Scary Stories...

“What I really want to do is write horror like Stephen King, or Dean Koontz, or Grady Hendrix. But I can never seem to capture that feeling of impending doom.”

“I think it’s because you are too lighthearted. I think to write really good horror you have to be kind of horrific yourself. Or at least lived through something that kind of bent you that way.”

“You think all of them are horrific themselves? They don’t really seem to be. They seem like fine people.”

“Maybe now but like think about King’s drinking. He was a hard-core alcoholic. You don’t drink like that if you aren’t running from something. You really need to be in touch with the dread to be able to write it well. In my opinion, of course.”

“Maybe…”

“Besides, you are good at writing other things. You have a deft touch with comedy. You really make me laugh, like genuine laughter, with a lot of your stories. And your romance is just the right blend of whimsy and sexy times.”

“Sexy times?”

“You know what I mean. The heart pounding stuff. You do a good job with that. Without making it gross. Nobody needs to read about bodily fluids. Though, maybe that’s where you could start with horror? Start slipping in some bodily fluids’ paragraphs. Get a feel for that and then expand.”

“Sadly, I think that is a whole class of ‘romance’ novels now. Gore porn.”

“Gore porn? Well, that’s just wrong.”

“I don’t want to kink shame but let’s just say I won’t be adding it to my oeuvre.”

“Oeuvre. That’s a fancy word. You could do a novel written only with fancy words like that and the horror for the reader will be having to look up half of them.”

“Ha. Ha. Very helpful.”

“Look, I’m just saying be grateful for what can do. Not everyone can write what you write. It’s okay that you can’t write horror. Leave that to others. And maybe be grateful that you haven’t had such a horrific life that you are in touch with that stuff.”

“Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“I usually am. I mean I’m not saying that I’m always right, but you get to my age, and you gain a little bit of wisdom. Trust me, you are fine. Not everything has to be scary. I would bet there are times that King and Koontz wish they could make friends with their demons and not be compelled to write such terrifying stuff. Hendrix, I think, might actually be on good terms with his demons, his stuff is scary, sure, but awfully funny as well.”

“Or maybe they just got stuck with awful demons. I mean, not everyone is as lucky as I am.”

“Look, like calls to like. That’s the thing they really should make clear in those summoning spells. But I guess that’s the catch. Okay, I’m off to cheer up a few kelpies, bad day in the swamp. If you need another pep talk later, you know how to reach me.”

And with that Greyzx vanished in a soft purple mist. Belinda put the ancient coin back into its velvet box. He was right. Everyone had their own demons to contend with, she was lucky that hers was so helpful.

(notes on the piece in the comments)