Writing Scary Part 2

Horror versus Suspense

(This is the second installment of our series on bringing suspense into your writing. The series starts here.)

I write suspense, not horror, and the difference between the two genres is as much qualitative as it is a question of degree. The goals are different, and the styles are very different.

Horror is an immersive genre. The author bathes the reader in sights, sounds, smells, and sensations to achieve a subconscious, often disorienting, effect. It's akin to being on a raft in whitewater rapids, being carried along by the torrents. There's a certain flow to horror, and the reader willingly lets themselves go with the currents, relinquishing control and allowing the author to take them into dark sidestreams, into terrifying whirlpools, and over the edge of the falls.

Suspense uses many of the same techniques as horror, but the goal is different. The suspense writer seeks to create tension in the story (and may even threaten to take the reader into the rapids) but seeks to use fear as a means of propelling the story towards goals other than fear itself. Both horror and suspense exploit the adrenaline rush, but horror is more about the adrenaline rush than is suspense. As such, horror may at times take on more of a nonlinear, impressionistic feel, while suspense is more likely to remain anchored to the ground in terms of drivers, plot, and character motivations.

From a stylistic perspective, this means that horror is more likely to make heavier use of atmospherics, visuals, sensations, and apparent chaos to achieve its goals. Suspense is more likely to place more reliance on impending plot collisions and emerging character conflicts.

I write suspense rather than horror because it fits my own psychological make-up and writing style. I prefer a somewhat spare, minimalistic approach to description, and horror generally requires a more fulsome descriptive treatment. In my writing, I tend to be as interested in the intellectual life of the characters as I am in their emotional states. So I like to keep my characters tense and moving forward, but I also want them to keep thinking and responding. I don't like to overwhelm them to the degree that horror sometimes can.

So as we explore some of the ways in which novelists can induce fear, it's worth remembering that my bias as a suspense writer will lead me to emphasize techniques that may differ somewhat from the tools favored by the horror writer. I'll do my best to give solid treatment to all approaches, but I feel that I owe you fair disclosure as I discuss them.

Up next: Help the readers scare themselves.