with or without gore

[Dfordoom]

Do you prefer you horror with or without gore? Personally I much prefer horror that relies on atmpsphere rather than on gore.

[Hayley]

I like horror to contain a bit of both - I find that Richard Laymon's Blood Sport is quite atmospheric with only a small amount of gore. The thought of having someone watching you is far more creepy then reading about someone having there guts ripped. If I can find a book with a nice balance then I'm happy.

[alicia]

I guess it just depends what i'm in the mood for.

[Regan]

Gotta say I'm not a huge fan of gore.

[Nancy]

I generally prefer atmospheric horror, but I've enjoyed some rather gory ones too.

Brian Keene's The Rising and its sequel, City of the Dead come to mind. These were fast-paced, entertaining, gory and just a lot of fun. A steady diet of books like this would eventually bore me, so I try to alternate with other types of horror or a different genre altogether.

[Shaun]

As long as it's a well written story, I don't mind. But having said that, the story does have to warrant excessive gore, or else it's simply just a shock tactic to gross the reader out, which isn't as good as being disturbed or scared by a well written story that makes you afraid to turn the page for fear of what might happen next. If it's integral to the story though, and the characters and plot warrant it, then I'm ok with it.

[Bryan]

I much prefer horror that makes you think about it rather than the stuff that simply smacks you in the face with a bunch of blood and guts. Although, I will admit to enjoying the occasional mindless bloodbath.

[Kathy]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with gore (in fact in movies, I love it!) but only if the story doesn't rely on it. A well-written story by a decent writer, can totally stand up to gore!

[[deleted user]]

Personally, I feel that atmosphere and mood can be infinitely scarier than any ammount of blood you can throw onto the page. But don't get me wrong, I like a bit of blood & guts and I do agree with Kathy, there's nothing wrong with it. Hell, I'm sure there are a lot of readers out there that won't pick up a book unless it's loaded with blood and guts. And in some cases it might be necessary to have a bit of gore in an effort to further the story (as I've had to do here and there).

I simply try to inject mood and atmosphere over blood when I write.

CJ Caron

[Jason]

I don't have an opinion either way. I have loved some horror books that showed very little to no gore and have loved books that were very gory in the entire book. It's all on the way it's executed.

[Tressa]

I used to prefer gore in my horror books, but now that I'm older I somehow just can't handle as much gore. Richard Laymon's latest books are just a gorefest and not very enjoyable or well-written, IMO.

I prefer atmosphere over gore, although Brian Keene's books blend both and I love his books. I sometimes prefer English horror over American because they set up the atmosphere much better.

[Nicole]

I like a little bit of both, but since I've gotten older (like Tressa said) I've gotten a little more sensitive and prefer supernatural horror over gore.

[Gåry!]

I much prefer atmosphere to blatant bloodletting...
for example A Tale of Two Sisters

but then something like Inside comes along and reminds me that gore done right and combined with the right atmosphere can be extremely powerful.