| Once all these elements are in place and the readers feel comfortable with the new surroundings and their new friends it’s time to turn the monster loose. That’s when the fun begins!
The monster does not need to be a bloated mass of protoplasm, a vampire, or werewolf. It can be the neighbor next door who just killed his family. It can be a madman hiding in the shadows, a knife-wielding killer ready to slit the throat of his next victim. It can be the quiet individual who without provocation suddenly slaughters a busload of innocent children. Creating the evil, whether in the form of a human or a big, bad beastie, allows the author much more freedom. These creations allow the author to leave the constraints of society. These beings are not ruled by the moral rules of society. These are the characters the author can just let run wild. They are free to do whatever they please and damn the consequences of their actions. Whether human or beast, the author wants to send shivers up the readers’ spines, make souls quiver, cause stomachs to double into knots. But for these feelings to occur, one thing is certain -- the reader must believe that give these circumstances, this could really happen. And if the author can hook the readers into believing that the story, settings and characters are real, then success has been achieved and the author can go to sleep with a sly smile on his face, knowing that someone, somewhere in the real world is laying awake with the images of a make-believe world (and all the terrors hiding in the shadows) dancing in their head. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ David E. Greske is the author of Anathema, a horror story set in the fictional town of Prairie Rest, and is available at all on-line bookstores or through your favorite bookseller. His short story, “Litterbug” will be appearing in the anthology, Trip the Light Horrific to be published by Cyberpulp Books in 2005. He currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is working on his next novel. |