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How comfortable are you with ambiguity in horror?

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MontyinMaine View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MontyinMaine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 8:42am
Yikes! My story sounds very similar to yours. I actually reread the Lottery and several Poe works when I drew horror. Maybe the judges have broadened their views on horror this year!
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Zblugg View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zblugg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 9:23am
I'm a sucker for a campy horror flick, à la Cabin in the Woods, but I absolutely loved the slow burners that were The Witch and The Babadook. I strongly believe that there is room for both ends of the spectrum, and everything in between.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 11:59pm
I haven't been assigned horror yet in these competitions. 

Most horror truly terrifies me, so I have to keep it on a kid level. And even there, I could have issues. I literally can't watch The X-Files without losing my sanity. It's similar with slasher movies like Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street. My younger cousin rented all the Halloween movies one weekend at my grandparents' house and made me watch them with him. I was terrified. 

The level of horror that I can handle has no gore, and manages to be scary as per the story rather than with blood and guts. A movie I've always loved is The Watcher in the Woods. With books, I can handle more gore, so I've always loved Christopher Pike's YA books. 

I've written a few horror novels. I think the scariest one I wrote was Nervous. I aimed so hard for horror there, but it came off a bit campy. So then when I wrote Behold Her Majestic Fog, I just full-out gave into the camp and let it take over. Horror must not be my thing. Let's face it--whenever I'm around young children, I do that thing where I pretend my hand has become an alien claw that's trying to grab my face, and I'm trying to fight it off with my other hand. [Rolls eyes at self.] 
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