It always seems like horror has to be on a very up close and personal scale, typically only getting as large as a small town in scope. Now, partially, I wonder if there are exceptions to this I should be more aware of. But besides that, I wonder, what about horror on a grand scale? Is it possible for a horror story to have an epic scope? I don't just mean epic stakes, if you will, like with Cthulhu, but to take place on a large scale? The reason I ask this is because I have a plot idea for such a scale, but am unsure if it ends up fitting after all.
Lovecraft style? Size isn't so much a problem as is believability. Godzilla is overly large, but works. Though so is Dracula, who is a horror of a different sort. Defining 'epic scale' is often relative, but if you have the whole world against one major villain it doesn't matter if they are physically small or large, its the proportional threat. An abyssal nightmare who can rend time and space is one thing, but so is a obese twisted old man with a power trip and a nation of fanatics entranced by their glorious leader. I think we'd find more horror in the latter then the former. Or you could be original and make the latter subservient to the former with the promises of 'evil cookies' or some other reward. If you want matters of size and size alone, I'd have problems with anything the size of a town or city, if not for anyone engaged in combating such a horror. It also opens up to the whole tactical strike, nuclear or otherwise, by world governments. The giant crab scenario comes to mind...
Concentration camp stories of World War II is large in scope but the true horror lies in the individual tales of the survivors. So, for horror stories (or for that matter any other stories) you can't escape zooming in on a personal scale at some point no matter how large the scope and size of the events in the story are. In Godzilla, despite the whole of city under thread we follow two/three MCs only and felt the daunting task they were in. Failing to get personalized may actually make you end up with a grand summery rather than a grand horror tale.
Interesting. Well, I'm not trying to remove the personal elements, per say, but rather trying to make it a larger sized story, because it involves a threat that... well, is present everywhere, and involves society as a whole. To be fair, perhaps this isn't really a larger scale, as it would still be on a personal scale. But yes, thanks guys, you helped a lot.
