IWSG: The Monster in Horror and Science Fiction

It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. October is the month of Halloween and so when I saw the optional question for the month I knew it was perfect timing. At least for me whose one of two favourite genres is horror. The other is science fiction. So, the question of the month is What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre? I’m going to divert a little in my answer to this question in that, as I’ve already named them, I have two favourite genres and there’s one characteristic that I like best about both of them: the monster character. 

Of course, science fiction stories do not always have to have monsters in them, but a lot of them do and among these many have overlapped with horror. Not even horror stories have to have monsters in them, but more horror fiction has the monster character in it than does science fiction. So why do I like the monster in horror, including the mixed genre science fiction-horror? I like it because it represents fear of the unknown and the beyond. 

Horror is often about the unknown and the mysterious that is rooted in death and fear. It's universal that what we don't know about or is unrecognisable to us we fear to some extent. And since prehistoric man, people have reflected fears of the unknown in their storytelling. Along with these tales came speculation of what happens in an unknown region such as a forest or the ocean. These tales posed questions such as “What happens someone goes into the dark forest or jungles at night and what lurks out there? Will it kill you or take you away to some nether realm? 

Science fiction asks similar questions but on a more scientific and rational level, of course.Whereas horror asks these questions emphasising the fear of fear behind them. The fear aspect is what especially makes horror what it is. 

Horror deals with the fear of the unknown and unrecognizable. Often that unknown or unrecognizable presence is a monster of some sort. The monster in horror can be almost anything from a ghost to a vampire to an inhuman alien. The monster can be half-recognizable which is the case with many vampires and zombies. These two creatures partly look human but they are not human in the sense that they're dead and they are inhumane in their actions, such as the eating of humans or drinking of their blood. What also makes these creatures monstrous are their appearances: they look just a little off-beat from your everyday human. A vampire often looks demonic in his/her frenzied attack on a victim. An example is with Dracula who is described as having unusually pale skin, pointy ears like a wolf's, canine fangs, and a red glow in his eyes. The zombie although often human in form, is often decayed, sometimes missing body parts. 

Then there's the inhuman or unearthly monster which looks nothing like a human or hardly resembles anything on the earth. That's where a lot of H.P. Lovecraft's stories come in which are about creatures that are from dimensions or universes so strange to us that the laws of nature are different than those of our own universe. Because of this, the monster looks totally unfamiliar and grotesque, often to the point of driving a person observing it mad. It's stories such as Lovecraft's that was the seed of science fiction-horror as we know it today.

The monster in horror is often a symbol, a metaphor for what we as a society fear. Often it symbolises the fear of death in some form. That form has varied between eras. Examples are the fear of scientific advancement during the 18th century (Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”) and the fear of atomic warfare and communism during the 1950s (Jack Finney’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”).

So, what I like about the monster in horror, is that it’s an expression of our own fears, some that are too terrifying or upsetting to talk about on the literal level. The unknown realm that the monster often dwells in or comes from--a dark wood or jungle, the underworld, the ocean depths, or space—are also expressions of these fears.  More recently, such an expression has been depicted by the realm of inner space, as in the computer, and that includes our mobile devices and the innovations of them with VR and AI. That's the kind of both natural (as in physical or matter based) and supernatural horror that you'll find in my upcoming book of short stories, "Bad Apps". 

It's been a long journey in writing “Bad Apps”, I still have a few more stories to revise for the book. I'm bad with deadlines, but when I start something I keep going at it until I finish it. So "Bad Apps" will launch eventually, I just can't say exactly when. But I can give you updates on my latest progress with it which can mostly be found in my newsletter, "Night Creatures' Call". Issue 11 of the newsletter is now out. If you haven't subscribed to the newsletter, you can do it for free here. In issues of “Night Creatures’ Call” you'll get other great benefits such as expanded versions of posts from this blog and discounts on books!

So, what are your favourite characteristics of your favourite genre?

Today’s IWSG is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the Cassa Series of novels! 

Until next time . . .