Rebecka
asked
Ambrose Ibsen:
I am a huge fan of the horror genre, and an aspiring author who would one day like to write a horror novel. I love your settings. Do you have any advice for creating awesome, creepy settings?
Ambrose Ibsen
Thank you for your question, Rebecka!
When creating a setting, I always try and reach for the familiar. Thankfully, I've never been in any of the haunted places I've written about, but in crafting them I've sought to include details that jibe with places I've actually visited. This, I think, tends to infuse some much-needed realism. Think of the view outside your own bedroom window, or the way the shadows seem to gather in your own living room. If you can apply details like those to your story, you'll write from a more authentic place.
When building a setting, I like to aim for a Goldilocks level of detail; not too much and not too little. Going overboard on the detail will overwhelm the narrative and being too sparse won't give the reader enough to work with. I like to highlight the most important fixtures in a given setting as richly as possible, and then to point out an aberrant detail or two that'll prop up whatever atmosphere I'm aiming to create.
Example: A character finds himself alone in a small house. It's a generic little thing, with a cramped kitchen and only one, maybe two, bedrooms. The windows have been shut up for too long and the air is sour. The carpet is horribly dusty. And... is that a water-stain on the ceiling? Why, maybe it's just the low lighting, but the shape seems all wrong--it almost looks like a grinning face...
That's a ham-fisted effort on my part, but the point is to transition as seamlessly as possible from scenery that will be familiar and comfortable to the reader, to scenery that is less-so. This allows a writer to gradually transport a reader from a merely realistic setting into a realistic AND creepy one. Scaring someone in print is very hard to do; the writer of horror tales succeeds at this by slowly transforming a "normal" setting, and, by extension, ratcheting up an atmosphere of impending dread.
Lastly, when I have the broad strokes of a place down, I like to imagine myself there. What is the light like in this space? And the shadow? What's the air like here, and what noises might I normally hear in said place? Peppering a scene with a few minor setting details can really make it pop and bring it to life.
I hope that's helpful!
When creating a setting, I always try and reach for the familiar. Thankfully, I've never been in any of the haunted places I've written about, but in crafting them I've sought to include details that jibe with places I've actually visited. This, I think, tends to infuse some much-needed realism. Think of the view outside your own bedroom window, or the way the shadows seem to gather in your own living room. If you can apply details like those to your story, you'll write from a more authentic place.
When building a setting, I like to aim for a Goldilocks level of detail; not too much and not too little. Going overboard on the detail will overwhelm the narrative and being too sparse won't give the reader enough to work with. I like to highlight the most important fixtures in a given setting as richly as possible, and then to point out an aberrant detail or two that'll prop up whatever atmosphere I'm aiming to create.
Example: A character finds himself alone in a small house. It's a generic little thing, with a cramped kitchen and only one, maybe two, bedrooms. The windows have been shut up for too long and the air is sour. The carpet is horribly dusty. And... is that a water-stain on the ceiling? Why, maybe it's just the low lighting, but the shape seems all wrong--it almost looks like a grinning face...
That's a ham-fisted effort on my part, but the point is to transition as seamlessly as possible from scenery that will be familiar and comfortable to the reader, to scenery that is less-so. This allows a writer to gradually transport a reader from a merely realistic setting into a realistic AND creepy one. Scaring someone in print is very hard to do; the writer of horror tales succeeds at this by slowly transforming a "normal" setting, and, by extension, ratcheting up an atmosphere of impending dread.
Lastly, when I have the broad strokes of a place down, I like to imagine myself there. What is the light like in this space? And the shadow? What's the air like here, and what noises might I normally hear in said place? Peppering a scene with a few minor setting details can really make it pop and bring it to life.
I hope that's helpful!
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