Suspense and Storytelling

Suspense is like a gold nugget: unmistakable, identifiable, and nigh impossible to find or create. Recently I have written on the mechanical manipulations that make a good horror or terror story enjoyable to read. Stories employing terror create fear by assembling a set of circumstances that promote anticipation. I feel that my previous description of […]

Am I Terrified or Horrified?

When my first zit pushed its way up out of my face, I was horrified at its putrid repulsiveness. After that, I was terrified that it would happen again. This is an important distinction when writing a story: especially a thriller that takes you to the boundaries of reason and disbelief. Or if you’re just […]

I Want to Scare Myself

My friend and I were walking and talking the other day, of things mostly inconsequential (world peace, geopolitics, and the price of tea in China) when suddenly the sun went down, abandoning us in the dark in the middle of nowhere with no way to get home except by walking through the chilly air and […]