When Ravens Crawk... er... Call?

Raven on a fence in front of a yellow car 1
Originally uploaded by Atli Harðarson

I have had a novella length story I've literally been working on for three years and one week. I started writing it on March 6, 2006, and just finished it today. The sad part is, it spent about two years and nine months shuffling between intention, minor update and the back burner.

As the weather's been changing, of course, I've gotten to spend a lot more time outdoors. We get a lot of crows in the yard and in the field across the road, but among them is a strange imposter. A raven. Their throaty crawking call is so unique that it's not easy to dismiss when I set out in the morning with my dog to do the daily yard patrol. So every day, this raven gives us a throat full of hell as we parade the yard, and as soon as I spot it, it takes off and flies over to the field, where it disappears.

What does this have to do with my novella? Well, one of the main characters in the story is actually a raven. And for the last few weeks, I've felt as if that raven were prodding me to dive back into my story and get it finished. On Friday morning, I stepped outside to test the weather, and there it was in the massive pine tree beside the house. It squarawked at me twice, bobbing it's head, and then we both went about our business.

I came inside, brought up the document, and got to work. About twenty minutes ago I finished the first draft. Sadly, I worry that my raven friend may disappear now that I've fulfilled my part of the bargain, but I hope not. A lingering raven will make sure I get through the workshopping process, as well as second and third draft edits.

Any of my friends who might be interested in a proofread, please let me know. I'm always more than grateful for the extra feedback, even from non-writers.

Truly Terrifying...

Ever since I was a girl, I have been fascinated by the truly terrifying. The oldest of four children, I was the evil baby sitter who stayed up late after the kids went to bed munching on popcorn and watching A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. My mother was a huge Stephen King fan, so by the time I was twelve I had read some of his most hair-raising work and still recall going to bed and pulling the blankets tight up around my neck after reading Salem's Lot.

I have often blogged about my own endeavors into horror writing. During NaNoWriMo I worked quite a bit on a zombie novel and the novel I am trying to complete right now is a ghost story. This afternoon I was working on a writing prompt that came out like some twisted version of Revelations that ended badly for humanity, and it got me to thinking about what types of things other people might find horrific and terrifying. What scares me might not scare you, and visa versa.

Writers like John Saul often incorporate the supernatural and demonic into their work, relying on the Christian fear of God to frighten their readers, while others use monsters and apocalyptic situations. More and more often these days, it seems as if horror has employed a "nothing's shocking" approach, taking nightmares right out of every day life to give their readers a scare. Serial killers and stalkers are the boogeymen of the new millenium, and it would seem that the more outlandish their murder tactics, the more appealing their stories are to most readers.

I personally have a hard time getting into that type of horror and prefer a more paranormal threat. There's something safe (and yet equally mortifying) about the monster under the bed when he's a zombie or a vampire, something we categorize as unrealistic, but it seems that the lack of paranormal proof has pushed the limits of horror into the ghastly and realistic.

Psychological thrillers are another big seller these days. Stories that test the bounds of what is real and suggest that the most horrific of all horrors is the reality we create for ourselves. For example, Stephen King's short story, "1408," which tests the bounds the between the paranormal and the human mind, have the capacity to be truly thrilling because one has to ask, "Is this real or is it a product of the imagination?"

So whether you write horror, read horror or occasionally enjoy a horror movie, what brand of horror scares you the most and why? Has this changed in your lifetime? It has for me. When I was younger I was all about the slasher films. While I definitely appreciated a good ghost story or zombie film, the idea of a serial murder hacking up teens was my idea of a good scare. As a mother to a teen those types of movies now just depress me more than anything.