Now for most that might mean fancy-dress, themed cocktails, trick-or-treating, and a good old watch of some Tim Burton classics. But for us horror authors…
My oh my does Halloween bring us out our caves.
And here’s why
You know those other 364 days of the year (yes, 365 on leap years you pedants…) where it’s culturally insensitive to sit in a room of people and discuss murder, blood and the taboo?
Well that goes out the window on Halloween.
Horror authors who have spent their evenings and nights hacking at the keyboard, unleashing their darkest fantasies finally have an excuse to discuss them in public.
“I’m writing a horror book based on the murder of a lesbian family and their two children in which a scaly lizard eats their remains.”
“That. Sounds. AWESOME!”
Nothing else is quite as good for inspiration as being surrounded by people dressed as monsters and the undead.
Look out the window for a few hours and it really gets the brain cogs whirring, wondering how you could incorporate this into your next story. Why do you think most of the best Christmas stories are written in December, or in a log cabin in the alps?
Surround yourself with the mood you want to portray.
You have a captive audience for a day
So you’ve spent months struggling to get your friends to read your book. “I’m just not that into Horror, Clive. Jesus, give me back Harry Potter.”
Well… it’s October 31st, and Clive wants a good spook. You silently hand over your manuscript. It’s 300 pages entitled ‘Dead Things Walk’. And…
BOOM! You’ve got yourself a beta read right there….
Who’ll recommend to his friends.
To their friends…
And so on.
You’ve been struggling to write that final scene which essentially puts your characters in the centre of a blood bath. Hmm… how to describe what the world would be like covered in red life juice and viscera?
Mum calls: “Hi, fancy some Halloween punch? We’ve also splatted the walls with Dulux’s ‘Tomato Dreamrise’ so it looks like a bloody psycho dungeon.”
“I’ll be right there!”
Boom. There’s your scene.
Mostly though, it’s a chance to just feel… dark. I know I spend a large amount of time exposing my passion to people who simply reply with, ‘Horror? I really worry what’s going on in your head.’ Truth is, horror is a form of expression that simply lets me process the things I’m scared of and conquer them head on. So what if I’m terrified of death and my family dying? At least in my stories I have control. I can make the monsters defeatable, and ensure survival (in most cases).
Halloween is the one night that people seek me for dark thoughts.
And there’s something special in that.
*P.S. I don't plug things often, but keep an eye on www.hawkandcleaver.com this Halloween where we have a few sneaky surprises of our own...
