Writing, Illustrating & Publishing > Research
the "creep" factor
KDuBay:
Want to do some opinion polling among Blueboarders that read/write creepy stories. . . .
What gives a story the 'creep' factor in your opinion? Atmosphere? Things that move? Unexplained noises? Gore?
What are some MG books that achieve a creep factor?
Thanks!!
dinalapomy101:
WAIT TIL HELEN COMES and THE DOLL IN THE GARDEN by Mary Downing Hahn are oldies but goodies. To this day, they are the creepiest MGs I've ever read. They are both ghost stories with no gore, but amazing atmosphere and the fact that the reader knows the something really bad could happen soon and we keep waiting to find out when.....
KDuBay:
impending doom. . . . that's a great creep factor! anticipation. Yes. Absolutely!
ecb:
I would have to say that atmosphere is without a doubt #1 on my list. A little bit of tension in the setting--be it shadows you can't quite make out, or a summer day that's just a little *too* hot and still to be natural... I think establishing that edgy scene-setting is critical. A close second would be slightly creepy characters. Think Mrs. Danvers in REBECCA. Add a MC who's already on edge because of XYZ (stayed out past curfew/married a man far out of her station in life/moved cross country against her will)... and that is pretty much a perfect recipe for The Creeps (my favorite literary dish!).
If you want to soak up fabulous examples where they get everything just exactly right, here are some of my favorite recommendations:
"Rebecca" (Hitchcock's film version is stupendous)
TAMSIN, by Peter S. Beagle (great YA ghost story with astounding creep factor and a villain that makes my skin crawl, utterly without gore or overt violence)
THE WATCH HOUSE by master frightener Robert Westall (one of the scariest scenes I've ever read in a book. :werd :hiding)
THE BONE DOLL'S TWIN by Lynn Flewelling (aside from the author having The Coolest Name *Ever,* this is a traditional fantasy that is seriously high on the Creep Factor scale. Changeling children, necromancy, spells gone horribly awry... delicious.)
JennaWren:
I'll second Rebecca -- masterful.
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