#HorrorWritersChat If you feel alone and have no way to reach someone:
- sound helps, especially human voices- even your own. Put on some songs or ASMR affirmation videos.
- as does visuals: movie, comfort shows, etc.
- focus your mind on something creative: draw, play, read...
- you got this.
#HorrorWritersChat The easy answer is contrast: present the character with people to make readers realize how they talked, reacted, behaved before their ordeal. The isolation can be brutal, but how the character changes has to be gradual as they lose grasp with reality.
#HorrorWritersChat Psychological isolation my beloved. The mind degrades without connection: dull or high emotions/senses, deformed memories, random physical pain, etc. How the character is going to make up for it? How are they going to react when someone will interact with them?
Hi! I’m new on Bluesky, I occasionally write psychological horror or horror-comedy, and I’m gonna pick most of the Edgar Poe’s short stories and Amnesia: The Dark descent. Isolation is not the main theme but one of the main causes.
#HorrorWritersChat
Hmm. Y'know, I've never thought about it. Settingwise, usually an empty area (someplace dark, , like, an empty void). Pacing depends on scene. Sensory details...none. Isolation. Blackness. No sound. No light. Nothing's there. Nobody to hear you scream. Nobody to whom you matter.
#HorrorWritersChat
Thanks, Mary!
My gothic horror A Fragile Thing is 3 weeks old! 19thC London & Isaac Bercow manipulates minds, only to find he, too, is vulnerable.
Available here: www.watertowerhill.com/stephanieellis
It received a wonderful write up here:
horror.org/notable-work...
#HorrorWritersChat
I don't tend to feel lonely. Moving to Wrexham did impact me, but I joined things, am now beginning to establish friendships.
Isolation hits me more. But I try & get to a con or two (money permitting) & so online friendships become more 'real' and we'll chat online too.
#HorrorWritersChat
Within folk horror, I usually make it so that escape seems impossible. If you are walking a path which should take you to safety, it just loops you round. The land is at work against the person seeking escape.
Also making the person feel 'watched' by others or something unseen.
#HorrorWritersChat
I think the isolation within a physical environment because that can lead to the social & psychological.
Within a remote settlement & no escape, the outsider/rebel is isolated further, eg Theodore in Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon. His blinding is horrific & separates him further.
#HorrorWritersChat
A day late but Mary has let me in!
I'm Stephanie Ellis, writer of all sorts of horror.
Isolation is a critical part of the folk horror 'chain' in such texts.
2 for me:
Obvs Wicker Man (73) - the island, the incomer
Starve Acre - isolation in place & within marriage/grief.
#HorrorWritersChat
Thanks for another great #HorrorWritersChat!
I actually have a ghostly flash fic that came out today. Check it out here👇
I love my online writing community, both here and on Discord, and they have helped me a lot in staying connected and managing loneliness.
I also like to go outside where I can be in nature because it helps me feel like a part of the wide world, not just the ones in my head.
#HorrorWritersChat
I’ve experimented with the shift in tenses, so the isolation feels more immersive and immediate. But I also think grammar, punctuation, and sentence length can have a sneaky, sometimes unsettling effect on a reader’s experience.
#HorrorWritersChat
psychological isolation is my favorite to write about. But I think all of these types are heightened by mixing and matching (and I love reading all of the above).
The sensation of feeling alone/isolated even when surrounded by other people is something I have fun writing about.
#HorrorWritersChat
Ok, hi #HorrorWritersChat.
I’m AG, a queer SFF writer from Oregon. I write primarily fantasy-horror, and have been dabbling in what my writing group calls “cozy horror.”
I really love THE LUMINOUS DEAD by @caitlinstarling.com. The MC is spelunking on an alien planet all alone…
Hold on, you guys manage the loneliness?
#horrorwriterschat
Like many here, I’m an introvert; I like my alone time. But if I’m struggling or just preoccupied, I can withdraw into myself too much.
It's easier to come out of self-isolation when I know understanding friends and ways of connecting like #HorrorWritersChat have a door open for me to come through.
Thank you Mary! I really enjoyed today’s questions!
I made a bunch of tiny PALMETTO BOY books to celebrate my book’s release and I’m giving 15 away to anybody who wants one.
Link to the post here:
bsky.app/profile/d-a-...
#HorrorWritersChat
I certainly use setting, sensory details, perception of time, and memory issues a lot, but I would say that the main thing is miscommunications and misunderstandings. There's so much scope for tragedy and horror in the feedback loop of isolation and misunderstandings.
#HorrorWritersChat
I’d like to promo my women writers editing special. 30% off until April 15 for scheduling anything this year. See link in bio! 🫶🏼
Thank you for the chat today and looking forward to new connections here ongoing and the next chat Appreciate everyone! 💛
#horrorwriterschat
Thanks for another great #HorrorWritersChat I’ll have some new short horror out in anthologies over the next few months, but in the meantime, you can check out what I’ve already published at dangerouswhenbored.com/collections/...
I’m a hard-core introvert, #HorrorWritersChat I learned during Covid shutdowns that it takes six months before I feel isolated. Since I almost never get left alone that long, I don’t actually feel lonely that often. I do however get restless, and a nice long walk in the woods is best for that.
So, I'm going to do a hybrid promo this week.
I had the privilege of being an ARC reader on @gunsmile.bsky.social's upcoming book "The Devouring," and I'm posting my full review on The Writer's Journey tomorrow to align with the book's release!
Keep an eye out for it! 😁🙏
#HorrorWritersChat
Oh, definitely the mixture of all three. Especially when there are multiple characters, isolated in different ways, struggling to connect or reunite with each other. Extra especially when one of the forms of isolation is living characters estranged from the dead and vice versa.
#HorrorWritersChat
I’m loving this theme #HorrorWritersChat ! When things are quiet, it’s easy for your mind to start playing tricks on you, so I think sound and the accompanying anxiety make a great base for a horror soup.
I recently started back with my writing group after a long hiatus. I missed hanging out with other writers, reading their work, and learning from them. I always leave meetings inspired and energized, and feeling not so alone as a writer.
#HorrorWritersChat
Until recently, not much. I've struggled for a long time to find a community where I felt like I belonged.
Nowadays, I've managed to build quite a significant writing community over on Substack.
The friends I've made there have been invaluable to my mental health. 🙏
#HorrorWritersChat
Good question, #HorrorWritersChat I think the mental effects of isolation are the most interesting bits, but I am definitely a sucker for a good ruin in the middle of nowhere. The first one to come to mind was Dracula’s castle.
For me, I like to use the absence of things as a way to amplify the horror.
The absence of other people, of sound, of connection, of empathy. By calling out what's NOT there, you begin to see why the isolation is so crushing.
#HorrorWritersChat #WritingCommunity
Hi #HorrorWritersChat I’m a multigenre writer (and that includes some sub genres within horror). A favorite film that explores isolation as a theme is The Others.
