Halloween 2022: Indian horror fiction writers discuss challenges, charm of writing scary stories

Fans of ghost stories shape an obnoxious stock of humans This writer speaks on behalf of her clique that passionately seeks scare The pull of fear has you so emotionally invested in spirits that you may want to keep a diary of your favourite creepy crawlies Halloween is a tempting time to get back to books such as The Monkeyrsquos Paw by WW Jacobs The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Charles Dickensrsquo A Christmas Carol And much though we enjoy such customary reads we are made to mull the wishful element in pursuing fright Does the genre carve out a safe space for our vulnerable selves Three authors tell us about their experience of courting a chilling storyMake it believeableThe basic ingredients of a good spooky story are atmosphere emotion and plot Creating the right atmosphere through language to describe the setting in which the story unfolds and moving at the right pace can help build up tension Itrsquos the difference between stating that the house was haunted and saying the house was isolated that it had dark shadows in every corner and made eerie sounds in the night Therersquos more horror fiction available in India than psychological haunting the latter being more difficult to pull off There is still scope for wellwritten ghost novels to be published here One should focus on story craft and quality to pull off the believability of hauntingThe genre is a favourite across age groups as most readers are addicted to the endorphin rush A ghost story allows one to feel safe enough to enjoy that heady rush while being aware that itrsquos unreal Irsquom a huge fan of Venita Coelhorsquos The Washer of the Dead The Penguin Book of Indian Ghost Stories is a nice collection which has one of my favourite tales mdash Fritz by Satyajit Ray in it Though controversial The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is still one of the creepiest books I have ever read and a great study in psychological haunting I dare anyone to read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill from start to finish without having goosebumps throughoutJessica Faleiro novelist jessicafaleiro76Donrsquot let the dust settleA scene from The Haunting of Hill House Pics CourtesyYoutubecomI approach the genre by first letting a reader settle into the tale Then I proceed to unsettle them In my books I am constantly tapping into psychological fears It is important to find characters with inner demons When grey characters fight external threats readers connect their actions to their innermost feelings Also getting the process of fear right is crucial I try to relate it to what I face every time I am expected to board an elevator Being claustrophobic it scares me When conveying a similar phobia I build on the details to trickle into a readerrsquos mindA moment from The ExorcistAs a child I enjoyed periodicals and magazines with Indian ghost stories mdash Aytheehyamala and Chandamama among others I really enjoyed Rosemaryrsquos Baby by Ira Levin After reading that book I used to look at my neighbours with suspicion Shirley Jacksonrsquos The Haunting of Hill House and The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty are two of my other favouritesK Hari Kumar author TheHariKumarGrisly possibilitiesHorror is no more restricted to tried and tested tropes Itrsquos a wide genre including the dark secrets of the mind the supernatural and more Uncharted territories make for good scares In my book Spooky Stories therersquos a tale wherein I have deepdived into the historical mysteriousness of a place It is set in China An emperor has killed some 100 concubines after his favourite concubine was poisoned My twist to this story was the introduction of a journalist who visits the place to know the truth about its paranormal activities The setting is significant to spooky tales Some of my favourite alltime scary reads are Coraline by Neil Gaiman The Shining by Stephen King The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde and Rebecca by Daphne du MaurierTanushree Podder author poddertanushreeThe Guidersquos top 3 tiny spooky picksWhile some say brevity is the soul of wit we believe it is also the soul of scare Here are three twosentence stories from the genre Tiny Nightmares that we recommend from the Web They delivered the mannequins in bubble wrap From the main room I could hear the bubbles popping Therersquos a picture on my phone of me sleeping But I live alone My sister often tells me that our mommy killed her And mommy says that I do not have a sister