Talented with creating horror stories: sick in the head or just talented?

[UberScout]

Many professionals of therapy and other psychological practice tend to believe that when somebody creates works of horror in some form, like a movie or a novel, and its horror is excessive, it means they are "sick" in the head. And while i've often heard that some of these people embrace it to the point where they start acting on the horror they create, like killing people, they end up confined to a padded cell or some other fate of restraint. (Oooh, that's a good title for a horror game!)

One of my favorite channels on YT is Alpha Beta Gamer, and he ends up playing through a lot of indie horror games during his videos. Now, when it comes to horror in any form, for me it's gaming, not usually movies or written fiction.

I used to write a lot of creepypasta when i was younger, and most of it was pretty well done. I was inspired by other people's works, and lots of the stuff I made was done in less than an hour.

Back to the point, my biggest question is this: would people see my ability to create horror more as an art form or a mental illness? I am worried that if I got too creative, people would mistake me for a criminal.

 

[maycontainthunder]

In my opinion many of the writers look at real events then tweak and twist them to suit how they want the story to go. There are plenty of real sick minds to act as inspiration to horror writers. Many details from games also inspire and a story can emerge from this.

Just because you are writing horror it doesn't mean you have a sick mind. I've written horror scenes into some of my books. A couple are conceived from the outset as horror though.

 

[Knower of nothing]

It rarely asks much of the imagination to think of horrible things that could happen. Now the reason for the motivation to write and experience things like that is a mystery to me, despite having it. I commonly see people rate the interest value of fictional concepts based in some form on how terrifying they are. Be it through scale or consequence or what have you. Massive corporations, huge wars, horrible monsters, tragic family loss, cosmic plagues, every apocalypse scenario, the list goes on. None of these are explicitly part of the horror genre so we can definitely say that the horrific and the ugly are a core part of our art and expression. Likely because they are a core part of nature and the world we live in from which we derive the building blocks for our fiction.
For signs of mental illness, both extremes may be worrying? A big obsession or an intense repression? The links between art and crime are heavily diluted though. For every horror fan, how many actually have issues? It's a massively popular genre. If so many are completely fine producing and consuming it, what can we really say? I believe if anyone is going to be worried because of you writing horror, it's because it added a convenient puzzle piece to something they were already starting to think. This probably won't happen (and can't be helped if it does) so don't worry about it.

 

[UberScout]

I'm so grateful I found a group of people whose faces I've never seen in real life before that can make me feel better about myself.

 

[Au Naturel]

Many professionals of therapy and other psychological practice tend to believe that when somebody creates works of horror in some form, like a movie or a novel, and its horror is excessive, it means they are "sick" in the head. And while i've often heard that some of these people embrace it to the point where they start acting on the horror they create, like killing people, they end up confined to a padded cell or some other fate of restraint. (Oooh, that's a good title for a horror game!)

One of my favorite channels on YT is Alpha Beta Gamer, and he ends up playing through a lot of indie horror games during his videos. Now, when it comes to horror in any form, for me it's gaming, not usually movies or written fiction.

I used to write a lot of creepypasta when i was younger, and most of it was pretty well done. I was inspired by other people's works, and lots of the stuff I made was done in less than an hour.

Back to the point, my biggest question is this: would people see my ability to create horror more as an art form or a mental illness? I am worried that if I got too creative, people would mistake me for a criminal.

There is no conflict between being sick in the head and talented. It is an "and/or" state. Plus the incredibly subjective call on what is sick and what is talented almost renders the point moot. As long as one isn't out there harming other people or creatures, who cares?

 

[Sherlock77]

There is nothing wrong with your interest, we all have interest for different things, and some of those things might be less popular, but no less valid... The focus of my photography is in a genrea that also has a fairly narrow audience, but that doesn't stop me, and it shouldn't stop you...

 

[Neonatal RRT]

True horror is a psychological state. Understanding the psychology of it can be some degree of innate talent, but I suspect it also takes some learning. I don't think it has anything to do with a "sick mind", per se. Poor taste maybe,...but that's my perspective. The better question is "Why would you want to horrify people?" I do understand there is a population out there that actually enjoy this type of "entertainment",...not my thing,...but to each their own.

 

[Darkkin]

I read a lot of books on forensic pathology and psychology because I try to understand why people act and think the way they do.

And horror has been a part of human nature as long as civilization has been in existence. Violence and war (the acts it entails) become inherent in history and storytelling. It has fascinated people around the world for aeons because it has an element of taboo to it. Reading or writing it in a fictional, historical, or forensic sense is a type of secondhand voyeurism.

A bit like listening to and passing on a rumour, but not starting it or attempting to refute it. It is a passive consumption of information.

My non-fiction bookcase would certainly give people qualms because it is sorted by subject. The time periods and topics are not sanguine.

When the horror becomes problematic is rooted in the moral core of the individual, not the genre as a whole. Context is everything.

At work the other day we had a customer ask for books on serial killer romance. Out of context this came off sounding really creepy, but when asked for specifics (e.g. the serial killer role in the book, in this case a plot driver to stop said killer, more accurate term (romantic suspense). Flipside of this a true crime book, Killer Beside Me by Ann Rule. The customer left with a stack of half a dozen books, both fiction and non-fiction.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with writing horror stories. Look at Steven King. He’s written so many horror novels that are still being read today even though the more famous of these novels are extremely outdated. Carrie has a lot of 70s references, Misery keeps mentioning typewriters and typing paper specifically made for them, and Children of the Corn seems to have the kids stuck in a late 50s to mid 60s town given there is not much modern technology around the place.