Can literature even be scary? Can it convey fear through text and make someone actually afraid? I feel like writing "scary" short stories are a waste of time, since the only one scared would be the characters in the short story, not the reader.
Discuss.
The scary horrible monster was unspeakably scary and I was unfathomably terrified of its scariness.
that gave me shivers
I think it can show horror and evoke some dread and unease but outright scary? I don't know.
Read the Gulag Archipelago
Reading pessimistic philosophy sent me into an existential crisis so there's that.
The red wedding was fucking terrifying. I actually felt my face lose its color. Other than that, shit... uhh... I know comics don't count, but The Walking Dead issue 100 was like that.
It depends on the skill of the writer, and the imagination of the reader.
I had nightmares for weeks after reading 'Nyarlathotep' and Maldoror.
I couldn't finish Rosemary's Baby
John Dies At The End got me uneasy at some point.
And Glamorama for some reason.
It must have something to do with my state of mind while I'm reading.
Or I'm just a big pussy.
thanks, I shit myself
horror is the lowest of the low genre for a reason, in just works better in film
no, u r
I don't think it can, solely because fear (or, terror) is experiential in nature. You can empathize with elements of fear, sense tension or anxiety in the expressions of another and respond subconsciously, but fear itself requires confrontation and expectation of harm which text on paper simply cannot convey.
Horror, on the other hand, can be conveyed through text better than many mediums (save maybe artwork) but most people have lost the meaning of the word or have readily accepted subpar garbage that only skims the depths of it (like Lovecraft).
>in just works better in film
examples? yeah thought so
I'm thoroughly spooked
got any recs?
wsr
>evoke some dread
I think this is spot on.
For example, at the end of 1984 where he was getting tortured was really gruesome for me.
Also, the end of The Idiot made me anxious for a bit, because it was so spontaneous.
Cioran
I know this is off-topic, but what do you guys think about Cioran? I mean, I only read one book by him, but at a first impression, it's ridiculously superior to anything I have read so far.
I agree but I won't allow you to speak of Lovecraft like that in my presence ever again.
I don't have the book anymore but in 3rd grade I read a book called Radiance (I think) and all I remember is that the monster scared me so much I had to skip to the part when he was killed
I've never been scared from a book, but you could try to write some gore porn slasher type shit that can disgust and disturb readers. probably as close you're gonna get
>Cioran
kek, I was raised on him, being that he was partly a co-national. Thought he was terribly depressing in my early teens, but evidently, I was reading him wrong. Just look up some literary critique on him and see if it aid your reading of him. Having a historical perspective over philosophy certainly helps with contextualising him as well.
Stop shilling this shit.
The Dunwich Horror had me shaking.
No, if a book scares you or even invokes a sense of horror or dread you're an idiot.
You might say audiobooks is cheating, but I was shitting myself when I listened to Lovecraft's stories while taking nightly bike rides in the park.
In general, as some anons already pointed out, books do not 'scare' you in the same way as something like videogames. There's no startling jumpscares, and you aren't placed in a visually spooky setting with a goal to survive. Books replace instantaneous thrill with more existential, cerebral sense of unease. Aforementioned Lovecraft's cosmic horror works on literature, and when put in a movie or a videogame becomes banally about tentacle monsters. Only in books the artists can strip away sanity and character of his heroes, while in movies, again, it translated to worried face and some obnoxious screams.
The Master and Margarita was 2spoopy4me every now and then.
House of Leaves (for all its meme-ness) was also unsettling in places. Just the description of the desolateness and decay made me feel a bit uncomfortable.