Horror: Genre and Writing Mr. C Le Pard

Contents What is Genre? What is Horror? – Setting – Plot – Character Critical elements Colour Coding Keyword Key Idea Contrast Challenge – Optional if you feel more confident

What is Genre? Genres are used to organise literature into different types Stories of the same genre will normally share some important characteristics in terms of: – Setting – Character – Plot

What is Horror? Latin: horrere meaning to tremble or shudder Fear, shock or disgust Not simply about blood and gore! Designed not only to make us jump with surprise but to unnerve us.

The Horror Setting Fear of the unknown Some common settings include: – Wood: fairy tales, man vs. nature – Castle: evil tyrants, man vs. man – Graveyard: place of burial, man vs. society – Asylum: place of madness, man vs. self

Horror Settings Transgression(moving across) of a boundary: – Natural: Day/Night – Human: Mortality/Immortality – Societal: Innocent/Criminal – Personal: Sanity/Madness

Horror Settings The familiar made unfamiliar The safe made dangerous For example, Night time Challenge Hamlet Act 3 Scene 2 “Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world.”

The Horror Plot Transgression: often a sin or error Results in a reaction or punishment Challenge Allows reader to learn through a characters mistakes

Horror Plots An effective horror plot uses tension: – To evoke fear or shock – To emphasise the transgression and/or punishment Tension in a narrative is created by expectation

Horror Plots Playing with the readers’ expectations of what may happen can either: – Build tension and then release it or Challenge – Build tension to an anti-climax to be built again

The Horror Character Horror characters often fall into two categories – Those who know too little and are naïve – Those who know too much and are overconfident Both produce effective horror characters because they are likely to make mistakes

Critical Elements Setting – On a boundary – Exploits the unknown Plot – Transgressing/punishment – Builds tension Character – Makes a mistake – Naïve or over-confident