Suspenseful Clues and Thrilling Reviews discussion

Hi everyone.

My attention was recently drawn to a post on Facebook about my novel, The Abattoir of Dreams. A reader had finished the book but thought it should have trigger warnings in it's description.

This got me thinking about such warnings and their implications. I've written a blog post about the topic and asked other authors such as Peter James for their opinions.

Here's a link to the blog post. http://marktilbury.com/warning-this-b...

What do you think about trigger warnings? Please let me know here or on the post.

As a reader, I like the blurb to give me some clue regarding the storyline. I am not a fan of serial killer books, so whenever I read those words in the blurb, I set the book down and move on.

In the case of your book, I'd think that 'child abuse' would have been part of the blurb, making a trigger warning ("Contains child abuse.") redundant.

Quillracer wrote: "As a reader, I like the blurb to give me some clue regarding the storyline. I am not a fan of serial killer books, so whenever I read those words in the blurb, I set the book down and move on.

In ..."
Thanks for the reply.
The child abuse is mentioned in the blurb as is the fact that the main character has had a traumatic young life. That wasn't enough for some readers as some have said there should be a clearer warning.

Mark wrote: "The child abuse is mentioned in the blurb as is the fact that the main character has had a traumatic young life. That wasn't enough for some readers as some have said there should be a clearer warning."

Probably the same people who need 'Caution: Hot liquid' warnings on their McDonalds coffee cups.

Quillracer wrote: "Mark wrote: "The child abuse is mentioned in the blurb as is the fact that the main character has had a traumatic young life. That wasn't enough for some readers as some have said there should be a..."

This made me chuckle

If they can't understand "Michael has escaped his traumatic childhood in this tale of abuse and murder" means there is at minimum a mention of child abuse, they need to be nominated for a Darwin Award.

We as a people, seem to be mentally deteriorating to the point where we can't figure anything out on our own, have to be led by the hand through life.

I think it has gotten a little silly utterly ridiculous. I read a comment on a review for a book about Auschwitz that objected to the reviewer's not warning that an (one) animal was killed. Not making it up-wish I were.
On my way to complain to ice-cream store. I just read on line that a hot fudge sundae is fattening. I mean the store listed the calories, but did they actually say "This is fattening"? No they did not, and that is just not right! ; ))

Quillracer wrote: "If they can't understand "Michael has escaped his traumatic childhood in this tale of abuse and murder" means there is at minimum a mention of child abuse, they need to be nominated for a Darwin Aw..."

airline peanuts "warning this product may contain nuts". Seriously the world has gone nuts and all the rules make me worry about the gene pool.

Jen wrote: "Quillracer wrote: "If they can't understand "Michael has escaped his traumatic childhood in this tale of abuse and murder" means there is at minimum a mention of child abuse, they need to be nomina..."

"world gone nuts" ; ))

Part of the problem has to be due to Blud, Sukah, and Leach, Attorneys-at-Law, advertising on TV they can get you money for anything that goes wrong in your life.
So every company in the world puts all those warnings on everything to cover their ass.

Quillracer wrote: "Part of the problem has to be due to Blud, Sukah, and Leach, Attorneys-at-Law, advertising on TV they can get you money for anything that goes wrong in your life.
So every company in the world puts..."

yep agreed.

debra wrote: "Jen wrote: "Quillracer wrote: "If they can't understand "Michael has escaped his traumatic childhood in this tale of abuse and murder" means there is at minimum a mention of child abuse, they need ..."

intentional repetition.

Jen wrote: "debra wrote: "Jen wrote: "Quillracer wrote: "If they can't understand "Michael has escaped his traumatic childhood in this tale of abuse and murder" means there is at minimum a mention of child abu..."

; ))

I subscribe to the Book Riot feed and on many of their articles when they talk about books, they have a notice: contains _______ (rape, suicide, pedophilia, etc)

Quillracer wrote: "Mark wrote: "The child abuse is mentioned in the blurb as is the fact that the main character has had a traumatic young life. That wasn't enough for some readers as some have said there should be a..."

Right? Ya gotta wonder sometimes?!?

I don’t want or need a book blurb to include a Trigger Warning (I love surprises). I reply upon friends who’ve read the novel before me to post/share if something bothered them. I can handle everything except explicit/graphic child abuse and animal torture; I am uncomfortable & deeply saddened when I read about the Holocaust, but I don’t have nightmares or panic attacks by ANY subject. That said, Chelsea and I both recently read a 2nd book by an author who’s first thriller we both loved over a year ago. The newest one I felt had prolific gratuitous use of some behaviors (?), which made a palatable read into something that was just icky. But if it had mentioned that there was subject or event “X” on the cover, I would have still purchased a copy, as that in itself would not have turned me off from reading.

There are things I personally don't care to read about, including women being stalked and animals being abused. But a simple description in blurbs about the book usually give me any clues I need that this particular book's theme may not be something I care to read. No one can possibly anticipate everyone's "triggers".

Marilee wrote: "There are things I personally don't care to read about, including women being stalked and animals being abused. But a simple description in blurbs about the book usually give me any clues I need th..."

I agree with the above comments that the blurb usually gives enough hints about things that would be disturbing and that it would be impossible to anticipate every possible trigger.

That said, something like pedophilia or animal abuse maybe should be hinted at, for the very sensitive.

I think the only trigger warning I would need (and it's not so much a trigger warning just I'm a little uncomfortable with and dislike) is pedophilia and animal abuse but I think any normal person needs a little heads up with that.

Often it's difficult to see from the blurb if the violence is only mentioned or described - especially for readers not native in English - and after reading your blurb I wasn't really sure if it's part of the actual story or his past only.
Due to my personal traumatic past I usually like to know if there is any graphic violence (especially any kind of abuse or rape) so I can decide if I can/want deal with it right now. Fortunatelly I can deal with mere mention of violence/abuse pretty well by now.

From my experience over the last five years I realised if I see a warning below the description (due to mature content...) I expect graphic content but a mere mention of the word abuse in the blurb often meant it's just mentioned or implied.

I hope this helps to understand better some of the more sensitive readers.