Tips on writing better description in horror scenes.

Do they participate in interlibrary loan?

 

I can ask, but I seriously doubted it. I'd do better buying a used copy from Amazon.

 

Description should flow with pacing. In horror, focus on the macabre: The zombie, reaching, staggered forward, one knee bent backwards. An eyeball dangled out of socket, rolling back and forth upon the cheek. Teeth chattered, biting a black, greasy tongue. Blood bubbled out of its nose and mouth. Its clothes writhed as maggots squirmed, some spilling and squashing with a snap on the floor beneath bare, leprous feet.

 

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Description should flow with pacing. In horror, focus on the macabre: The zombie, reaching, staggered forward, one knee bent backwards. An eyeball dangled out of socket, rolling back and forth upon the cheek. Teeth chattered, biting a black, greasy tongue. Blood bubbled out of its nose and mouth. Its clothes writhed as maggots squirmed, some spilling and squashing with a snap on the floor beneath bare, leprous feet. Oh, that's excellent!

 

Oh that's so sad.

You would enjoy Sarah Vowell's reminiscing about the library in the town she grew up in. Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, she and her sister were ecstatic when they moved to Bozeman, Montana when she was eleven and the town had a decent library.

Our library will get interlibrary loans if they don't have something you want. You could try that.

 

Art of Subtext is fairly cheap. Amazon has used copies for around 2$+postage. Kindle will run you about 8.50$. It's a good resource, but read it twice.


One of the intricacies about description is that gap between description to effect and desctiption to distraction. Sometimes describing the parts is more impactful than the whole. If a zombie is approaching, would you find the stagger gait and tattered clothes frightening, or would you be preoccupied with the chunk of flesh hanging from its mouth? Would it be more effective to spend time on who the zombie used to be or the entrails still attached causing the zombie to stumble? Before you worry about the little things, think on what will get you the most mileage for your efforts. Your job as a writer is to push the reader's buttons. Think on what may disturb the reader, multiply by two, and have fun with it.

 

If a zombie is approaching, would you find the stagger gait and tattered clothes frightening, or would you be preoccupied with the chunk of flesh hanging from its mouth? NobodySpecial, you just gave me an idea and you're right. I would find the chunk of flesh hanging out from its mouth way more disturbing. I probably will purchase the book from Amazon. Thank you for the help!

 

I want to expand on this idea as it is an important one for writers to understand. When a writer picks details they need to remember the subtext behind these details. What do I mean?

If you have two characters look at the same thing, they both are going to notice something different than the other. One person might put more emphasis on the smell and sound a zombie makes, vs. A person who might be all visual about it. Even in 3rd person, it is important to think in terms of "What details would my MC notice that X object?"

I suggest when you think of your MC, think of 3 things they notice the most about the world (Example: Musical Sounds, Perfumes, and jewelry people wear) and describe the story in those terms. Obviously, you will need to pick the details that best fit your Character and the type of story you are trying to write.

 

Also certain words can catch imagery, words like "slippery" or "slithering" "quivering", etc.

Because I write a lot of creature horror, or body horror, and psychological horror. When I have to describe my feral creatures, I use words to embody the imagination to fill in the blanks in the readers head. They do the work with the words used

"The feral creature was a contorted visage of once was man. Snarling, a cornered animal in the light as beads of drool dripped onto the soil of its canines. Tortured and deformed, slick and slippery gore shined in the beam of lantern light."