Horror Factor - Creating a Character for a Horror Story.txt

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Horror Factor - Creating a Character for a Horror Story

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Creating a Character for a Horror Story

By Sarah Todd

Lauren gasped when she rounded the corner into the alley. The object ofher revulsion looked up. He was surprised by her sudden appearance. His

long hair fell in loose curls past his shoulders. The hair of his beardedchin dripped red with blood. He raised an outstretched hand in front ofhis face. His other hand let go of the man he had been supporting. Thebody fell to the pavement. Her attention darted to the apparent victim and

Lauren saw that a stream of blood flowed from the mans neck. It traced apath between the cracks in the dirty pavement. Lauren looked back to thewell, the vampire. She knew it sounded crazy, but thats what the guyseemed to be aiming for. Their eyes locked for a few brief moments. Hisoutstretched fingers shook with a nervous energy that she did not mistake


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for fear.Anne Rice places her vampires in everyday situations, and she gives eachcharacter very human emotions so human that you might want to look atyour neighbour a bit more carefully when you close the book! This articleis written to give you some ideas for creating realistic characters topopulate your horror story.

Good fiction is, by definition, credible - a lie that is easily believed.The most important part of fiction is the characters you create to tellyour story. A good horror story character is a fictional being every bitas alive and as much a unique individual as anyone with whom we areacquainted. Your readers should care about him or her - otherwise theywont care about what the character does or what happens to him or her -during the story. It doesnt matter whether they like, love, hate or fearhim/her.

Readers must never feel indifferent towards any character otherwise theywill lose interest in the story and not finish it. The uncle who getsdrunk and melancholy at a wedding or your high school history teacher whospent most of the lessons reminiscing about growing up in Europe beforethe second world war; the individual who personified your first encounterwith puppy-loveor the perhaps the one you dated during your collegeyears... every one of these is a real life living, breathing person. Andall are absolutely perfect for any horror story.

Your story must be inhabited by characters your readers know and

understand. So that means you their creator should know thosecharacters well. And theres no reason you shouldnt, because apart fromcreating them you are also their closest confidant. There is nothing yourcharacters can hide from you. You created them, so you know everythingabout them, including information theyve kept hidden from themselves. Incrafting a story about them youve made yourself their closest friend apsychiatrist of sorts.

Your characters must have their own unique and distinct traits, just asyou the writer/reader are a unique personality. If believable fiction isbased on reality do not fill your story with stereotypical characters.Stereotypes do not to have specific personalities and character traits their emotions, thoughts and actions are limited by the extremelyrestrictive mould created by their role. Think of some of the real life

stereotypes you know; does your truck driver friend behave like a typicalTruck Driver Dude? Do all drunks go home and beat up their spouses andkids? Are you the writer a typical example of a writer? I doubt it.

Think about what makes you different and unique from other writers andother people. You know how you feel when someone you lies to you, so itstands to reason youll know what your story character feels or think whenhe/she experiences the same thing. You understand sadness, happiness,fear, frustration, terror and rage so you can create credible charactersthat experience sadness, happiness, fear, frustration, terror and rage.You've been embarrassed, you've felt pride, you have felt everything ahuman being can feel. So your characters will come to life in yourreaders mind, animated by your knowledge of yourself, your friends and

family and other people. Put them into a credible, believable situationand let them live your story for you!

Readers dont need to know every single detail of your characters life.Theyre not interested in the name of his first pet or whether he eatspeanut butter or not. Neither are they concerned about the name of hisfavourite singer or the make and model of his first car. But YOU hiscreator need to know these facts in order to create a character to whomyour readers can relate. Jessica Amanda Salmonsons short story And ofGideonfeatures the title character as a murderous psychopath. Salmonsonsays:


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I wanted readers to fear Gideon, to realize anew that such humanaberrations do exist. I wanted my readers to pity him as well, this loserwho'd been "programmed for pathology." But more than that, I wantedreaders to see Gideon as a credible human being, one who would elicit thewide range of emotional response that only real people can evoke. Here issome of what I knew about Gideon and what I wanted readers to know: ...myfather was a drunk, had no love for my mother, another drunk, she none for

him, and neither for me. (From) my early years, I cannot recall a singlehug ... My father would beat me, not with the flat of his hand or a beltbut with his fists. In kindergarten, I could not colour within the lines,could not catch a basketball thrown to me from a distance of two feet, nor

hang by my knees from the monkey bars ... I was always in trouble: for not

coming to school on time, for not even trying on tests, for not doingthis, for not doing that, always in trouble with the teachers, thosedespairing head-shakers: Gideon, don't you want to learn? Don't you wantto amount to anything? Don't you want to grow up and be somebody?There are a few stereotypes in modern horror writing that have beenwritten about with great success, but the second time around is one timetoo many. Unless you have a unique take or situation on one or more of the

following treat these three stereotypes very carefully:

The shy, plain, quiet girl with a paranormal gift. Stephen Kings Carriea disturbing and brilliant character, has been copied many times but allare a pale imitation of the original.

The twins, identical and similar in every behavioural characteristic baroneagain this was detailed very descriptively in Bari Woods Twins,where both identical male siblings work as gynaecologists and shareidentical traits and patients. However when the shy twin (who usuallypicks up the conquests his more confident brother no longer wants) fallsin love with a patient before his bolder brother the pair face a terribledecision.

The priest suffering doubt about his faith who is forced to confront hisdoubts in the face of terrible evil. William Peter Blattys TheExorcist{ was the prototype of this character, and the book resulted in

the production of one of the most terrifying films ever made. Yet thesequels, particularly 2004s Exorcist:The Beginning, failed dismally toreach the heights of horror of the original.

Use these three stereotypes at your peril: The preacher who, despite his limited knowledge and understanding of the

Bible, speaks in tongues and holds incredible power over his followers. The helpless businesswoman who, despite controlling a business worth

billions of dollars, is incapable of dealing with a supernatural curse ormenace.

The handsome, reserved hero who saves the helpless businesswoman beforefalling in love with her and retiring from his security company/the police

force to live with her on her yacht

Now go and create that horror character for your story - and have fun! Copyright Sarah Todd. All Rights Reserved.

Sarah Todd was born in Africa, and lived there for the first 38 years ofher life. She worked in the world of public relations for over five years,

running her own PR company and dealing extensively with the world ofjournalism and the print media. She is an author on


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http://www.Writing.Com/, a site for Writers. Her blog can be visited at:http://www.writing.com/authors/zwisis/blog

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Horror Factor - Creating a Character for a Horror Story.txt