October is my favorite month, mostly because of the holiday that takes place at the end of it. I am from the United States, so Halloween is a pretty big deal here. It’s the largest holiday, second only to Christmas as far as the percentage of people who decorate their homes and spend money is concerned. However, Halloween isn’t just about dressing up in costumes and going door to door threatening tricks in return for treats. It’s the first real month of fall. If you live in Ohio, as I do, then this is the month when the leaves truly begin to change. The air is crisp and usually smells of bonfires and hay. Cider and caramel apples abound, and carved pumpkins, lit with candles, flicker on porches. It’s the season when nature makes ready for the hibernation of winter, going out with a burst of red, orange and yellow style.
But above all of this, my favorite part of October and Halloween are the scary stories. Being a reader, I love absorbing these tales while curled up alone in bed, or listening to them told around a crackling bonfire at night. As a writer, being able to scare myself is always promising, and scaring others is equally fun.
Earlier this morning, my fiancé and I were attempting to make a list of fantasy stories, the ones that would fit into the sword and sorcery motif, but were scary. We couldn’t think of any. This isn’t to say that they don’t exist out there somewhere. I’ve just never seen anything of the sort. So, this led me to investigate a question:
Where are all the scary stories in fantasy?
We know that there are many stories that exist that someone could tie to the genre. You have your typical ghost story, or supernatural thriller. You have the favorite Halloween tropes: witches, vampires, zombies, werewolves, demons, Frankenstein, mummies, and so on. You even have the less popular baddies: the bogyman, doppelgangers, the creature from the black lagoon, and the newly discovered Slender Man. Click here for a link to an artist’s re-creation of this intriguing new creature, and here for some of Slender Man’s story.
All of these are great examples of frightening, fantastical creatures. Yet, these creatures exist within another genre altogether: gothic horror (sometimes referred to as the “weird tale”). This genre can encompass all of the above mentioned entities, but where do you draw the line between gothic horror and fantasy? Or could one make the argument that gothic horror in itself is a subgenre of fantasy?
A Google search of the terms “scary sword and sorcery” and “sword and sorcery horror” provided no results, save for mentioning how some stories, such as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series has certain horror elements within them. But, generally, one doesn’t watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy looking for a quick scare (you’re not looking for anything quick when it comes to Tolkien). Other than this small mention, the internet didn’t have much light to shed on the issue.
Reading any genre of story, it’s easy to see how horror can be weaved in. But when you boil fantasy down to medieval knights and wizards, there doesn’t seem to be any story of the kind that would terrify you like a ghost story might.
This begs the next question: Can sword and sorcery fantasy be truly frightening? Can it have the same effect on you as The Exorcist did on viewers in the 70s? Or is that sort of gut emotion not possible with the genre? When it comes to things that scare us, most people find fear in those ideas that hit closest to home, or things that could possibly happen to them, like being killed or tortured. For someone afraid of death, the idea of seeing a ghost can be terrifying. Another person could be horrified at the idea of demons possessing them, especially if they have a religious background. Is the realism of the situation the thing that provides an opportunity for fear? Is it because we know that mummies could never rise, or that men could never turn to werewolves that keeps those things from truly haunting us?
Leave your thoughts in the comments! Oh, and Happy Halloween from Ohio!
