Dear Reader,
Horror has always been the genre people use to express their problems, the negative emotions they deal with, or to shed light on tough subjects. In a way, horror has always felt more real than other genres. When I browse for horror films or books: I always picture myself as if looking for an interesting documentary, one that has something special to say. This isn’t always the case, as 90% of what I find is (in my opinion) “gutter trash”… but now and then, I find a movie that actually hits that spot I want to itch.
But my writing draws inspiration from other forms of media, too, such as video games. Once again, I’m gonna talk about Silent Hill 2— a big inspiration for Agony. This game was incredible from my very first play-through, and somehow I got the “Maria” ending for my first run (without knowing there were alternate endings). This may sound impossible, given how difficult that ending is to achieve on purpose— I know— but I think the reason I got it was because of who I was during that time in my life. I was a very lonely teenager. A hopeless romantic chasing the perfect girlfriend, the idealized partner. To get that ending in SH2 is essentially doing the same thing. James (the MC of SH2) has to ignore any and every artifact of his sick wife, Mary (who died), and chase after Maria. Maria is his idealized version of Mary. James accepted his sins… and his reward for that was Maria. Years later, when I played the remake: I assumed I would effortlessly get the same ending on my first try. However, I got the “Leave” ending. I was floored, shocked, and confused! I had never seen that ending before. As a kid, I either got “In Water” or “Maria”— but now, in my thirties: I finally got “Leave”, the easiest ending to get! I would like to think it means I have grown as a person… but it could just be the easiest ending to get.
I explained all that because SH2 is a horror game— an incredibly emotional, thought-provoking horror game about real issues. Hence why I write horror. There is so much to be said within the genre of horror that feels out of place in others! There can be this grand comedy of trying to reclaim a great treasure and all the hilarious highjinks that go with it. But then the comedy stops just long enough to develop a more serious tone for a moment of reflection… before the fun begins again and stays until the end. To me, that is a childish way of talking about something serious! The true meaning and the weight of that serious moment are easily forgotten, evaporating in the laughs afterwards. The “action” genre holds a lot of great, thought-provoking moments as well… but that’s not why people gravitate towards that genre— so it’s never the core experience. With horror books: the entire experience is everything you try to ignore, and it chases you relentlessly until you face it. You expect bad things to happen in horror! For example: you may enter willingly into an uncomfortable talk about your addiction, that you can’t control yourself anymore, and the fact that you need help. In horror, this would be a pièce de résistance scene. Or you may enter the lion’s den knowing the danger, so you’re only mildly surprised when your ex bursts out of its chest whilst yelling “You need to wake up; it’s been three years!”. A grand reveal coupled with some good-old-fashioned metaphorical gore!
I do plan to write other genres, I’m just starting with horror as it’s my go-to when I want to relax with a bowl of popcorn or a cup of coffee.
Horror Enthusiast At Heart,
Clay Tarlton-Hensley