A not-for the weak of stomach discussion on gore and fiction.

The topic of gratuitous gore in fiction is an issue which only came about in the past few decades. Before that transformation, most horror was dark, insidious and malignant. Since that time, the professional horror fiction industry has become a manufacturer of seemingly repetitive pulp that focuses on the mundane instead of the macabre. Instead of running for our lives, we're busy gouging out eyeballs, peeling back flesh, and following other protracted ventures through substandard Biology 101.

You naturally expect a good degree of gruesome in horror, after all, it's par for the course. Issues with gore create an unusual problem with writers as opposed to screenwriters. It's easy to believe your novel will read like a movie, but the two are dramatically different. While incorporating similar elements, the presentation of either is worlds apart. Your plot will slow to a crawl if you take the necessary time to describe every inch of gory a room. This is the danger zone because many readers will start skipping paragraphs until the action picks back up. Gratuity of any kind in fiction also creates an atmosphere of blatant distrust. Some movies can contain vast amounts of gore and still find some success (i.e. SAW, 28 Days Later, etc.) where novels can't. It's a matter of momentum because that pacing and that panic in your characters far supersede the need for revulsion. Unlike movies where visual aides and cues are used to create the necessary atmospheres, writers rely on suspense and pacing.

We often overlook the true shock of gore from moderation in the modern world. There are many newer fans who actually believe that the gore is the defining faucet for horror. This is a sad generation who will likely never know the brilliance of such writers as Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen or even Bram Stoker beyond Dracula. These writers produced works of staggering proportions that's became a rarity. Their reserve and deft skill with weaving words created many sleepless nights for readers. Their reliance was based upon substance in lieu of sensation.

The same principal can be applied to all elements most used in gratuitous amounts: nudity, sex, language, and violence. But, those are subjects for other articles. Today, we concentrate on gore.

Once upon a time, in 1972 to be precise, a then-unknown director released the most "shocking" movie of all time. You name it, the movie contained it: rape, violence, language, gore… etc. That director was Wes Craven and the movie was, "Last House on the Left." If released today, that same movie would likely draw a few yawns, but not much more. This is not to dismiss Craven's innovation, for at the time, it was an innovative direction that hadn't been taken before. At the time, an abuse of gore was acceptable, because it was novel and truly hadn't been done before. We live in drastically different times today. As a matter of fact, Last House has been redone (as so many others have) and the remakes never achieve the popularity, controversy or acclaim of the originals. No matter how much gore is added or how much better the effects are, it's the same story, and there wasn't much of a story, per se, to begin with.

The success of Asian horror has proved that audiences aren't so amazed or entertained by gore-drenched scenes. This is a definite advantage for writers because this classic balance creates such brilliant stories on paper just as in film. Any blood used in many of these movies is sparse, gore is just a brief flash, but its suspense and momentum that creates a phenomenal movie. Monsters aren't CGI, they aren't rubber, most of them are only hinted at. It is imperative to note that this is not always due to budget constraints or poor-quality effects. Quiet the contrary.

Creators of this and similar horror around the world understand the most important fact: the viewer's mind will generate images, based upon suggestion, that scare them personally. They trust their audience. In that same vein, readers aren't generic or single-minded. Every one will have their own unique fears and phobias. This is what you focus on. Let them create the monster, for you, and they will. They'll automatically jump to the most frightening image their mind can conjure. You obscure enemy may have a twisted clownish appearance in a reader who fears clowns, but that same ambiguous threat may come across as an invincible entity to someone who fears the unseen. Interpretation is a great friend to writers in all genres.

For example, ponder the phrase: a gory setting. It can be anything from the hidden realm of a serial killer who keeps trophies to an isolated tribe of mutant cannibals. You can describe every inch of the carnage in grisly detail, but you will be destroying your novel in the process. Let your reader have their way with it. You may only see a large splash of blood surrounding a primitive alter, but left to their own device, your reader will see body parts and organs that will scare the fright out of them. Just as humans usually jump to the worst conclusion in life, your reader will do the same while in your story. Most horror writers have abandoned this concept through the years, but it's just as relevant to day as ever.

You are free to create and use any artistic liberty you can summon, but the greatest gift you can offer is an atmosphere of trust. Let your reader work the images you suggest until they bleed. They will, the temptation is too great.

If you have a scene with a great deal of gore, use it sparingly. A horror novel can be created in a slaughterhouse, with full focus on the characters and plot and just a hint of the grisly surroundings, just by mentioning a gruesome element here or there. Your paragraphs shouldn't read like a medical report. They should show action, reaction, fight or flight. Gore should be a contrastive element that merely accentuates your story. It shouldn't become another character. Even if your novel deals with zombies or cannibals, let the gore garnish a genuinely awesome session of misery and suspense. Don't create the novel that features chapters of detailed settings or mutilation with a little story and panic thrown in for good measure. 

For Reference:

These astounding titles are amazing, gory, and downright awesome:

• Phantoms by Dean Koontz
• Thinner by Stephen King
• The Night Boat by Robert R. McCammon
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Astounding Reads with Little to No Gore:

• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Shining by Stephen King
• Ghost Story by Peter Straub
• Intensity by Dean Koontz