Guest Speakers: Cecilia Dominic, Meg Elison, Carol Gyzander, Aziza Sphinx
Track Director: Marie Wood
Assistant Track Director: Michelle Leblanc
What are some examples of cross-genre Horror?
- Religion + Horror (The Exorcist)
- Coming of Age + Southern Gothic + Horror (A Boy’s Life)
- Musical + Horror (Little Shop of Horrors)
- Sci-Fi + Horror (Dead Silence)
- Comedy + Romance + YA + Horror (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- Mockumentary + Horror (The Blair Witch Project)
While often confused or mixed up, the distinction between Psychological Thriller vs. Horror is the supernatural element. Horror tends to be more effective visually, rather than in the written form. Another thing to consider: are monsters what you expect, or are they actually humans in reality?
What are some favorite stories from marginalized POV’s?
- Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
- Queen of the Damned
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
What does the mix of Horror and Comedy accomplish that no other combination achieves? It lightens the mood, and gives breaks in between high moments of tension. This makes it easier for the audience to swallow when they’re not mega-Horror fans. Therefore, it allows them to enjoy aspects of Horror in manageable doses. While humor is enjoyable on its own, it’s more difficult to execute well.
Another unlikely combo, similar to Comedy Horror is Romance + Horror. Examples include You, which displays patterns of obsession, stalking, etc. Paranormal Romance makes use of the supernatural and monsters. Are they tamed by love? Perhaps… perhaps not.
Sci-Fi and Horror have a sub-specialty known as Cosmic Horror. Alien vs. Predator highlights this fear that we don’t know everything, and there may be things out there which are smarter than us. The Cthulhu mythos thrives in this arena, showcasing entities far more powerful and greater than us, where humans don’t even register on their radar due to sheer insignificance. Stranger Things is a great introduction for kids, in addition to R. L. Stine who wrote the Goosebumps series. Dr. Who deals with a lot of Cosmic Horror, such as the water episode, where anyone who touched or drank it were taken. This emphasizes the element of the unknown, and whimsical Sci-Fi sometimes branches into Horror due to that factor.
Is there Horror in music or video games? What about Anime Horror? Yes! Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet St features a popular musical, along with A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Deadlands and Silent Hill are notable video games. As far as Anime is concerned, Tokyo Ghoul, Another, and Blood: The Last Vampire are great places to start!
What are some of your favorite techniques to generate suspense?
- Foreshadowing, but it has to be subtle! You don’t want your audience to pick up on it, until the end.
- Uncertainty – is the main character in danger? Are they imagining it? (Good for Mystery/Thriller as well.)
- The Twilight Zone – have a slow build-up of things just not being right. Little hints pop up here and there, until you realize you’re in a strange world altogether.
- The length of your sentences. Start with a longer, foreboding structure. Then, gradually shorten your sentences, faster and faster, until finishing with a short punchy word. You can also use grammar to your advantage for emphasis (though some editors will hate this.)
- Use your setting or environment. Hell, you can use another character in their own right, depending on how it impacts the main character. Have the MC go into the story with a generally positive attitude, dismissing the dark elements around them, and slowly have the shadows begin their pursuit.
- Take the previous point, and flip it on its head! The MC may be imagining everything in paranoia, and when they run to the light, it just so happens to be a train plowing through them. Sometimes the dark is the best place to hide.
- Wait to reveal your monster until the very end.
What about Literature and Horror? Literature is often considered separate from genre fiction, and people frequently make this mistake due to its age. The writers from the past were writing popular genre fiction during their time for their audiences, and therefore Literature should not be considered separate from any genre category.
What are some of your favorite crossovers with the Horror realm, and why? What elements draw you to these stories? How can fear-inducing adrenaline be concocted with other emotions, evoking a great sense of satisfaction in a story? Let us know in the comments below!
If you’d like to see more panels like this and receive the FULL experience in person, check out Multiverse Con! Get your tickets here: https://www.multiversecon.org/ Hope to see you there! 🙂
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