On my last post I made note that I don’t actually know anything about the world of Comic Book publication. So I went ahead and looked into how it works. For self-publishing, I think it’s pretty standard, you write the thing and then publish. You need to market it and do all the things, find an audience and market the comic to that audience. But for traditional publishing you write a pitch or synopsis and send that in along with some sample art. Which I was wrong about not doing your own art. Apparently that is more just in Kid lit.
A couple of the important tips from the article are:
Look at comics that are similar to your own. Target those publishers.
Only submit to agents and publishers that already like and publish the type of work that you do.
That tip above applies across the board to any kind of written work.
Publishing timelines run long, so start working on your next project before you get published.
This last tip also applies to any kind of publishing with written work, unless you are self-publishing because you know your own timelines and can start working on your next project whenever you want.
So to sum it up, for publishing, you don’t need to have written the whole comic. You need a synopsis and some of the art. You need to target agents and publishers who are looking for work that you are writing and then you can start the process before you’ve finished your story.
Next in the write what you love series, we will talk about game narrative.
Unlike screenplays, comic books have no specific format for manuscripts. There are no guidelines on how much writing makes up a ‘panel.’ When thinking about writing a comic book, you are a part of a team. If you are the writer, then there will also be an artist, possibly someone who does the lettering, etc. So, your job in comics is to write out not only the story, but what the panel is going to look like and what the characters are doing in each panel.
Comics took their formatting from screenplays. However, individual artists and writers made the format their own, using common sense rules and making the rest up as they went along. Some comic authors prefer to give their artists a lot of direction for each panel, and some do less.
Comic Book Formatting:
I found this article on comic book script formatting:
https://blambot.com/pages/comic-script-basics. It discusses how there is no standard format but also discusses what best practices look like. When writing a comic book it is best to keep in mind that there are other people that need to be able to understand what you are trying to do before you get to that final draft, so formatting is key, and readability is also important.
A couple of interesting bits from the article:
The artists need to know how the letters should look, each panel has a part dedicated to these instructions.
Every panel number is as important as every page number.
Indicate what kind of speech bubble you want in the script for each moment of dialogue.
Comic Books v. Graphic Novels
Graphic novels are similar to comics in many ways. They also have no specific format requirements for their manuscripts and follow the same idea of scripts with common sense additions because of their uniqueness.
Children’s literature and comics are similar in their ability to provide entertainment to people, no matter their ability to read. They can astound small children with the pictures, and then, as people grow, they can enjoy the richness of the narrative. Because of that shared ability I’m reminded of when I dove into children’s books and learned how publication works in that space. When submitting for publication in the children’s space, authors are only able to submit the words of their work, no illustrations. Even if you have amazing talent at illustration, the publishers have illustrators that they work with and they will choose the one that best fits the book.
I’m not going to say that it’s 100% the same with comics, but I would not be surprised. I’m sure that Marvel has a lot of artists that they work with, and even more that are just waiting for their chance, so I assume that when you submit a comic, it has to be only the script.
Something to look into next, I suppose. How to get a comic published traditionally.
Anyway, hopefully this is helpful for someone looking to get into comics.
I often see writers on writer-dedicated websites confess that they don’t actually enjoy reading. The inevitable question becomes, “do I have to read to write well?” The answer is a resounding “yes!” However, I am here to provide a caveat, an exception. But first, let’s start with a question: what do you love? Or maybe, why do you want to write? Because there is a reason here, and normally it boils down to the love of the story. There are a lot of ways to tell a story, a full-length novel is just one of them. If a person wants to write, hates to read, but loves movies or TV shows or plays, then my suggestion, is to write what you love: screenplays…let’s talk about screenplays.
The difference between reading and watching
When I think about the many differences between screenplays and novels. The first big thing that comes to mind is: a person is going to act out the screenplay. The actions have to be realistic. Generally speaking, you are not ‘in’ anyone’s head. The point of view is not as tight; it can follow a person, but it will not be ‘inside the mind’ of a character the same way that a novel is/can be. Formatting is majorly different than novels.
Formatting
On this website: https://dramatify.com/american-screenwriting-standard, they go into detail about what a screenplay should look like. There is a very specific standard, just like there is for novel manuscripts on what they should look like.
Some highlights are that the screenplay should be written in 12 pt. Courier on US letter paper, the headings should be in ALL CAPS and should include only six elements these are: scene heading, action, character, parenthetical, dialogue and transition.
More formatting details can be found here: https://www.emwelsh.com/blog/screenwriting-format-rules. According to this blog post a page of a script is a minute of action in the screenplay. Another interesting thing is that when a character is introduced for the first time, their name should be in all caps. After that, their name does not have to appear in capital letters.
Thoughts on Story
While writing a novel “show don’t tell” is something that people will say a lot. This idea takes on a whole new meaning when writing a screenplay because all of the action is literally shown. There is a difference in the way that you write when the expectation is that the audience will see the subtle motion of the character’s face as they react to another character that they dislike, or the audience will see a character tucking something into their bra. These differences mean that the story becomes felt instead of read, it’s seen and heard and maybe not written as much.
I’m not saying that the writing in a screenplay doesn’t matter; I’m saying that the point becomes subtler.
When I was working on my bachelor’s degree, I was a creative writing emphasis in the English program. There were several types of writing that each writer had to study. It didn’t matter what you loved. You still had to study poetry, and creative non-fiction, and good old prose. Everyone in the program was going to write or had already written a novel. Everyone in the program loved to read and had strong opinions about old works. Life is busy, but writing is important.
Types of Writing
Creative Non-Fiction
Then, a lot of writers were seduced by other types of writing. This is why everyone has to take classes about different kinds of writing. Several people decided that they loved creative non-fiction. Think of a memoir, a memoir is written about a time in your own life while you are still living it. A person can jump around in time. One of the most popular memoirs, and the first, is IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote. This book is classified as creative non-fiction because sections of the book are written from the point of view of the killers. The story is true. It’s not fiction, Capote went to the jail and interviewed them to get the facts, and then he wrote the book as if he were them. Another example is Joan Didion, who was a famous creative non-fiction writer. All of her work is very moving. The point that a lot of students made is that pulling their inspiration from their life directly, instead of thinking about how to fictionalize it or hide it, made the idea of writing less stressful. When it comes to non-fiction, as long as you put “creative” in front of it, it can be okay. However, when you are using real facts, you need to make sure that you are accurate.
Poetry
Poetry got some students, but not as many as creative non-fiction. My poetry teacher loved my work. Poetry can be really satisfying because you can revise a poem 12 times and have a finished work in a day. You can write one word over and over again, and that can be a poem. Most of us learn about basic rhyme schemes in elementary school, but there are so many more. You can write a poem using first letter rhyming, or one where every word has the same middle letter. You can write a prose poem or an epic poem. It can mean nothing. It can mean everything. Poetry is very flexible that way. My teacher for this class used her own writing as an example.
Let’s talk about the kind of writing that most people go to college for. Prose. That “great American (or whatever country you’re in) Novel.” The first thing that they make you do, the first major class in the program, is literary analysis. I think that some people may get discouraged at this point. Some people get very excited here; they are learning to read closely and dive deep into a book. There are students who love to look for that second layer of meaning hidden beneath the words. Obviously, starting here is important because in order to understand the difference between a good book that has a formulaic plot and a one-dimensional character and a great book that shines in every way, one must study them. Personally, I learned so much about plotting by reading. I learned so much about what great writing looks like by studying it. Some of the first books we studied in that literary analysis class were THE GREAT GATSBY, THE TEMPEST, and several works of Edgar Allen Poe.
Anyway, any writing requires a degree of understanding what good writing looks like. But the biggest thing to understand is that editing/revision is what makes writing work. The first thing you put down, I always talk about it as the story I’m telling to myself. It may or may not make it into the final draft. But you don’t have anything to edit if you don’t write it first.
I have discussed the basic elements of plot several times. Most plots have the ‘event’ that happens that causes the story to begin. Then, we have rising action, where the protagonist tries and fails to do the thing, and then we have the climax where the big confrontation happens, and then we have falling action, resolution or conclusion and then the end. If you can keep those things in mind, then you can write a good story. There are other things that make a story, right? Like, the ‘event’ at the beginning needs to be compelling enough to keep the reader engaged. The protagonist needs to have real stakes in the story, they can’t have just stubbed their toe. That’s not a reason for an adventure. Mysteries, however, are a whole other beast. Not only do they require to be a compelling plot with rising action, a climax and falling action, but they also need to have the mystery at the core that the reader should not be able to easily figure out. A mystery author needs to have the ability to keep their readers guessing the entire time. So that brings me to my question, what makes a good mystery story?
1-The Crime Must Be Interesting
Said another way, the crime that the protagonist is investigating should be something that the reader wants to understand. If it’s “who took my stapler,” maybe that will work, if all of the characters in the office are compelling and interesting and have reasons why they took the stapler. However, most readers of mysteries are used to murder being at the core of the story. If you don’t want to write about murder, then make the crime an interesting one. Make the characters (like I’ve already said) compelling, give them reasons why they could be guilty.
2-No One Should be too Innocent
Nothing is more upsetting to mystery readers than being able to pick the guilty person from the first chapters of the book. Or pages of the story, if it’s short. There should be some skeletons in everyone’s closet. There should be multiple possible killers or guilty parties.
If you are not a reader of mystery and you are looking to write in the genre, I would suggest that that is a bad idea, I don’t know if there is a finickier bunch of readers besides maybe sci-fi enthusiasts. If you don’t understand the tropes of the genre, or the things that have been overdone, then you aren’t going to be able to write a story that people are interested in reading.
3-There Should be Red Herrings, but not too Many
You should be able to write a story that leads readers in the wrong direction, but that also rewards careful readers. The point here is that you should use foreshadowing in such a way that when a reader gets to the end and finds out the who in the whodunit, they maybe are surprised, but they aren’t angry because they were tricked.
4-The Crime Should be at or Near the Beginning
Whatever mystery is occurring in your story, it should be right at, or near the beginning. This can happen as early as the prologue or in the first chapter. You can call the crime the ‘inciting incident’ if you want. For example in the Italian Job, the movie starts with a heist that goes wrong and one of the members of the group dies, while another one runs off with all the money.
Since that happens right at the beginning, the audience is hooked into the story and wants to get revenge along with the protagonist throughout the rest of the story. I don’t normally use movies as reference, but this one is a very easy to see example of what is meant when you’re putting the crime at the beginning. A book example would be in Cuckoo’s Calling, the very beginning of the book goes through a model dying by maybe jumping maybe falling off a balcony, and then it skips time to introduce the main character, a PI who the readers follow as he investigates the crime. In the book, the beginning leaves it ambiguous enough that the reader is unsure if the model jumps or is pushed.
We can’t have two, or three. I think at least four people that may or may not have done the crime is a good number. Just think, if you need to pick between two people, it’s a fifty-fifty chance, right? Put another person in there and it gets more interesting, but one more, and then it’s like okay…any one of these people has a reason to have done it.
I’m not saying they all need a lot of time, but well thought out reasons are good. Like, the person who was killed owed them money, or maybe there was an old grudge. Stuff like that.
6-The Victim Should be Interesting
The victim shouldn’t just be a victim. They should be a whole person. They should have an interesting life: friends, relatives, enemies. If they are an adult, they should have a job or a career. Maybe they are an addict, or they gambled. Interesting quirks or habits make them come to life (even though they aren’t alive in the book) and give you more to work with, as far as why someone didn’t want them to be alive anymore.
7-The Investigator Needs to be a Main Character
This happens in a lot of different ways. Maybe the person who is investigating is an amateur. Or maybe they are with an agency, or police, or a PI. But someone who is performing investigative work needs to be a main character. You could also have other main characters in the story. You could have the victim’s significant other, you could even do some POV from the person who committed the crime as long as you don’t give away who they are and spoil the ending for the readers. But mystery readers enjoy investigating along with the investigator, so knowing how the investigator thinks, or what they see that is unique and different from what other people see will help the story feel more “real” to the readers.
So that’s what I have so far. Let me know if you feel like there is something in the what makes good mystery story article that I missed.
I was texting with my brother the other day. We were discussing our creative endeavors. He was talking about how he hasn’t felt inspired to compose a new song (I’m not sure if compose is the right word when it’s not classical). I asked him if musical prompts are a thing and told him how writing prompts have helped me. That writing creatively regularly is so important, but sometimes reading is the only thing I can get done at the end of the day.
It got me thinking, what things help to write creatively regularly? What are the best tips? Here are a few of mine that I keep coming back to when i find myself in a rut, or so tired that I can only think about reading for a few minutes before bed.
1- Fast Fiction
Just write a paragraph (250 words). It’s like when you begin exercising, you don’t want to try and do a 10k if you’ve been sitting on the couch for a year; you need to start small. Or, if you just don’t have time. You can probably write a paragraph at the end of the day.
2- Writing prompts can be your friend
Not inspired? Grab a vague enough prompt that you can go anywhere with it. There is a subreddit for writing prompts. This website has some interesting generators about plots. I haven’t tried it, but it could be fun.
3- Journaling is writing too
Don’t have any ideas? You’re still living. Think your life is boring? Well, describe what is so boring about it in detail. What did you have for breakfast and lunch? Did you go to work and talk to boring co-workers? What did you talk about? What did you do when you got home? Did you walk your dog, play with your cat, feed your fish, or take a nap? Those are all things that you did and that you can write about. These writings are all practice. If you’re new to writing, it’s good to write about anything and everything.
If you have an idea, but you’re afraid it’s too “stupid” or “bad” or “overdone” or something, write it anyway. It’s okay to write the thing. It’s okay for it to be littered with errors, and it’s okay for it to be something that you don’t want to show anyone. You still wrote it; you did it. It’s also okay to be proud that you finished it when you finish.
5- I’m afraid that AI will eat my words
Me too, friend, me too. But the monster isn’t going anywhere. So the choices are either stop writing or just deal. I’ve decided to deal.
6- Write at the same time every day
I like to write after everything is wrapped up for the day. So, the kids have done their homework, gotten bathed, dinner has been made and eaten, etc. Some people have a morning preference. I find, for myself, that having writing to look forward to is good. But if you dread the task you can front-load it.
7- It doesn’t need to be special
One of the best tips that I’ve been given is that writing doesn’t need to be special. You don’t need a huge desk in the perfect light or the perfect pen, laptop, or program. You can write with a pen that’s almost out of ink onto a coffee filter, and the words will still have impact. If you are struggling to write because you need everything “just so,” let go of the idea that writing has to happen in a perfect world because all of us are imperfect with lives that are even more so.
8- What is your best tip?
Finally, do what works for you. What is your best “writing regularly” tip? I keep on getting into and then falling out of writing. And even though I preach about how important consistency is, I struggle to maintain it myself.
I recently played through the Silent Hill 2 Remake; at the end of 2025. Since I didn’t get to this until recently, I am a little later to the party. However, it is a horror classic. So, I would like to write my thoughts out in this Silent Hill 2 review/interpretation of the story.
Originally coming out in October of 2024, Silent Hill 2 Remake was developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami. Expectations were very high because the original game is considered to be one of the greatest horror games of all time. People thought that it was either going to be an awful game and that Bloober Team would never make another game again from the shame of the thing. Or, that it would be an amazing remake and everyone would love it. Luckily, it was the second.
Because I am an Xbox gamer, I had to wait for an entire year from the time it released until it was available on my system. In that time I was able to watch some of my favorite streamers play the game, and talk about the game and I watched as everyone talked about how the game was true to its roots, and how well it played, etc.
What is Silent Hill 2 Remake About?
Silent Hill 2 Remake follows James Sunderland as he goes to the town of Silent Hill. James goes to Silent Hill because he received a letter from his deceased wife asking him to meet her in “our place.”
Sparsely populated is the town. There is a suffocating fog. The residents are monsters. Some of them have sexy boots on, some are all legs, and some of them have stitching all the way up their bodies and they crawl on the ground. James finds a few other normal people, but they are battling their own demons.
The other world. When Silent Hill changes into the other world, it becomes rusty and the people that are in it change as well. The enemies in the other world are similar and they fight similarly but they look different from the ones in Silent Hill.
What’s really going on in Silent Hill 2 Remake?
My take on what is happening. I believe that Silent Hill represents a type of Limbo. Or purgatory for James. I can’t say if James is alive or dead during the gameplay. But I believe that he has an immense amount of guilt and other unresolved issues. During the gameplay he has to resolve/come to grips with/admit that they exist in order to move on or not.
James enters the world, looking for someone that he lost. In the first scene, we see him staring at himself in the mirror. It’s as if he doesn’t know how he got there. His car is there, but in the game, he never gets into it; he never drives into or out of Silent Hill. His looking into the mirror could represent how things are backwards, upside down, or otherwise reversed for him.
Characters in Silent Hill 2 Remake
As the game goes on, we meet Angela, who is also looking for someone. Her mother. Angela keeps on repeating “have you seen my mama” which makes her seem like a young child even though she’s an adult. James first encounters her in a graveyard, which indicates that she’s also searching for someone who has passed away. When he asks Angela if she would like to come with him for safety she refuses and acts oddly afraid of him. Later in the game, it is revealed that Angela killed her father after he did something awful to her. Angela is a representation of fear and how dangerous fear can be when it’s backed into a corner.
James meets a woman named Maria, who’s the next important character. She looks like his wife. But she acts and dresses very differently. Gamers have discussed the meaning of Maria for years. The consensus I found was that she represents all the physical wants/needs that James had, but was unable to get because his wife was sick in the hospital.
The next character is Laura, a little girl who says that she knew Mary, and who makes life difficult for James in Silent Hill. Near the end of the game, Laura gives James a letter that Mary wrote to her and it talks about how she wishes that they could go and live together like they talked about. So, the letter makes me believe that Laura represents the future that Mary wanted. The family and normal things that she didn’t get to have.
The final character is Eddie. Eddie is a representation of the darkest parts of James. He gets offended easily, he eats junk food and over-reacts. My interpretation is that Eddie is the extreme version of all of the dark desires that a person could have. He killed people who made him angry, and he thinks everyone is out to get him. He has similar coloring to James (blonde hair and blue eyes); it’s as if he’s a reversed mirror, a foil showing James, “this is the worst you could be.”
Silent Hill 2 Remake Review, Thoughts on Themes and Interpretations
This game is a great example for something that you can play/interpret multiple ways. Anyone can play the game and think “oooh creepy” and then finish and shrug and enjoy the experience and move on. But someone that is really looking to dive into the game can get a lot out of it.
There are numerous interpretations of the game, many things that I haven’t explored yet for myself. I watched a video that stated that James’s wife is in the car. However, I didn’t see or notice her in there. But it definitely is possible.
My belief that he is dead is based on the weird state of the town, and how impossible time moves, the way that he harbors guilt, but he can’t face what he’s done. The other people in the city, except for the child, Laura, have guilt. I do think that they are all there to reflect different aspects of James back to him, and help him to come to his realization that he killed his wife.
I have read other stories where the protagonist has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that they died. A lot of weird things happen around them, and they just accept it. By the end of the story, they do come to terms with their own death, but it takes a lot for them to realize that they died and they are in limbo/purgatory. I feel like James is in the same situation, where he is being punished for the sins he committed during his lifetime, but he hasn’t yet come to terms with the fact that he’s dead.
Another option that people brought up is that he is going to commit suicide. He has killed his wife, and she’s in the car. And he plans to drown himself in Toluca Lake. Also, the letter he has, apparently, is blank by the end of the game. I didn’t check it at the end. Also, I didn’t think to check it when I got close to completing the game. Furthermore, I got the “leave” ending where he and Laura leave together. I’ve only played through once, and so I haven’t gotten any other endings.
Some people’ve reviewed This is How You Lose the Time War. I haven’t read any of the other reviews yet. The reason I picked this book up is because of a random Subreddit I found one day. Pictures are provided and then books suggested based on feelings. In this Subreddit, I found. “Pick me a book that feels like…”
No talking about relationships
First, I don’t want to talk about the main thing that I think people review. I don’t really want to discuss the relationship between the main characters. I think it’s poignant, and I think the point is that they never really get to “be” together, and I don’t have any other thoughts. Meant to be, it’s tragic. In this book review of This is How You Lose the Time War.
Well Described is Time Travel
Second, the main premise in the book: time travel. The time travel element was both fascinated and well-done. Also, I was able to picture the characters moving through time in a way that made sense to me. I appreciate the author for having the skill to write such a complicated topic in such a way that made it so easy to visualize.
Third, and the thing I really want to talk about, is the epistolary element. I love this. I found myself rushing through pages, just waiting to get to the next letter to see what Red wrote to Blue or vice versa. By writing in this way, the author was able to lay out parts of the world that the characters would not have known on their own. Because they didn’t know much about each other’s societies, the letter writing gave them a look. This is a great way to world-build without stopping the story. In this way, the author was able to build tension while world-building.
Writers should read
This book is a good example of how to use epistolary elements in a story and why a writer would use this tactic. If you are an aspiring writer who’s interested in writing a story with back-and-forth correspondence between two or more characters. Then, I suggest reading this book. I could write all day about the many forms this type of writing can take on, but at the end of the day, what it comes down to. This fantastic book is a great example of epistolary writing.
Thanks! have a wonderful day! I hope you enjoyed my review of This is How You Lose the Time War
Photo by Landiva Weber: https://www.pexels.com/photo/colorful-abstract-fluid-art-with-vivid-swirls-34453912/ first draft
I’ve talked about going to a webinar where the idea of doing a zero-draft was discussed. And I definitely still find the idea intriguing. However, first drafts are on my mind a lot lately. I feel like that’s where my life is at. I’m in a first draft stage.
What does that even mean? Well, as most writers are painfully aware, you have to write through that awful first draft before you can start editing and polishing. Recently, I made it through a master’s program, and I’m feeling very proud of myself on one hand; I’ve accomplished something. But, I’m now looking for a job in my field and facing a lot of unexpected free time.
I’ve written three drafts of my resume. Let’s just say that. I don’t even know if I’m past the first draft of my resume. So, on one side I’ve had this big accomplishment, but one the other I’m feeling very intimidated. I’m trying to get into a field I’ve never worked in before, and I don’t want to go back to my previous job because I felt very burnt out.
I keep on thinking about it like I’m on my first draft of this new life. I can’t say exactly what the final draft is going to look like, and all I have right now is potential. Which means that anything could happen, and on one hand, that is great. But on the other hand, I’m not the kind of person that is a fan of lasting uncertainty.
Photo by Zen Chung: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-pen-writing-on-a-notebook-5749155/
Back to first drafts, the blank page. If you sit with the blank page and never write anything on it, nothing happens. Right? If I decide to never put in for a job in the field that I just got a degree in, no one is going to hire me. I’ll still have to pay back all the loans I took out, but I’ll never get anything out of that education.
Now, if we write the story; get that first draft down. We can go in and edit it and change it to be what we want it to look like. The glorious thing about writing is that it can always be redone. With my resumes, I can write several versions that emphasize different accomplishments. And that is the beauty of language. You can talk about customer service, communication, or cleaning at the same fast food job, depending on what kind of job you are looking for. You could even discuss fiscal responsibility, if you wanted. It’s all about how you present the information.
In a first draft, maybe you can only think about one character, maybe you can only see their perspective. But when you are going back through, you realize that another person needs to have their view in the mix as well. It’s completely something that you can do. You can add or subtract or completely re-vision the entire thing in subsequent drafts. The important part is getting past the blank page.
If you’ve read this far, thank-you! If anyone else is looking for a job right now, I hope you find everything you are looking for in a role.
Also, if anyone is planning to do NaNoWriMo, let me know if you’d like me to post my progress every day. I know that the official site is not up, but I’d still like to write every day next month.
As an avid reader, watcher, and player of Horror over the past decade or so. The phenomenon of found footage horror books is not lost on me. I have enjoyed many of the genre and I find the idea of using found footage in a novel format to be interesting and, well, novel.
Let’s talk about the advantages of using this format.
Advantages of Found Footage Horror Books
In a novel, you don’t have to show everything visually. So you aren’t stuck with using the hokey “this footage was retrieved from…” There might be a journal entry, or an email. This can tell some parts of the story. These things really lend themselves well to storytelling.
Before tearing things apart, I do want to quickly remind everyone what the definition of horror is. These are books written to terrify readers. They are the kind of books that without a happy ending. They leave the reader with an uneasy feeling.
My favorite books in the Found Footage Horror Genre are:
House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski: I’m pretty sure that this is the “classic” of the genre. I don’t know if there is another book out there that exemplifies that Found Footage Horror Book genre just quite the same way that House of Leaves does. It is a book that isn’t for everyone. It comes complete with pages that need to be turned upside down to read and footnotes.
A quick description of this book: There is a tattoo apprentice named Johnny. He is given a trunk by his friend. The trunk is from the friend’s neighbor’s house. It contains the writings of the neighbor. The writings are about this documentary about this man who moved his family into a house that was bigger on the inside than the outside. The story that unfolds is quite the ride.
Episode 13
Episode 13 by Craig DiLouie. This one is about the cast of one of those paranormal TV shows. The ones where the cast members go to haunted houses and “talk” to the ghosts at the location. This book is written as if it’s a screenplay. I listened to this one, so I can’t say what the book looks like. But, needless to say, the ending was very intense.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reed. I don’t know if this one counts in the Found Footage genre, but I’m going to count it. This book is fantastic. I haven’t seen the show. Throughout the first 3/4s of the book, the reader feels like they are in the head of the protagonist. It is only at the end when the reader is shown the truth.
Horrorstor
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix: This one may not count as found footage, but I’m putting it here. There are these little epigraphs that show the reader parts of the catalog from the store. They give the book a feeling of found footage. Allowing the readers are able to almost interact with the store and see, via catalog entries, how it devolves as the story takes them deeper into the store.
Conclusion
The Found Footage Horror Book genre as a whole is hard to get right. There are many ways to fumble it. Sometimes things get too complicated, or too unbelievable, and then readers get lost. But when it’s done right, the book can be beautiful to read.
I believe that some techniques are applicable to any genre. “Found Footage” doesn’t have to refer to only horror, it can be any kind of book. I can see romance working well with little found items, or alternative history, or even sci-fi.
Is there a found footage horror novel book that you really like, or maybe one that I mentioned that you don’t like at all? Let me know! Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
