect example of our increasingly lazy society. If you don't read, and read A LOT, you can't possibly be a good writer.

Amanda wrote: "I think this is another perfect example of our increasingly lazy society. If you don't read, and read A LOT, you can't possibly be a good writer."

Definitely. I really hate when people insult others for not reading because no, it's not for everyone, not everyone enjoys it. But if you want to be an author, come on. There's no excuse.

Excellent article and coincidentally timed with similar thoughts I'd been having myself recently, comparing my slow trawl through the American Fantastic Tales:Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940's Until Now, the more recent but still solid The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 16 and some of the submissions I get (even some that make it past the slushers) for Pseudopod. Again, many thanks for posting.

Doug wrote: "The benefits of being old - we grew up with only three channels on TV and had to read to find most of our scares."

In retrospect, I am glad the lack of videos, Internet, etc. sent me in the direction of the bookshelf. And the wonderful old B&W Saturday afternoon "scary movies," the old Chiller series (that 6-fingered hand!), Twilight Zone . . . sigh

You'd think that it's you're love for reading that would bring out the want to give it a try yourself. I have known people like this. Just strange.

Excellent article! Thanks for posting it, Lindsey!

For those who break into writing books/stories so they can be a filmmaker, that seems rather a strange route to me. I think that writing for movies is so vastly different, you leave a huge amount of the effectiveness of the novel/story-writing medium untapped. Screenplays leave most of the power in the hands of the director, actor, editor, special effects person, sound, etc. With books, the writer is the one completely responsible for evoking imagery and an emotional response in the reader. I love to write, but I never could muster enthusiasm up for writing screenplays. There was so much left undone. As much as I love movies, I love reading so much more!

Good points, Danielle.

Seems like people of a certain everybody-gets-a-trophy generation really think they can accomplish great things without much effort. They're all going to be great writers, even though they skimmed Cliff's Notes to get through school, or are going to be great filmmakers because they watched a lot of movies. Good luck to them.

I like the point made in the article about authors who write as if the book were a movie. Sometimes it is so obvious that it becomes asinine. Almost as if they don't care how it READS they just want someone to pick up the movie rights.

Tressa, I don't know why some people think that it will be easy to make a living as a writer, but they do. Writing is hard work!

I know. What little writing I have to do at work is belaboring. Heck, sometimes writing a review here is too much work.

Seems like what a lot of them are aiming for, Michael.

Hey, it worked for Richard Laymon.

Aw, Laymon's much better than that. Were any of his books turned into movies?

Writing is not only hard work, it also pays very little. Only the lucky ones make a lot of money doing it.

I think that people see all the superstar authors that have sprung up in the last few years and get the wrong idea.

They're all gonna be the next Rowling. Who deserves every penny she made out of those books. Talk about blood, sweat, and tears poured into every one of them.

The worst part must be reading the reviews.

I just cannot imagine being a writer and thinking it would be ok for it to read like a movie. I do not want to read my movies! Plus where is the art of writing.....it seems selfish to want to write a book so it will be turned into a movie.

It's interesting because I recently read an old interview with Jack Ketchum where he said that he wrote Off Season with the intention of it being like a movie. I think we're at a point in history now where we have all these differing forms of narrative and seeing how they interact with each other and inspire each other. I don't think being inspired by a narrative element from cinema or a video game is necessarily a problem, it's if you have the skill as a prose writer to process what inspired you so that it works on the page without reading like a crib from a script.

Maybe writing a book with the intention of it being like a movie is different than writing it like a screenplay in the hopes that it will be turned into a movie. Or maybe they are the same and Ketchum is just so much more talented than other writers.

I think you made a good point, GR. I know that movies do inspire my imagination as a writer, but books should 'fill in blanks' that a screenplay won't do. The thing that makes books a preferable medium over movies for me (and this from a movie-lover) is that books allow one's imagination to paint the picture. Movies show you what you should think (according to the filmmaker, esp. the directors/actors/special effects people). A novel-writer has a lot of opportunities that a screenwriter doesn't have, in my opinion. They can use words to paint everything except for each reader's own interpretation. There are movies that ten people can watch and get ten different things, but books are more likely to cause a subjective experience than movies, in my opinion. So while I think the two media can overlap, they are very different in my mind.

Tressa wrote: "Maybe writing a book with the intention of it being like a movie is different than writing it like a screenplay in the hopes that it will be turned into a movie. Or maybe they are the same and Ketc..."

Bingo!

I agree totally with Tressa and Lady Danielle! Thinking of Ketchum as an example, he is definitely not a movie script novelist. He is quite the opposite, imo.

Ketchum's had some really decent film adaptations of his work, Offspring's the only one I haven't seen, but Lost, Red & Girl Next Door were all pretty good, I thought. I wonder if he's envisioned those books as movies when he was writing them.

Maybe so, Bandit. I'm sure there's a way for a talented author to go about writing a book that would catch the eye of some fat cat movie mogul without making it read like a screenplay.

or they could always pull a Clive Barker and direct it themselves...

G.R. wrote: "I don't think being inspired by a narrative element from cinema or a video game is necessarily a problem, it's if you have the skill as a prose writer to process what inspired you so that it works on the page without reading like a crib from a script."

But in order to develop that skill, you must read.

Scott, that's taken as a given, I think. My point was that I don't think one should necessarily dismiss taking inspiration from narrative in other media and forms of narrative because some do it badly, which is one way this discussion could go.

The article talked about the tendency to "write cinematically" which is a quality of writing issue. Inspiration can come from anywhere--and if it does, that's great. Stephen King got an idea while standing in line at the supermarket. I think the problem the article was trying to address was how those ideas are put on paper. And that's why reading other quality work is essential.

The ideal that people would try to write without spending years of reading first is ridiculous. They would have such a problem with some of the structural parts, and leave out so much of the depth that can only be brought through in reading. Books do such a great job of connecting with the reader by describing smells, sensations, creating emotional triggers; even third person narratives can have good internalization. I would imagine those unfamiliar with 'reading' would have a very hard time even describing the room that the character walks into with any depth.
A good example that comes to mind is the Exorcist, great movie, shockingly scary. The book, dread filled terror.
Isn't there a quote from Steven King along the lines of - If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write.
Oh, there's a little thing called grammar also. Maybe they just pay extra for a really good editor?
In defence of the watching movies to make good movies ideal; many experience directors have stated that the making of featurettes on dvds would have taught them more than they ever learned in film school.

Just had to add my lurker comment real quick... great thread! As an author who reads, reads, reads all the horror books he can get his hands on, it is crazy to think about this 'movie' mentality when it comes to writing...

Armand Rosamilia

Chris wrote: "Isn't there a quote from Steven King along the lines of - If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write."

Close. "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."

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Isn't there a quote from Steven King along the lines of - If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write.

Whether King said this or not, I agree.

It also seems to me whether you want to write a good old fashion horror book, or a screenplay for a movie or play, it would still be of the utmost important to read as much as you can!

And the most important thing: write well.

Read Stephen King's book On Writing. In it, he stresses that you must read alot in order to be a writer. I think he says he reads 60 - 70 books each year! On Writing is one of my favorite King books.

Will Granger

G.R. wrote: "It's interesting because I recently read an old interview with Jack Ketchum where he said that he wrote Off Season with the intention of it being like a movie."

That interview wouldn't happen to be online, would it?

Jason wrote:"I agree totally with Tressa and Lady Danielle! Thinking of Ketchum as an example, he is definitely not a movie script novelist. He is quite the opposite, imo."

Jack Ketchum was exactly who I had in mind while reading this article. I know I'm in the minority, but I had so much trouble getting through Girl Next Door. It didn't trigger practically any emotional response in me whatsoever. It was incredibly flat, unimaginative and melodramatic. The overall feel of his writing was "Hey, look, these kids are being terrible to this one chick. Isn't it sad?" Well, yeah. Of course it is. You can't be more descriptive than that?

Edited for formatting.

Writers who don't read, or haven't read enough, are usually the same ones coming up with the oldest, dustiest, most beat-to-death cliches around. And they don't do it well, either.

Unfortunately, I believe the article based on the horror books I've read. After I'm done reading it, I feel like I just read a sensationalist slasher without much content.