The Horror of it All: Guest Post by Phil Hickes

In South Africa, there is a particularly gruesome form of street justice called necklacing. If you are deemed to have committed a crime, or in some circumstances, you support the wrong political party, then a car tire is forced over your head, pinning your arms to your side. Then it's doused with petrol. And then it's set alight. It can take the unfortunate victims up to 20 agonizing minutes to die.

Just imagine it: the hatred on the faces of the baying mob; the smell of fuel; the flicker of a naked flame, edging ever closer; the knowledge that you are about to experience agony that defies description. I once saw a few seconds of this brutal form of execution online. Despite quickly closing down the clip, I had seen enough to haunt me for days and weeks afterwards. It was, a truly horrific experience.

The full gory cornucopia of humankind is available for all to see in the dark corners of the internet. Beheadings, hangings, stonings…oh we have such sights to show you! How times have changed. In the 18th century, delicate ladies would swoon with fright as they read The Castle of Otranto. Today, you can get the real thing, pure and unadulterated.

What led me to click the link? Why would anyone do that? You may have seen similar atrocious clips yourself. It's the same sadistic urge that all horror fans share – we want to be terrified. Of course we only want to experience it vicariously. But we want to experience it all the same. It's a powerful urge and one that the horror writer eagerly feeds. Only in this instance, I went about feeding my addiction the wrong way – and paid the price.

Horror reading and writing allows us to access fear in an enjoyable way. Books will still scare us, but it's a fear we welcome and embrace. And make no mistake, this can still mean genuine horror. Give a good writer a computer and a desk and they'll ignite the most terrible flames. Only this way – our way – no-one's getting hurt for real. And that's the best horror of all.

About Phil

Phil Hickes

Phil is a copywriter by day and  horror writer and blogger by night. You can check out some of his work at HorrorNews.net. Follow Phil on twitter: @hickesy