What do we think about Horror?

SirGutsalot 2016-09-05 13:22:30 UTC #1

I just started a new 'horror' comic Lacrim and was wondering what people actually think about the genre of horror. For obvious reasons it isn't the most popular genre on Tapastic so I was also wondering what you think would make a good horror comic?
Thanks!!

indagold 2016-09-05 14:47:50 UTC #2

It's hard to find even one okay horror comic, just anything at all. It's just jumpscares, a spooky generic monsters and lots of blood. I would just like to see someone make something more creative, something with a less obvious or well defined cause for the horror. Like once you find out what causes it in great detail sometimes it gets less interesting. I feel there should be a tiny mystery to it, even if it's not much, no one should give away everything.

alaingrey 2016-09-05 15:22:00 UTC #3

I love the genre but I often find that comics are not always a good medium for it. Suspense can be ruined by people looking to the end of a page, sound plays a huge role in horror, and a scary or gross picture is only scary so long as you can't just turn the page away from it.
I agree that a lot of horror comics can also be super uncreative. It's a lot of vampires and tropey B movie nonsense that never scared anyone, yet also so non self referential that it's just boring. I've never found a comic that can scare me, but I don't have that problem with films, games, books or even music. I assume that it comes down to comics just not being a good medium for it, along with over reliance on monsters and battles instead of actually scary stuff.

keii4ii 2016-09-05 16:09:40 UTC #4

I've seen some good horror comics over the years, and the common thread is that they don't rely on visual horror. They immerse you with a mystery hook first, and the "scare" is that OH SHIT moment -- when you realize something really bad is about to happen, and there's no way you/the character can back out now. It relies on reader imagination, kind of like prose horror, even though the visuals are provided. It's never about "look at this awful looking monster." It's always about what it doesn't show.

I've also seen comics that can be described as horror, are perfectly enjoyable but not scary? Like, good non-scary stories that happen to have elements that are common in the horror genre. Zombie apocalypse drama is a very well known example, but there are lots of less common ones.

nolongerusestheforum 2016-09-05 16:24:06 UTC #5

I agree -- Emily Carroll's horror comics are a really good example of this.

WakaXO 2016-09-05 16:35:11 UTC #6

I like horror as a genre and I do think it could do well in comic format but you would have to be really careful not to fall back on cheap tricks. (Ex blood and gore does not equal horror)

Agreed, the mystery elements will keep the reader interested.
If you think about horror in general the things that are most scary are the unknown, I think a good example of this was the Silent Hill games (the older ones) you didn't really see the monsters and there was lots of closed-door scenarios were the viewer was forced to go into situations blind. Add to that a well established ambiance and that simple setup is effectively scary.
Also out of place things can be scary, when you take ordinary things and twist them ever so slightly it can throw the reader off balance. You know you're reading a good horror when the author has given you an everyday item or situation and has made it creepy and uncomfortable.
And I think it's good to remember that different things will scare different people.😉

VermillionWorks 2016-09-05 16:39:15 UTC #7

While there are a couple of comics who do the 'jump scare' thing well with a comic format and a bit of coding trickery (the Bongcheon-Dong Ghost), I think the best way to approach horror in a comic is to throw the idea of the typical horror MOVIE out the window, because it doesn't really work with a horror comic. (Heck, often times I don't think it works in movies either...)

Mystery, slow build up, unnerving situations, and character behaviors, high atmosphere, disturbing imagery, that stuff has to be the focus. It's better to make it more psychological than in your face.

Sometimes I think one problem with horror comics is their main focus is trying to scare you and they forget to tell a proper story with it, which makes it less scary. XP

I don't usually like 'gore for the sake of gore' comics, even the bloodiest comics I follow usually have something else going for it, often times they aren't even exactly horror stories. Rarely do I think horror comics that rely solely on gore or gross imagery alone do it well, or if it does it's usually a black comedy. If violence is the 'horror' part then you REALLY have to make it unexpected and make it really punch, and even then it's better not to rely just on that for scares.

But yes, I LIKE horror, but I'm very picky about it. XD There are actually very few straight-up horror comics I can name that I like, or the ones I can name really just have elements of horror that was done well, but they aren't 100% horror.

keii4ii 2016-09-05 16:42:07 UTC #8

That &%#^$((&@#$ing locker in that first game was an excellent example of OH SHIT horror.

storytimebiondi 2016-09-05 16:48:01 UTC #9

I haven't seen many horror comics, but I imagine the fundamentals of the genre should prevail. You'd want a strong atmosphere, for starters. Think of HP Lovecraft's works. The atmosphere in his stories is always well developed. It's old, ancient beyond years, dusty, dark. The element of horror is usually an interaction between the characters and the unknown, and the atmosphere has to play a big part in that.

donathinfrye 2016-09-05 17:22:36 UTC #10

Maybe the most important element of executing a good horror comic is in subverting the reader's expectations of the genre. Make them care about the characters first. Show tropes, and then turn those tropes on their heads. Make those big, ugly moments be in service to the characters. Ooze with atmosphere. It's a tough thing to do. Executing horror effectively in comics is a daunting task, but a worthy one. It's something that I've been trying to do with the first issue of my book, I, Necromancer and it's been a great learning experience.

ETA: I've seen some neat things with vertical scroll horror that tries to produce jump scares, but (and this is for me only!) it often feels like a gimmick to me. Jump scares work in film because of a lot of different variables -- music tension, fluid live motion, the sudden visual shift from stillness to fast movement. You can kind of pull off some jump scare elements with vertical scroll, but once you've tricked your audience once, you get a lot less mileage out of it subsequently (even moreso than the same diminished returns you get in genre horror films).

I think that the real key to horror in a comic book has to be story, story, story.

iddqd 2016-09-05 20:24:42 UTC #11

I think horror can be a noble genre in a any media. For comics specifically, I do think the way to go is with an eerie atmosphere and an overarching sense of mystery. I particularly enjoy Lovecraftian horror, which should be a joy to work with in a visual medium, and it's probably easier to pull off in a comic story than in a movie. I have used curvilinear perspective (a type of non-euclidean geometry mentioned here and there by Lovecraft) in my comic as a horror storytelling tool - and I think it has a lot of potential.

As for more gory horror in comics, I can think of Tsutomi Nihei's Blame! as a great example of weird, tense, and at times downright scary story that is not pulling any punches with violence.

JessJackdaw 2016-09-05 22:33:35 UTC #12

A lot has been said already so I'll try not to repeat too much.

Horror is a genre that stems from the natural human fear of the the unknown and the uncontrollable. All fear is drived from one of these states, so try and make them your mantle when crafting a horror comic. The easiest way to achieve this is to keep your readers in the dark. Be mindful of what you reveal, as nothing should ever be crystal clear.

The monster you can't see is far more terrifying than the one you can, BUT sometimes a monster in plain view can be horrific in a tragic way. Perhaps a mass of flesh once human tries to slither close to a loved one despite unimaginable pain (Cronenburg anyone?).

Really, I think the best way to get a feel for how horror is handled is to watch/read a lot of the genre. XD It's really hard to describe something that plays with our basic instinct.

Zannen00 2016-09-05 23:55:26 UTC #13

For me, the best horror story is the one that gives the possibility that it could happen to YOU.
What would YOU have done if you were in the same situation as the character?

Junji Ito's short stories has horrific stuff happen to average, everyday people.
I highly recommend reading his work

Reraser 2016-09-06 02:42:40 UTC #14

I like to dabble with horror ideas regularly, but my chosen medium has always been comics, and in my opinion that is a very difficult combo! A few people have gone over it here, but like... You've gotta target some really specific aspects insofar as comic horror.

I can't even say I've personally pinned down what I think works. What I think authors do need to keep in mind, though, is that you can't just try to make a horror movie into a comic. Different aspects of horror are taken advantage of by different mediums- Kris Straub's Broodhollow sneaks up on you with it and uses its visuals to make YOU create the sounds.

But generally I think the ethos for comic horror is that you need to be quite smart about it. You need to think psychologically, because you've got no control over the pace at which someone comprehends your page. Even people who use books as a medium have more control, because you can't just skip ahead so easily when you're having to read the words! Overall, I guess I believe successful horror comics have to focus on the cohesive end product rather than the moment-to-moment spooks.

AnnaLandin 2016-09-06 06:12:00 UTC #15

A lot of people have mentioned Emily Carroll, and I can only agree - her work is deeply, deeply unsettling. Partly it's because of visual effects - she used this thing in one of her latest comics where when you move your mouse over a panel, the entire page flickered and revealed scary, blood-drenched images beneath the regular panels - but mostly it's because of masterful writing. She has this way of turning regular, everyday life into something that hides horror. It doesn't rely so much on jumpscares or scary images so much as it relies on a kind of slowly creeping horror in the atmosphere of the comic.

I'm a big ol' scaredy-cat, so I avoid horror in general, but Emily Carroll is just so good that I can't resist scaring myself witless.

I'm also going to say that the work of Junji Ito - Uzumaki being one of them - is deeply unsettling. I've only managed to read about 30 pages of his work, and got the heebie-jeebies so bad I had to stop.

vongcw 2016-09-06 14:23:52 UTC #16

I have to say I have a bit of an addiction to horror. I don't consider it a good thing because the last horror movie I watched (some 6 years ago) lost me sleep for 2 full weeks and then intermittently over the next year. Since then I've stayed very clear of horror movies. Creepy pastas too.... brrr... who comes up with these things?

So, I've basically stuck to let's plays of computer games.

My comic, Aetherwar, is actually Lovecraft inspired (author of Call of Cthulhu). And he's getting pretty popular these days (Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering, Rick and Morty, are all currently running Lovecraftian elements). As previously mentioned, comics don't go for the jumpscare. You just can't.

Stephen King said there are three kinds of terror - The Gross Out - which is basically just gore. I think there's a limit here on Tapastic though (is there?) And most of the world is pretty much inured to your everyday zombie thanks to The Walking Dead. So it's not a route I would particularly want to consider going down. Cos after zombies, things start to enter fetishist the kind of zone and that's really disturbing. Horror - which is just unnatural things: extraordinarily large spiders, paintings that move etc. Again Hollywood special effects have rendered a lot of those everyday. Then there is Terror...

Terror is the one that well... terrifies me. It's the thing that creepypastas manage to achieve so well. And one I think perfectly suited to comics. It's that lurking unsettling feeling you can't dislodge. The other day I happened to chance across two sentence stories that will creep you out. Man... You can go read em yourself. Typing them out gives me the willies. But such a display of mastery of what can be achieved! Imagine, three panelled comics that will terrify you lol. Could be a thing.

SirGutsalot 2016-09-07 06:56:57 UTC #17

I love your explanation of terror in literature! That's really helpful!

AnnaLandin 2016-09-07 07:11:35 UTC #18

There is a limit on how gory you are allowed to get before you have to but an NSFW-filter on it:

Adult Material: Tapastic ALLOWS mature content featuring nudity, non-graphic sex, extreme violence, and strong language as long as it is behind our NSFW filter. Tapastic DOES NOT ALLOW pornography or hateful content that targets a specific person or group of any kind. Any content deemed unsuitable that is not behind our NSFW will be requested to take action. Failure to comply with this request will result in the image being taken down. Repeat offenses will result in the suspension or removal of the user’s account.

Basically, as long as your gore is not a.) also pornographic, and not b.) using any kind of hatespeech/specifically targeting certain victims because of their race/sex/faith, etc, and it's behind an NSFW-filter, you can do what you want.

vongcw 2016-09-07 09:55:28 UTC #19

Thanks for that. In fact, I just drew a nightmare scene for one of my characters. Was wondering whether I should put it behind a NSFW filter lol. Then again my tolerance for gore is super low.

AnnaLandin 2016-09-07 12:24:44 UTC #20

My rule of thumb is if you can get away with it in an average action-movie, it probably doesn't need an NSFW-filter.