Is Horror Dead?

I've noticed a big shift away from traditional horror recently, in books, shorts and in subs to E2M.

What's happened to the werewolves, devils, demons, ghosts, vamps and other nasties?

Some claim that the above has been done to death. Do you think so? Can anything really be "done to death"?

I don't think so. Sure there are thousands of traditional horror in the written field these days as there were 20, 50, 100 years ago. But, the way I see it is that every book is written by 'a person' whose experiences and culture is different to others. People have not lived my life and have not had the exact same experiences as me and sure as hell don't see everything the same way I do.

There's always something that can be added, changed, twisted.

Vampires: Man gets bit, becomes vampire, bites others. Hmmm. That's an idea of an outline. It isn't a story. The story is what happens before and after the mentioned incident. If it wasn't, Ann Rice would be working in McDonalds.

Zombies: Done to Death? Resident Evil (Biohazard), 28 days later and others.

Werewolves: Night of the Werewolf, Blood of the Wolf, American werewolf in London, American werewolf in Paris.

If the writer can think 'outside of the box', a new reason for the story involving one or the other can be found in the real life around us, and even better, our dark imagination of what if...

Zombie story: A Middle-East country drops a chemical bomb on the US, England or little ole New Zealand. Creates a world of Zombies, especially when retaliation occurs. Now we just need a few subplots and perhaps a way to clean the world. Just don't use a government experiment to create the zombies.

Werewolves: A camper is digging a toilet in the forest. While digging, something scratches him, he checks it out and sees a pointed tooth, digging further he finds the skull, a medallion and a silver bullet lying in the ribcage. Now it's up to the writer to add new elements from his/her imagination of "what if...?"

Ain't nothing dead in my opinion. Spielberg found a cool way to make a dinosaur movie.

Richard Lee is the author of the acclaimed novel, 'Blood of the Wolf'. His latest book, Re-Entry of Evil has just been released. Details of his books and his thoughts on writing can be found at this website http://www.writer113.com along with many other resources, links, book and DVD reviews, articles on the writing life.

He is a column writer for Camp Horror, and has edited 6 anthologies to date and is the editor at Sinisteria Horror Magazine.

MORE RESOURCES:

Josh Schwartz writing #39;X-Men#39; sequel: OMFG or WTF? - Entertainment Weekly

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996099.html%3Fcategoryid%3D1236cid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNFvPTGgl0OAhqg_fCk4kwZuwKwxbwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Jnl5oYbBYCgJimgurl=a330.g.akamai.net/7/330/2540/20080720202353/www.variety.com/graphics/photos/_mugs/schwartz_josh.jpg width=63 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Variety/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/11/josh-schwartz-x.htmlcid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNFd7RAmlY2ghe9DyxEKEdjXOpHS5QJosh Schwartz bwriting/b #39;X-Men#39; sequel: OMFG or WTF?/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fEntertainment Weeklynbsp;-/font nobr23 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1And that#39;s why I#39;m more than a little perturbed by the news that Josh Schwartz (exec producer of GG, as well as The OC and Chuck) will be bwriting/b (and b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/arts/20arts-001.html%3Fref%3Dartscid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHszCMPfmdMeznBmJCLgFjCHotalg‘X-Men’ Heads Back To Boyhood/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNew York Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-2fd=Rurl=http://www.empiremovies.com/index.php%3Fid%3D25039cid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNFDuaWnM28dJsQll0TZwinIucFzUQJosh Schwartz bWriting/b X-Men: First Class/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrEmpire Movies/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-3fd=Rurl=http://geeksofdoom.com/2008/11/19/gossip-girl-writer-still-scripting-x-men-first-class-not-directing/cid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHm7M5r8PtARLrlxCvpEIPRtlMxIg‘Gossip Girl’ Writer Still Scripting ‘X-Men: First Class’; Not b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGeeks of Doom/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-4fd=Rurl=http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b69550_new_x-men_getting_oc_treatment.htmlcid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNFIF-dLk1MH74ayR0-R3OmQTp0vCwnobrE! Online/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-5fd=Rurl=http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/11/18/fox-moving-forward-with-gossip-girl-young-x-men-spin-off/cid=1272117988ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNEMb1WIatjhdoei5vknVWOUvNr9sAnobrFirst Showing/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272117988hl=ennobrall 71 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Novi resident offers insight to world of writing - Novi News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-0fd=Rurl=http://hometownlife.com/article/20081120/LIFE/811200351/1106/NEWS13cid=1272586162ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHq1TGfFdQ-D5SU0rxnPUh4hfC3FgNovi resident offers insight to world of bwriting/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNovi News,nbsp;MInbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Kelly Murad • STAFF WRITER • November 20, 2008 quot;There#39;s A Book In You is bwriting/b in its simplest form,quot; said Durant, 72. quot;It#39;s about understanding the b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Rapper gets 20 years after writing shooting song - The Associated Press

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQUZaPLYcXsZAbUiOd_xe7VbRprgD94I7Q7G0cid=1272355186ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHFc6p1eZ-RBrxc8K85KixbpjaLXQRapper gets 20 years after bwriting/b shooting song/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Pressnbsp;-/font nobr20 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1DUBLIN, Ga. (AP) — He shot a man twice and felt so good about it, police said, a rapper wrote a song describing the shooting and calling out the victim by b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

OneRepublic Writing For New Album - Billboard

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-0fd=Rurl=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003893924cid=1272368528ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNGPonUfQ-JGebdxSczTcqgFJkWamQOneRepublic bWriting/b For New Album/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBillboard,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobr22 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1To celebrate the platinum success of its 2007 debut quot;Dreaming Out Loud,quot; OneRepublic was originally planning to reissue the album with bonus content in time b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

GEORGETOWN: Ex-trooper admits writing phony tickets - Delmarva Daily Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/81120010/1002cid=1272551038ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNGXe7r7q94pzT71nrdlbYftMp37wgGEORGETOWN: Ex-trooper admits bwriting/b phony tickets/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDelmarva Daily Times,nbsp;MDnbsp;-/font nobr4 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1GEORGETOWN -- A former Delaware State Police trooper from Georgetown has pleaded guilty to charges he wrote phony traffic tickets to fictitious people. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Teenager murdered for writing love letter - Times Online

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-0fd=Rurl=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5197439.ececid=1272548634ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHqOAyRw10Ux_mR1df8vBPuAX1cwgTeenager murdered for bwriting/b love letter/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTimes Online,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobr4 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;The accused killed the boy for bwriting/b a love letter to a girl of the same village. There was a scuffle, and he was pushed in front of a train,quot; b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Simpsonville woman charged with writing bad checks for jewelry - Greenville News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200331/1071/YOURUPSTATE01cid=1272341092ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNHT3OETTIjJhtJYnRzo6w79CgWJOwSimpsonville woman charged with bwriting/b bad checks for jewelry/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fGreenville News,nbsp;SCnbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Paul Alongi • STAFF WRITER • November 20, 2008 Greenville police are warning businesses to watch out for a Simpsonville woman who was charged Wednesday b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Bloomfield schools benefit from writing project - Farmington Daily Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://www.daily-times.com/ci_11027781cid=1272548632ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNF4heG4gvDMOeFlJK95ClZzzARmCQBloomfield schools benefit from bwriting/b project/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fFarmington Daily Times,nbsp;NMnbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By G. Jeff Golden The Daily Times As part of the Bisti bWriting/b Project, local artist Margaret Katirgis visited students at Blanco Elementary School this b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Flournoy students use writing tool - Red Bluff Daily News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/news/ci_11022829cid=1272306922ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNGZTBkEVzhzGSkXogIavwoGx7FJAQFlournoy students use bwriting/b tool/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRed Bluff Daily News,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr22 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1FLOURNOY- Along with an investment in a one-to-one laptop ratio, Flournoy Elementary School piloted an Internet-based bwriting/b application from November 2007 b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Flournoy School students are right online in writing: Students ... - TMC Net

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-flournoy-school-students-right-online-writing-students-participate-/2008/11/19/3801329.htmcid=1272601743ei=pJclSev9DYqWyASRr-W9AQusg=AFQjCNEiJRzBbXIX5XmG0yr8vj9mFMa33QFlournoy School students are right online in bwriting/b: Students b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTMC Net,nbsp;CTnbsp;-/font nobr12 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Flournoy Elementary School discovered technological bwriting/b success for its students by participating in an online educationally based pilot program this b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Writing - Google News

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