Rating: 
Summary: LESSONS IN THE ART OF HORROR
Review: "Yet talent, not excluding genius, may flourish in any genre -- provided it is not stigmatized by that deadly label 'genre.'"
-- Joyce Carol Oates The Horror Writers Association is home to some of the best and brightest writers of dark fiction today. Now with the publication of this handbook, they share the secrets of their craft. Edited by Mort Castle, author of eight novels and former instructor with Writer's Digest School, Writing Horror gives the aspiring author the insider's knowledge needed to write and market his or her work in this special field. We find here a brief history of the Horror Writers Association by Stanley Wiater, and Joyce Carol Oates tells us why we need horror fiction, and how it helps us see the truth behind the lies.
Included are chapters on characterization, setting, dialogue and that all important question: where to find story ideas. Robert Weinberg provides a list of "must read" books to find out what has been done, and Karen E. Taylor tells writers how to bring traditional horror into the twenty-first century. Jack Ketchum writes an insightful chapter on visceral horror: how to create reader empathy for characters and the writer's duty to add the details that make the scenes come alive. We find chapters on finding agents and marking short stories in the professional, small press and Internet markets. Don D'Auria, editor for leisure books, and Richard Chizmar, editor of Cemetery Dance Magazine and CD Publishing, give us the editors' prospective. Then there is a great interview with Stephen King about his serial novel, The Green Mile, and a wonderfully telling story entitled "Quiet Lies the Locust Tells" by Harlan Ellison. A real 'think piece.' Writing Horror is a much needed instruction manual for the aspiring horror writer written by the authors who know the art and craft best. But it's much more than that. It's entertaining and easy to read and it gives the reader an inside look at how the authors go about constructing their own stories. The amazing thing about this book is how these writers were able to pack so much information into one volume. This is a 'must read' for beginning writers and a refresher course for working authors. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Informative
Review: A fountain of info for the fledgling horror writer. Excellant article on dialogue by David Morrell. For the most part, it's a wonderful book, but some of the articles are less than helpful and a tad repetitive. Some of the info has been lifted from the other so-called "How To" horror books. A great book nonetheless. Buy it with J.N Williamson's "How To Write Tales Of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction" and Stanley Wiater's "Dark Thoughts: On Writing" for a clear and concise understanding of horror writing.
Rating:
Summary: Some thoughts opinions and a bit of fact take it as you will
Review: I bought this book after Mort challenged me to write horror again, I had no idea when I bought it that he had edited it, I saw the title, thought I struck gold, and bought it right away.
The information inside has proved invaluable to me, if gives many different (sometimes opposing) viewpoints of many, many authors in the genre. I wholeheartedly recomend this book, not only for the up-and-coming horror writer, but also for the expert.
It is true that there are some portions of the book that seem to take up space, but it is nothing more than interviews from established writer's (like Stephen King) and the history of the HWA and horror itself. Although, most of these provide no writing advice, they let you know where horror has been, and how not to repeat it, so that you can sell your work to an editor, something that they, possibly, have never seen before.
If you still are not sure of whether or not you want this book after reading this review, or any of the others, log-off, get up and go to (...) whatever bookstore you go to, look for this book, and read through a few of the articles (not neccessarily in order, skip around if you want) and then decide for yourself. :)
Rating:
Summary: Some thoughts opinions and a bit of fact take it as you will
Review: I bought this book after Mort challenged me to write horror again, I had no idea when I bought it that he had edited it, I saw the title, thought I struck gold, and bought it right away.
The information inside has proved invaluable to me, if gives many different (sometimes opposing) viewpoints of many, many authors in the genre. I wholeheartedly recomend this book, not only for the up-and-coming horror writer, but also for the expert.
It is true that there are some portions of the book that seem to take up space, but it is nothing more than interviews from established writer's (like Stephen King) and the history of the HWA and horror itself. Although, most of these provide no writing advice, they let you know where horror has been, and how not to repeat it, so that you can sell your work to an editor, something that they, possibly, have never seen before.
If you still are not sure of whether or not you want this book after reading this review, or any of the others, log-off, get up and go to (...) whatever bookstore you go to, look for this book, and read through a few of the articles (not neccessarily in order, skip around if you want) and then decide for yourself. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Writing Horror
Review: I had a very hard time reading this book. It read like stereo instructions. It is really not a how-to book at all. It is more like the sole opinions of the people interviewed. Although, it did give some of the most insightful information on horror itself. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to write horror in order to get a semi-good grasp on horror. If you are looking for a how-to book, this is really not the one.
Rating:
Summary: Writing Horror
Review: I had a very hard time reading this book. It read like stereo instructions. It is really not a how-to book at all. It is more like the sole opinions of the people interviewed. Although, it did give some of the most insightful information on horror itself. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to write horror in order to get a semi-good grasp on horror. If you are looking for a how-to book, this is really not the one.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it but was dissapointed
Review: I have a classic love/hate relationship with this book. I loved it because it was what I was looking for in ways; full of articles with a concentration on horror. On the flip side, I agree with some of the other reviews - it's nothing that new for teaching, more inspirational. A few articles, such as the one by Gary Bradner, really stand out. Worth getting, great book, but not really a how-to book.
Rating:
Summary: Essential Basics
Review: I highly recommend this one. If you really want to make a living writing this fiction in this frowned upon genre you can avoid a lot of worn cliches and come up with something unique and... Hmm, what's that other word? Oh, yeah, SCARY!
Rating:
Summary: Essential Basics
Review: I highly recommend this one. If you really want to make a living writing this fiction in this frowned upon genre you can avoid a lot of worn cliches and come up with something unique and... Hmm, what's that other word? Oh, yeah, SCARY!
Rating:
Summary: I loved it but was dissapointed
Review: I loved it because it was what I was looking for at first; A guide to writing horror. However, I agree with several others. The guides on horror written before this were better. Only a few articles stand out, such as Gary Bradner.
| 
