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WRITING A CUTE HORROR
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bulmabriefs144
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CloseMy second game Tales from the Reaper, is currently horror genre in name only.
Well, it's also technically slice-of-life, but the idea is to have something cute yet very unsettling. I don't want cheap (stuff jumps out suddenly) scares, and it's not really survival horror.
I have alot of supernatural themes, and it does center around death/afterlife, but I'm slightly blocked as to how to convey this sense that things are really creepy and people can die while remaining sort of light-hearted.
Something like this, only slightly less comic.
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/11/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-horror/
This sort of helps, for the scary part, but not the blending the theme to be more about human (and in many cases, non-human) relationships. I want something more like Stephen King, where it's not really about the monsters but the people around.
Well, it's also technically slice-of-life, but the idea is to have something cute yet very unsettling. I don't want cheap (stuff jumps out suddenly) scares, and it's not really survival horror.
I have alot of supernatural themes, and it does center around death/afterlife, but I'm slightly blocked as to how to convey this sense that things are really creepy and people can die while remaining sort of light-hearted.
Something like this, only slightly less comic.
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/11/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-horror/
This sort of helps, for the scary part, but not the blending the theme to be more about human (and in many cases, non-human) relationships. I want something more like Stephen King, where it's not really about the monsters but the people around.
ubon
66
if you really want something like Stephen King, spend the second half of whatever you're writing ruining the first half
p.s. what's the point of this topic
p.s. what's the point of this topic
author=bulmabriefs144Quiet little children are creepy. One day the family dog disappears. The next you see your daughter playing dress-up with the cute little dog ears and tail you bought her. Only you realize you didn't buy them for her. Then you find the mutilated dog corpse crammed into her dollhouse, and the dolls inside its throat. She revenge killed it for eating her dolls. The dog becomes the dolls, and the girl becomes the dog.
the idea is to have something cute yet very unsettling. I don't want cheap (stuff jumps out suddenly) scares, and it's not really survival horror.
The horror is the lack of a child's full ability to comprehend right and wrong, accidents, and taking things too far. There's so many variations and ways you could take it too far and just disgust people, yet there's no jump-out horror screaming. No idea if that's what you're looking for, but it just fits the non-survival "everyday life" thing I felt you described. I mean, children are all around us, but what is their thought process?
ubon
66
can I be candid? I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really tired of creepy little children being added to a story just for the sake of having creepy little children. it's super predictable at this point, and predictability is the death of horror.
more than that, they're a crutch. they're the easiest, simplest way to create an atmosphere of comfort and then undermine it for the sake of tension -- but as a result, that's all anyone ever uses them for. a logical, measured thought process terminating in "hmm, yes, this element makes perfect sense" is not a horror-making tool. what you have to do is make the player feel vulnerable, and that's vastly more difficult than these unfrightening cookie-cutter projects would have you believe.
horror is the hardest element to pull off effectively, bar none. by its very nature, the rules surrounding it are vague and highly specialized to the situation. your best bet is just to make sure your game holds up on its own without the scare aspect -- because odds are good the scare aspect just won't materialize.
until it's RIGHT BEHIND YOU AAH
e: that said, don't we already have a place to discuss horror? does the addition of stolen .gifs of dewey-eyed anime girls really change the strategy enough to merit its own topic? are we just patronizing bulma's creepy-ass manchild-ass habits by contributing?
more than that, they're a crutch. they're the easiest, simplest way to create an atmosphere of comfort and then undermine it for the sake of tension -- but as a result, that's all anyone ever uses them for. a logical, measured thought process terminating in "hmm, yes, this element makes perfect sense" is not a horror-making tool. what you have to do is make the player feel vulnerable, and that's vastly more difficult than these unfrightening cookie-cutter projects would have you believe.
horror is the hardest element to pull off effectively, bar none. by its very nature, the rules surrounding it are vague and highly specialized to the situation. your best bet is just to make sure your game holds up on its own without the scare aspect -- because odds are good the scare aspect just won't materialize.
until it's RIGHT BEHIND YOU AAH
e: that said, don't we already have a place to discuss horror? does the addition of stolen .gifs of dewey-eyed anime girls really change the strategy enough to merit its own topic? are we just patronizing bulma's creepy-ass manchild-ass habits by contributing?
I'm not having creepy little children. Not ever. Sorry.
The focus is off the horror aspect, and more how to make something that in the general sense is horrific without stupid stuff like zombies. You fight zombies, but they're really just monsters.
Anyway, I think I solved it, by carefully reading that 25 tips article.
1. Write a tragedy (on crack).
(For instance, you have a well ordered family. Then one day, one of the children gets jealous of always having favoritism for the oldest daughter. So he kills her, and takes her place, dressing like her. Now father likes "her" best, until other family members find out, one by one...)
2. What frightens you? Like a good romance, it kinda falls flat if you've never been in love. (Also, connect on an emotional level to the characters, making them believable and likeable)
3. Remember 1 and 2? Well, likeable characters make bad choices. REALLY bad choices.
4. Write about the unknown.
5. Sick pleasure in the perverse (think about the same feeling people get from watching car wrecks)
*6. Ask a (unsettling) question. Something like "can you really trust your friends?" And build the story around it.
Despite having woefully "dewey eyed" girls, I think I can still essentially do this. Within the context of a slice-of-life, I can tell some sort of story about attractive but flawed beings. I guess the point of the article was "how to write a horror, when the stupid cheap scares are all missing". I've got an idea now, so unless more questions, this is probably done...
Also, where is the Horror section? Game Development? Or somewhere else?
The focus is off the horror aspect, and more how to make something that in the general sense is horrific without stupid stuff like zombies. You fight zombies, but they're really just monsters.
Anyway, I think I solved it, by carefully reading that 25 tips article.
1. Write a tragedy (on crack).
(For instance, you have a well ordered family. Then one day, one of the children gets jealous of always having favoritism for the oldest daughter. So he kills her, and takes her place, dressing like her. Now father likes "her" best, until other family members find out, one by one...)
2. What frightens you? Like a good romance, it kinda falls flat if you've never been in love. (Also, connect on an emotional level to the characters, making them believable and likeable)
3. Remember 1 and 2? Well, likeable characters make bad choices. REALLY bad choices.
4. Write about the unknown.
5. Sick pleasure in the perverse (think about the same feeling people get from watching car wrecks)
*6. Ask a (unsettling) question. Something like "can you really trust your friends?" And build the story around it.
Despite having woefully "dewey eyed" girls, I think I can still essentially do this. Within the context of a slice-of-life, I can tell some sort of story about attractive but flawed beings. I guess the point of the article was "how to write a horror, when the stupid cheap scares are all missing". I've got an idea now, so unless more questions, this is probably done...
Also, where is the Horror section? Game Development? Or somewhere else?
SnowOwl
5188
I can't wait to see a bunch of sprites with various styles and for background a photo taken by meister bulma. Gonna scare the pants off me, at least.
ubon
66
I think it's pretty effective horror whenever bulma starts calling his anime girls "attractive" and so on. unsettles the hell outta me, at least.
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