Why I Write Horror Stories
I’ve published six books: three books of adult fiction and three books for young readers. While I don’t exclusively write horror, a good portion of my stories are at least horror themed. Even when I’m writing about surfing and the ocean, a supernatural or horror fact pattern will often somehow wiggle its way into the mix. My new book, Terror at Twin Lakes, is a horror novella + collection of surfing tales.
I had expected that by this point in my writing journey, I would have gotten a good handle on why so many of my tales harbor dark ideas. I suppose I still don’t have much of an answer to this question. All I can say is that when I sit down to work on a new manuscript, these are the stories that eventually end up appearing before me on my computer screen.
Although I read a decent amount of horror books (Stephen King is among my favorite authors), I’ve never been much of a fan of horror movies. Scary flicks are usually too unsettling and gory for my taste. I recently read The Exorcist, which I thought to be a pretty damn good book. The following week I watched The Exorcist movie (the original), and concluded that the movie was overall low quality, full of missed opportunities to build real suspense, filled with over-the-top, grotesque scenes that did not reach me on any deep level.
At this point in my life, some people might expect that I would spend my time writing upper-class, hoity-toity legal thrillers chock-full of characters who sip their tea from high-end China resting upon dainty saucers, while discussing mergers and acquisitions in a Manhattan high-rise. I have attempted on more than one occasion to buckle down and finally get to work on a serious, adult-ish book that a president of an Ivy League university would be proud to display upon his mohogany bookshelf. But the only thing more boring than those attempted “adult” storylines were the characters I was trying to half-heartedly create. They were all just so dull and unlikeable!
Perhaps deep down inside I will always be a 16-year-old barefoot surfer with long sun-bleached hair and a wet $10 bill crumpled in the pocket of my board shorts. It doesn’t matter how many soulless business conferences I am forced to attend or how many days per week I have to wear a suit and tie to work, I will still always be a writer who appreciates stories that move fast and free; stories that are full of equal parts hope and fear and dread and excitement. I’m afraid I will therefore need to leave it to others to create the legal thrillers and corporate suspense novels that sit in uninspiring stacks upon the shelf at Costco, right next to the white crew socks and neck massagers.
So, what stories do you write and why do you write them? This is a question you may find yourself pondering after you publish a book or two. Perhaps the more important question is whether it even matters. After all, isn’t the most important thing that you’re writing stories that are meaningful, whatever kind they happen to be?
J.S. Lender’s new novella + short story collection, Terror at Twin Lakes, is on sale now! Follow J.S. Lender on Instagram and on Substack.
Copyright © 2023 Reef Point Press / J.S. Lender
