Why do I write horror?

There are many questions my friends and family ask me when I try to steer the question toward my writing; these can change from the basic “Why are you doing this?” to “Can’t you write something happy?” or “You wrote what about a Dolphin?!”

These are a dime a dozen, but one that often is asked of me is, “Why horror?”

I want to share my reasons for writing horror; I hope this will provide some insight into my motivations and reasoning for writing about puppet torture scenes and the destruction of worlds as opposed to cute romances or more conventional fantasy or science fiction.

Like any budding artist, I write what interests me and inspires me. The darkness around us inspires me. My earlier efforts have always had that particular element; adversity and fear of the unknown intrigue me more than writing about the mundane and ordinary. If I wanted that, I would go outside or write non-fiction. I don’t want to go outside; non-fiction is dull. So I want to explore the fantastical, be it in a completely different world (such as my fantasy/Sci-fi worlds) or worlds set in our reality but have a sort of magical flavor to them.

The latter is Eight Nightmares, where the normal world is influenced or twisted by the influence of something more than human, the interaction between us and the abnormal. The strange and fascinating aspects of the unknown and how humanity tries to comprehend it. That is the first reason I write horror, to try and imagine how we meer mortals try to interact with the unknown.

The other reason is quite simple; there is something therapeutic in the creation of something horrific, something that encapsulates whatever personal thing is scaring or worrying you. I have made this clear in my Afterthoughts blog posts. But horror is, for me, therapeutic to confronting the scary things that are happening in the world today. What is happening in my country, and the emotions this creates? I can get some catharsis from creating haunted shopping malls and some dolphins doing freaky shit. It provides an emotional release. Plus, I get to entertain people, which I like to do as it makes me happy (and also a way to make money)

That is not to say my emotional well-being is the only helpful element. Horror is a great catharsis for the reader as well. That isn’t to say most readers will go into reading The Colour Out of Space or The Shining expecting to help themselves work through their anxieties; they are there for the thrill of reading about something messed up or dark. But I think that if I can provide a means for my reader to explore their fears of the future through Black Masquerade or Where Dreams are Lost, I can consider that a win for myself and the reader.

I want to write not just horror but write because I want to leave my mark in the literary world. The likelihood of me being the next Brandon Sanderson or Steven King are almost non-existent (but not impossible), but I hope to in my lifetime to build a small but happy cult following. I want to improve what I think are genres lacking in originality or fresh ideas with my foolish attempts at originality and high-quality stories. I would like to make something that strikes the reader base as original. I can stand out more in the crowd and become a cult hit (I can only dream).

Lastly, I want to write cause I have only one chance of doing what I love; even if I fail to make a name for myself in the creative field, nobody can say I didn’t try. Nobody can say I missed an opportunity to create something scary or exciting. That is why I write horror and everything else.

Cheers for reading!

Please consider reading Black Masquerade: The third entry in the Eight Nightmares Collection, now available at selected retailers.

Acknowledgments

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