Learning Resources: Love2Read: Horror

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Horror stories

People will always have different opinions about horror novels or movies, they will either prefer the classics like Frankenstein and Dracula or prefer the modern day horror franchises like Scream or the latest Stephan King book 'Holly'. Either way, horror books hold some key elements that are used to make these books so frightening and spooky, the following elements include:

The Setting - A stereotypical setting for a horror story is a dilapidated, abandoned house on a dark, rainy night. The reason this setting has become the standard is because picturing that atmosphere is frightening in and of itself, without considering the genre for fiction. Any of us would be uncomfortable stuck in a condemned structure on a stormy evening.
The Protagonist - There are two elements in a horror story which makes a protagonist, THE protagonist - likeability and poor decision-making. The beginning of the story is about making the protagonist someone readers will root for. Establishing relatable characteristics, but not making the hero perfect. Readers need to be able to picture themselves as this person (or this person’s friend), get behind him or her, and wish a good outcome for the character. Once the writer has created a bond between the reader and the character, they introduce the peril. When the character is in danger, he or she has to make terrible decisions.
The Villain - This is where the story really defines itself. Is the subgenre an old-fashioned ghost story? A mindless slasher piece? A psychological thriller? The villain determines the way the story will play out.
The Plot - Most people believe that all horror novels have the same exact plot, but the key to make a great plot is to make the reader believe they are not safe. This will cause us to feel frightened. Building suspense is
The Pace - If the entire story is attack after attack after attack, the reader grows desensitized to the fear. But what happens when the protagonist gets away and has (a false sense of) security? The pace slows, the tension builds, and the next fright has bigger impact. Taking the reader and the protagonist by surprise has a bigger impact.

Spooky Reads

Dracula by Bram Stoker; Roger Luckhurst (Editor)
ISBN: 9780199564095
Publication Date: 2011-02-11
'it was butcher work...the horrid screeching as the stake drove home; the plunging of writhing form, and lips of bloody foam'Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic shocker introduced Count Dracula to the world, an ancient creature bent on bringing his contagion to London, the very heart of the British Empire. Only a handful of men and women stand between Dracula and his long-cherished goal, but they are vulnerable and weak against the cunning and supernatural powers of the Count and his legions. As the horrifying story unfolds in the diaries and letters of young Jonathan Harker, Lucy, Mina, and Dr Seward, Dracula will be victorious unless his nemesis Professor Van Helsing can persuade them that monsters still lurk in the era of electric light.The most famous of all vampire stories, Dracula is a mirror of its age, its underlying themes of race, religion, science, superstition, and sexuality never far from the surface. A compelling read, rattling along at break-neck speed, it is a modern classic. This new edition includes Stoker's companion piece, 'Dracula's Guest'.
IT by Stephen King
ISBN: 9781473666948
Publication Date: 1986-09-15
Welcome to Derry, Maine ...
It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real ...
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
Carrie by Stephen King
ISBN: 9781444720693
Publication Date: 1974-01-01
The story of misfit high-school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.
The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton
ISBN: 9781789544244
Publication Date: 2020-10-01
Dartmoor, with its mists, bleak winter weather and overwhelming sense of isolation, is the perfect place to build a prison. It's not a place many would choose to live - yet the Governor of Dartmoor Prison did just that. When Herbert Russell retired, he bought All Hallow's Hall - a rambling Tudor mansion on the edge of the moor, and lived there all his life.
Now he's dead, and his estranged family are set to inherit his estate. But when the dead man's family come to stay, the atmosphere of the moors seems to drift into every room. Floorboards creak, secret passageways echo, and wind whistles in the house's famous priest hole. And then, on the morning the family decide to leave All Hallow's Hall once and for all, their young son Timmy goes missing.