Inspiration Alley

Today's blog topics include: My inspiration for writing horror; assorted movie and television references of varying obscurity

Tim Cody is currently:
Writing: Crimson Soul II
Currently Playing: Dark Souls (PS3)
Watching: The Walking Dead, season 2 (hurray!)
Anticipating: Batman: Arkham City (PS3)


I originally wrote this blog post on my inspiration for writing horror as an author spotlight on Tracy N. Jorgensen's blog Belief Suspenders. It was featured just over a month ago, so if you'd like to see it as it where it was originally posted, check it out right here.

I'll be posting it in my blog this week for three reasons:

A) So visitors to my blog will be afforded some further insight into my mind as a horror writer.
2) I only have two reasons, but three allows me this Psych reference.
H) I've been slightly ensconced lately and need to be a little lazy. Recycling saves planets!

This is how I write horror:

Every writer needs their muse. Mine happens to be a PlayStation 3 named Sebastian Mk.II.

I haven't encountered many writers as willing as myself to admit that a primary source of inspiration for their writing comes from video games. Perhaps it's a belief that video games aren't for serious storytelling, or perhaps there just aren't too many serious writers who are also serious about video games.

However, a bulk of my inspiration for writing horror does indeed come from horror video games—as opposed to other horror books, or films. Games such as Silent Hill, Siren: Blood Curse, Fatal Frame, they're terrifying video games that tell amazing stories. They get horror right, they know their themes: The fear of isolation, abandonment, the sense of absolute panic you experience when something normal is suddenly weird—there's so much in them to inspire a writer, especially of horror. Incorporating these classic and ever-important themes into my own writing in a way that is fresh and exciting is always a good time.

Video games may be easy for a lot of writers to overlook since they're not exactly a “traditional” medium, but the stories they weave rival that of any novel. The deep lore of the sleepy town of Silent Hill, the often heartbreaking yet awe-inspiring war story of Valkyria Chronicles—interactive storytelling at its absolute best; a great, largely untapped source of inspiration.

There's something peculiar about responding to fear by moving toward it instead of away, and something special to be said about those who can elicit such a reaction. I'll never forget the sense of fear inspired by those key scare moments in my favorite games. Standing in a bathroom in Silent Hill and watching the walls bleed and decay all around me; the eerie feeling of absolute discomfort that was a result of watching a woman staked to a sacrificial altar as children sung a creepy nursery rhyme. It's that moment for which horror writers strive. For that moment when someone says “This is terrifying and going to give me nightmares, but I have to know what happens next.”

These moments, when the audience is captivated and uncomfortable, disgusted yet they can't look away despite the fact they have complete control, this is what I strive for in my writing—to lure the reader willingly ever deeper down a dark and twisted road, inhabited by that which we fear most.

The original posting, as any good marketing material, ended with a call to action--where you can go to find more about me and my books, but mostly a link to this here blog. Since you're already here and there are links to my Twitter, Facebook, and book all over, allow me to just say,

That's that and marmalade!

-Tim Cody