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Writing Horror
Book by Van Belkom, Edo
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
48 people want to read
About the author
Edo Van Belkom
72 books54 followersBram Stoker and Aurora Award-winner Edo van Belkom is the author of over 200 stories of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. As an editor, he has four anthologies to his credit that include two books for young adults, Be Afraid! (A Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist) and Be Very Afraid! (An Aurora Award winner — Best Work in English). Born in Toronto, van Belkom graduated from York University, then worked as a daily newspaper sports and police reporter before becoming a full-time writer. Edo van Belkom lives in Brampton, Ontario, with his wife Roberta and son Luke.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 18, 2010
I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I realized I wanted to write scary stories at age 8 while reading Goosebumps books.
Unfortunately, I usually can only make it halfway through a story before I decide it's garbage and scrap it. So I've been reading some books about writing.
Edo van Belkom's book, Writing Horror, has an advantage over the other books I've read because it is specifically about the horror genre.
Within the 216 pages, the following topics are covered:
* A definition of horror and its sub-genres
* The elements of a story (plot, characters, setting, dialogue, etc.)
* How horror works
* Revising
* Selling
* Manuscript format and how to send it
* The horror fiction marketplace
* Contracts and agents
The book also features brief, three-question interviews with authors including Richard Laymon, Douglas Clegg and Kathryn Ptacek.
Writing Horror was helpful to me, as a beginner, but I'm unsure whether it would be beneficial to others who are more experienced. It covers the basics and not much else. And hopefully anyone who is interested in writing horror will already know the horror sub-genres and have read most of the authors listed. The book can also be repetitive at times (especially about being persistent), but it works to drill it into your head. But I found the exercises to be useful, and learned about things I never knew much about before, such as SASEs and manuscript format.
If you are interested in reading more books about writing horror, Stephen King's novel, On Writing is helpful. There are also a few other books on writing horror specifically: On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association and Writers Workshop of Horror.
Read more of my reviews at http://littlemisszombie.blogspot.com
Unfortunately, I usually can only make it halfway through a story before I decide it's garbage and scrap it. So I've been reading some books about writing.
Edo van Belkom's book, Writing Horror, has an advantage over the other books I've read because it is specifically about the horror genre.
Within the 216 pages, the following topics are covered:
* A definition of horror and its sub-genres
* The elements of a story (plot, characters, setting, dialogue, etc.)
* How horror works
* Revising
* Selling
* Manuscript format and how to send it
* The horror fiction marketplace
* Contracts and agents
The book also features brief, three-question interviews with authors including Richard Laymon, Douglas Clegg and Kathryn Ptacek.
Writing Horror was helpful to me, as a beginner, but I'm unsure whether it would be beneficial to others who are more experienced. It covers the basics and not much else. And hopefully anyone who is interested in writing horror will already know the horror sub-genres and have read most of the authors listed. The book can also be repetitive at times (especially about being persistent), but it works to drill it into your head. But I found the exercises to be useful, and learned about things I never knew much about before, such as SASEs and manuscript format.
If you are interested in reading more books about writing horror, Stephen King's novel, On Writing is helpful. There are also a few other books on writing horror specifically: On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association and Writers Workshop of Horror.
Read more of my reviews at http://littlemisszombie.blogspot.com
October 24, 2012
A bit out dated, but some handy information about the horror market and submission tips
October 19, 2025
won't be done with the book ever but it is helpful
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews