Sarah Jules Writing

Some mid-week fun! (It’s been a while. I’m back. <3)

TURN-ONS 

  Short, snappy, cliff-hanger chapters

I want to feel like I’ll burst if I don’t read the next chapter!

  Tension tension tension – I want to feel it!

Give me all the creepy vibes. Now!

  Real, raw, (sometimes unlikable) characters

I LOVE LOVE LOVE hateful characters. I love reading them and writing them. They’re fun – especially when you end up rooting for them.

  Supernatural, paranormal, weird AF creatures

The unexplainable scares me more than anything.

  Sci-fi/social commentary
Dystopian futures, techno-horror, yes!

  High stakes, against the clock, almost thriller-y vibes

I want my horror to read like a thriller. Is that too much to ask?

  BONUS POINTS: Deep sea and/or deep space setting

Deep sea/deep space?! What on earth could possibly be a scarier setting than that?

TURN-OFFS 

 Any animal cruelty in any capacity, but especially dogs
Self-explanatory. I don’t want to read that – even if it is ‘important to the story’. 

  Bodily fluids/splatter punk (I’m sorry! I’m a wimp!)

I really want to like splatter punk! I do. I just can’t stomach it.

  Boring 2d-feeling characters

I want characters I’m going to remember – for good or bad. For me, characters are the main driving force of a novel. If they fall flat… Well, it’s not for me.

  No (or unrealistic) dialogue

I love dialogue. It drives the story forward, makes the book pacey, and if this doesn’t hit the mark, everything kind of falls apart.

  Blaming things on mental health conditions

‘The villain did all of this because he/she has [INSERT ANY DEMONISED MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION’]. It makes me want to throw books across the room. People with mental health conditions are already stigmatised enough, don’t you think? I’m not saying that it can’t be an aspect of a character, but for the love of all that is holy, don’t make it the whole reason they’re the villain.

  Overly descriptive/flowery language

I said what I said. I’m a simple gal. I’m here for the story, not a vocab lesson. 

MAYBES 

 Coming-of-age

I don’t know, I think I’m maybe burned out of kids on bikes…

  Gore

I have a love/hate relationship with gore. 

  Historical settings

I just don’t think I’m a historical fiction lover. I’d love to be proven wrong.

  The ‘classics’

The whole, ‘If you haven’t read [INSERT CLASSIC HORROR AUTHOR], then you’re not a real horror lover,’ isn’t a bit of me. Read what you want to read.

  Formulaic slashers
Sometimes they work, sometimes it’s just another slasher. I LOVE slashers, but at this stage, they kind of need a bit of something else too. For example, ‘I Was a Teenager Slasher’  by Stephen Graham Jones is an absolutely stunning slasher, and still formulaic. 

What are your horror turn-ons, turn-offs, and maybes? 

I love that the horror genre encompasses so many tropes and mini-genres. There’s truly something for everyone. You don’t like gothic horror, here, have this comedy alien horror! Job done.