Here There Be Monsters Forum The gore factor

Where does the line lay when adding the gorey details to a horror story? How much is too much? Is it better to describe every detail or leave some to imagination? Do we censor our writing from becoming a blood bath, or do we let it flow? These are a few questions I've always asked myself when writing. While I have my own limits, I would love to hear ya'lls thoughts on this subject. So bring on the blood and help me out with some answers...


-Dawn Marie

Well in the novel I'm working on the first gorey stuff occured in chapter 16 (1st draft of 1st novel) where "The room was covered in blood. There were footprints on the floor from where Aislinn and Colin had walked right through it. The squish noise Colin had heard was that of blood and guts. There were body parts, inside and out, spread all over the floor. There was nothing left of the person, whoever it was." and in the same chapter same scene, "Above them was a body hanging from the ceiling. The body was flat against the ceiling with arms and legs both spread apart. The face was scratched up. The stomach area was cut open with what looked like a woman's uterus hanging out."

Personally I'm not all that big on the gore factor. Yes it's a good shock factor, but I prefer to f**k with people psychologically. Mess with their head, make them think one thing and then it be another. Oh and the woman who's uterus was hanging out was the character, Desmond's, great grandmother. That makes it a little bit more sick. Gore has it's place, but just a pure gorey story doesn't have enough substance. Stephen King did a good job of that in his newest book "The Cell", which was not as cheesy as I thought it would be. Most of the gorey stuff was in the beginning of the story and then came into play occassionally when it fit.

For me, gore usually only arrives when it's necessary. If it's part of the scene's impact, describe it. Just remember, blood and gore is like spice: The more you use, the less impact it has. I mainly use it to emphasize brutality in a particularly violent scene, or aftermath, things of that nature. Mostly, though, it's a matter of style. Some writers use a ton of gore, which their readers like, and some writers use very little, which their readers like. How you write is up to you; it determines your voice.

I tend to think it's like everything else in writing: less is more. That holds especially true with gore. If you can give one or two really vivid and creative details, the rest will form in your reader's head. Reader's are not stupid--they don't want everything spelled out.

Another quote I live by is: "The subject dictates the form". If the story is a violent one, then by all means, you can gross your readers out--understanding that they will get desensitized to too much eventually. Better to save your shock value for the high-tension scenes.

That's my two-cents worth. :)

i actually use a lot of desensatization in my story. violence, gore, sex....it starts out shocking, but becomes engrained enough in the story so that its almost its own form of communication. but for me at least, that was intentional.

i look at gore the same way i look at sentiment. its one thing to paint the walls with words of love, another to have a way of describing it without having to use the exact definitions. A good example is equating someone's voice to music, as apposed to saying someone 'loved' the voice of the other. which one speaks more to the emotion, and which one is a summation of sentiment? if you can raise the hair on people with just a sentence, and that is your intention, more power to ya. if you want to immerse someone in a world of depravity, you can do that too. just keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish with everything you are doing, as any one thing can be overdone.

These are all great suggestions. You all make pretty good ponts for each opinion, but I guess it's pretty much "To each, their own." I like the point that Darren made, "The reader isn't stupid." but then I also like to detail a story. So I guess I'll just let it flow.. Thanks for the replies.