How do you go about writing horror? I realized, genuine, prolonged fear is the hardest emotion to evoke in people. And when I say horror I don't mean a movie about a killer (or at least most movies about a killer). I mean real suspense and gut wrenching fear- how do you do it?

I've tried writing horror, but it never really seemed to work. You're right, it's tough. I've been meaning to pick up a few good horror novels by someone famous like Stephen King and see how he pulls it off. Unfortunately, I can never find the time to read a novel anymore. One thing I can say is that you'll probably never write a scary story by emulating scary movies. A novel can't jump out and startle someone, and that's the main tactic that horror films rely on.

I've heard that most people think that Stephen King is a great storyteller, but not a great writer. I don't really know what makes a certain story scary. Startling and mentally disturbing are two different terms, but they're both factors of what makes something "scary". It probably depends on the reader.

I've been trying to write horror since I could remember, and still, I haven't really known what one must do in order to scare readers. :)

Sleep, those little slices of death; Oh how I loathe them.
-Edgar Allan Poe

Hi,
first post please forgive as I dive in with my 2 cents.

I am tempted to think it's a youthful desire to elaborate and quantify and be exact about the descriptions of what scares. As I grow older though I can see why writers and indeed film makers pull back a little.

The most powerful tool you have is the mind of the reader. What you don't describe they will imagine and if you've done your groundwork correctly they will imagine the worst. Fear of the unknown as Lovecraft points out, being the oldest and most primal fear.

There are reasons the horror is sometimes nameless. If you can somehow manage to achieve chilling and clinical description whilst retaining mystery enough not inhibit the mind of the reader then stick with that method.

Lastly I would keep a careful list of what scares you. Dreams are good as is reading the papers to see what scares other people as tabloids make millions exploiting peoples fears. A very topical horror set in the UK might be based around faceless hooded teens ganging up in the inner cities or the country being taken over by an alien species of celebrities. It might sound like a joke but it's all in the execution.

Hope this helps,
Pedro
P.S. Hellboy has really good monsters but it's not a horror, not really. It's about the execution. Far more mundane evils can be excellent antagonists in a horror story if you have them push the right buttons in the right order.