ON Fear: Guest post by horror author Steve Emmett

 

Fear.

Fear is everywhere. It has existed ever since living creatures had a form of consciousness. Fear of death is what preserves all species. Fear is what religions were built on; how law and order was established. If you want to see raw fear, look at the eyes of a rabbit caught in your headlights.

Personally, I do not fear death. Not yet. I fear what may lead to death; the pain, the suffering. Pain and suffering; these can be both physical and emotional. I fear the dentist. It's irrational, I know. He's not going to kill me (or is he?) but there is a pretty good chance that he's going to inflict pain on me. I don't suppose it's intentional, but it is real. But I go voluntarily.

Imagine you've lived all your life in a town or city and you've just fulfilled your dream of moving to an isolated house in the country. There's just you, alone, and the nearest other house is a couple of miles away. Your house is surrounded by a garden, which you are going to make as you want it, and beyond the fence are some fields and then woods. At night, since there are no street lights, you can see the stars in all their glory and the only sounds are of the forest creatures. It's the peace you have always longed for. One night, soon after you've settled in, you go to bed and switch off the light. In this total darkness, total silence, you can sleep like you've never slept before. The next thing you know, you are woken by banging. The kind of banging that is desperate. You glance at the clock. 3AM. And there's the banging again. Someone, or something, is banging on your door. I'll bet that you are scared witless.

This is a fear I can relate to. It's fear of the unknown. Will you open the door to find some poor soul in need, or will they be in need of your soul? That's the big factor in creating fear. As you approach the door there is tension. The fear builds. You anticipate what could happen when you open the door. It's the same for readers of stories. It's what makes them keep turning the pages. They have to know if the banging is harmless or if it will turn the fear into horror.

I like to build the sense of fear slowly, like stoking a boiler. The point where I reveal the horror, if horror there be, is crucial. It's one of the hardest elements in creating a horror story. What we have to remember is that fear in its extreme form is terror. And terror is the feeling of dread that precedes horror. If you open your door to find someone in need of help, your state of terror will subside. If you open your door to the Grim Reaper you will be horrified. Literally.

This playing around with the final moment is, for me, an essential element of good horror. Break the tension too soon and the moment is gone. Too late and, well, it might be too late.

*I am proud to announce that Steve Emmett will be a guest on 7 Deadly Questions where he will discuss is dark novel DIAVOLINO. Stay tuned to my blog for further details.

About Steve

Steve Emmett is an author, book reviewer and actor born in Harrogate, the genteel Yorkshire spa town where Agatha Christie hid away from the world thirty-two years earlier. He studied at the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and built a few houses before going off the rails. He spent time in New York then returned to Yorkshire where, amongst other things, he served as an elected councillor. He then moved back to London and worked in the real estate sector. For over twenty years he ran his own agency specializing in Italian country homes and, for almost ten years, lived by Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, the setting for Diavolino. Born at the end of the 1950s, Steve grew up on Dennis Wheatley novels and Hammer Horror films, and on many occasions started to put pen to paper. Completely dissatisfied and unfulfilled with his career, Steve decided in 2009 that he wanted to write and began Diavolino. He has also recently launched an acting career, and is a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books and Suspense Magazine. He currently lives with his partner and some rather large spiders in the Yorkshire Wolds, close to the ancient City of York.

Steve's horror/thriller DIAVOLINO has hit the shelves to rave reviews. You can learn more about Steve and his dark writing on his blog http://chukkienator.blogspot.com/. To purchase a copy of DIAVOLINO CLICK HERE