chesilbeach Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 What type of horror stories to you prefer … do you like psychological, sinister mind games, or perhaps you're more of a blood and gore reader? Do you like it with a dash of comedy or do you want to be chilled to your bones? Quote
Karsa Orlong Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 Atmosphere is crucial, characters, suspense. The setting can also be vital. Buckets of gore just doesn't work for me - it's not scary, just a cheap shock tactic Quote
Kell Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 I don't mind a bit of blood and gore (especially where vampires are involved), but I don't find those scary. I'm more inclined to get a shiver down my spine from clever mind games and psychological terror. Quote
Athena Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 I'm not too keen on blood and gore, a little bit is allright but I definitely don't like gore for gore's sake. Comedy wise I like both, with and without humour. Quote
Michelle Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 When I was younger, most of the books I read either had a lot of gore (such as Richard Laymon) or stories about strange creatures kept in basements etc (such as John Saul). These days I look out for books which offer me something different.. I want to be scared by something creepy. I don't mind some aspect of gore, but it annoys me if it feels shoved into the story for no real reason. Quote
bobblybear Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 I most definitely prefer psychological creepiness and mind-games. Gore grosses me out, but I think that is just shock-value rather than clever writing. Quote
SiameseCat Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Atmosphere is crucial, characters, suspense. The setting can also be vital. Buckets of gore just doesn't work for me - it's not scary, just a cheap shock tactic You said it first. While I'm not squeamish I consider mindless gore cheating on the writer's part. I wonder which books have met your standard, I've been quite disappointed lately. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) I would definitely avoid blood and gore being a bit on the squaemish side - plus I prefer subtlety to shock tactics. I like creepy or spooky ghost stories/spine chillers but nothing overly scary as I am a bit of a baby and esaily spooked I also enjoy psychological horror. I'd choose "Misery" over "It" any day, Edited January 22, 2015 by ~Andrea~ Quote
Felidae Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 I have yet to read a horror book that scares me these days. Maybe because I was reading King by the time I was 9? Heh. Gore can just disgust me, usually I like gore but when it's too much, nah. I do like watching The Walking Dead but the same amount of gore in a book is too much. Ghost stories are good, psychological horror does the most for me though. Books like American Psycho freak me out, and not because there is too much gore but the sheer amount of pointless malice was too much for me. The homeless guy/doggy scene, well that was where I quit the book to never return. Quote
G Man Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I feel the same way about horror films as I do about horror books, the creepier the better. All that blood and guts just doesn't cut it with me, I like something that will really freak me out psychologically. I'm busy reading James Herbert's 'Ash' which I'm hoping will satisfy the eerie part of me Quote
Felidae Posted March 6, 2015 Posted March 6, 2015 ^Yeah Ash doesn't sound like anything creepy to me. I am shocked, haunted and creeped out be scenes like the homeless man/doggy scene in American Psycho. And then so much that it stopped me reading, swore never to finish the book. The film was good enough but no more of that book for me. Human malice is THE thing that makes me sick, and I don't like books with too much of that. Quote
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