I completely agree with you; when you perfectly describe the monster, it isn't scary anymore. I find the scariest game to be Silent Hill 2, the psychological horror was on another level
You hit the nail on the head! The scariest no sleep I ever read involved scenes where the character goes to bed at nighttime and slowly comes to the realisation something else is in the room.....I've never been so scared reading a horror story! Also watched smile 2 last night and without spoilers it's so scary never knowing what's real and what's not!
Thanks! Yeah the scariest things are usually also unsettling and slowly creep up on you. I haven't read any nosleep stories but I know it's a popular sub.
Also - exactly like you said - I always thought why is it that when the monster is revealed in the movie it's not scary/good anymore? And you explained it perfectly!
I said to another commentor that I think some of the blame is modern CGI, it's so easy now to create shocking visuals that directors overly rely on them.
Been working on my own book Blue (a name that I have changed for the 10th time now) about 3 men going to a new cave system found at the bottom of the ocean and what they see down there. I also believe that describing horror makes it less horrifying and I use that in my book.
me personally i rarely get scared while enjoying media , i understand the intent behind the choices but i usually don't feel it , except when it is the unexpected like you pointed out, uncertainty hit me durimg the last of us 2 over a single moment that legit made me jump and was paranoid for the rest of the game. that was a great choice to make me fear that trust i had before , especially i checked and did a sweep and so i know that i was safe but after 😂😂😂😂.
Yep I'm the same as you I rarely actually feel scared, and often the stories become so predictable I can guess what's about to happen. And those times it does happen it does stay with you, that lingering feeling of being unsettled. I haven't played The Last of Us 2 unfortunately!
This video reminds me of the success of the blair witch project, i feel that lots of horror films have beome generic and boring , for me one of the all time horror films is the Exorcist
Modern CGI has played a big part in this I think. Now it's so much easier to create shocking visuals, films over rely on them instead of creating genuine suspense or dread.
One thing you missed. For example, in Jaws, part of the suspense (a term that should have been used) was that the viewer was aware of the shark, but the swimmer was not. Now that was blatant telling of the viewer. Tolkien is more subtle. For example, he mentions several times before Merry and Pippin enter Fangorn Forest that trees can be living. There is also Old Willow in Bombadil's lands. There is likewise subtler foreshadowing, for example, using mood specific words in a description without being blunt about it. For example, if bugs are going to attack, bug terms like 'swarm', 'clicking' 'buzzing', etc. can be used in the text so that the text suggests what is coming, but there is not a conscious warning. This can be enhanced by common sense. For example, if the party is going to enter a swamp, where one might expect lots of bugs, such bug terms without explicitly stating bugs, would allow the reader to realise the party has not packed repellent or netting. In Gerald Durrell's Rosy Is my Relative, there is another way of handling that, namely the late uncle warns the heir not to give Rosy strong drink and then the party description includes a nice description of the beverages to be served. I think there were some stronger warnings as well, although I cannot put my finger on them at the moment. In any case, the reader at some point realises what is going to happen. The first time I read the book, it just made the ballroom scene that much more realistic, but in later readings, you can see it a mile away, although the protagonist cannot. Even more subtle was the careful polishing of the ballroom floor. I think the only warning was that the workers had no idea of what the consequences might be. If you haven't read the book, it is worth a read, although it is comedy, not horror.
In my own story, I am using presumably known facts to do that job for me. Like the protagonist orders butter chicken at an Indian restaurant, thinking it is Mexican from the staff's appearance. Obviously, she is in for a big surprise when the dish looks like deconstructed Spanish rice instead of roast chicken.
Yep this is a really good point, I wish I'd spoken about it more. That buildup and suspense is very important, when the reader knows something is about to happen. I think the Red Wedding chapter in ASOIAF for example does this really well, where you get lots of little odd moments of foreshadowing that build up a feeling of foreboding and dread.
What's the premise / genre of your story? I was kind of thinking if people are willing it might be nice to do some kind of live reads or reviews of their stories on the channel, but no pressure of course.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Be happy to contribute; I could use the feedback. This is the first chapter in a story about the journey in settling abroad, caused by a need to escape unpleasantness at home. The protagonist is doing everything to keep from learning the local language, but events in this chapter force her to try once again. Part of the problem for her is that she speaks American English, and English is much broader than that. And this is her first time really abroad. I don't mind sharing because my writing style is not AI and few will be able to copy it. Thus, they would have to rewrite it to fit their style and my story will not be theirs. I will warn you that she has strong opinions that she needs to confront in this journey. But a perfect person has no need to improve. The story is from her perspective, and the egg is on her face, figuratively speaking. I would love to know how much of the rest of the story you can predict from this first chapter. There's a lot packed into it.
02:21 Fear lives in uncertainty
06:10 The fear of being powerless
09:56 Corruption of safety
Thanks for the timestamps
I completely agree with you; when you perfectly describe the monster, it isn't scary anymore. I find the scariest game to be Silent Hill 2, the psychological horror was on another level
I've heard this game is really good but I never played it.
Really good tips for writing an actually scary horror film that will make you scared in the middle of the night and not just when watching it 👍
Thanks!
You hit the nail on the head! The scariest no sleep I ever read involved scenes where the character goes to bed at nighttime and slowly comes to the realisation something else is in the room.....I've never been so scared reading a horror story! Also watched smile 2 last night and without spoilers it's so scary never knowing what's real and what's not!
Thanks! Yeah the scariest things are usually also unsettling and slowly creep up on you. I haven't read any nosleep stories but I know it's a popular sub.
Also - exactly like you said - I always thought why is it that when the monster is revealed in the movie it's not scary/good anymore? And you explained it perfectly!
I said to another commentor that I think some of the blame is modern CGI, it's so easy now to create shocking visuals that directors overly rely on them.
Love the specificity in writing. My scariest film was Alien.
Ah Alien is brilliant I love the whole franchise.
Been working on my own book Blue (a name that I have changed for the 10th time now) about 3 men going to a new cave system found at the bottom of the ocean and what they see down there. I also believe that describing horror makes it less horrifying and I use that in my book.
Best of luck with your book! I hope you found this and maybe some of my other videos on writing tips useful.
Love your videos mate!
Thanks much appreciated!
me personally i rarely get scared while enjoying media , i understand the intent behind the choices but i usually don't feel it , except when it is the unexpected like you pointed out, uncertainty hit me durimg the last of us 2 over a single moment that legit made me jump and was paranoid for the rest of the game. that was a great choice to make me fear that trust i had before , especially i checked and did a sweep and so i know that i was safe but after 😂😂😂😂.
Yep I'm the same as you I rarely actually feel scared, and often the stories become so predictable I can guess what's about to happen. And those times it does happen it does stay with you, that lingering feeling of being unsettled. I haven't played The Last of Us 2 unfortunately!
This video reminds me of the success of the blair witch project, i feel that lots of horror films have beome generic and boring , for me one of the all time horror films is the Exorcist
Modern CGI has played a big part in this I think. Now it's so much easier to create shocking visuals, films over rely on them instead of creating genuine suspense or dread.
One thing you missed. For example, in Jaws, part of the suspense (a term that should have been used) was that the viewer was aware of the shark, but the swimmer was not. Now that was blatant telling of the viewer. Tolkien is more subtle. For example, he mentions several times before Merry and Pippin enter Fangorn Forest that trees can be living. There is also Old Willow in Bombadil's lands. There is likewise subtler foreshadowing, for example, using mood specific words in a description without being blunt about it. For example, if bugs are going to attack, bug terms like 'swarm', 'clicking' 'buzzing', etc. can be used in the text so that the text suggests what is coming, but there is not a conscious warning. This can be enhanced by common sense. For example, if the party is going to enter a swamp, where one might expect lots of bugs, such bug terms without explicitly stating bugs, would allow the reader to realise the party has not packed repellent or netting. In Gerald Durrell's Rosy Is my Relative, there is another way of handling that, namely the late uncle warns the heir not to give Rosy strong drink and then the party description includes a nice description of the beverages to be served. I think there were some stronger warnings as well, although I cannot put my finger on them at the moment. In any case, the reader at some point realises what is going to happen. The first time I read the book, it just made the ballroom scene that much more realistic, but in later readings, you can see it a mile away, although the protagonist cannot. Even more subtle was the careful polishing of the ballroom floor. I think the only warning was that the workers had no idea of what the consequences might be. If you haven't read the book, it is worth a read, although it is comedy, not horror.
In my own story, I am using presumably known facts to do that job for me. Like the protagonist orders butter chicken at an Indian restaurant, thinking it is Mexican from the staff's appearance. Obviously, she is in for a big surprise when the dish looks like deconstructed Spanish rice instead of roast chicken.
Yep this is a really good point, I wish I'd spoken about it more. That buildup and suspense is very important, when the reader knows something is about to happen. I think the Red Wedding chapter in ASOIAF for example does this really well, where you get lots of little odd moments of foreshadowing that build up a feeling of foreboding and dread.
What's the premise / genre of your story? I was kind of thinking if people are willing it might be nice to do some kind of live reads or reviews of their stories on the channel, but no pressure of course.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Be happy to contribute; I could use the feedback. This is the first chapter in a story about the journey in settling abroad, caused by a need to escape unpleasantness at home. The protagonist is doing everything to keep from learning the local language, but events in this chapter force her to try once again. Part of the problem for her is that she speaks American English, and English is much broader than that. And this is her first time really abroad.
I don't mind sharing because my writing style is not AI and few will be able to copy it. Thus, they would have to rewrite it to fit their style and my story will not be theirs.
I will warn you that she has strong opinions that she needs to confront in this journey. But a perfect person has no need to improve. The story is from her perspective, and the egg is on her face, figuratively speaking.
I would love to know how much of the rest of the story you can predict from this first chapter. There's a lot packed into it.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt I sent you an email.