Shane McKenzie's Tips for Writing Extreme Horror

I don't necessarily subscribe to any tips or tricks for writing. I probably should, though. I typically write from my gut and hope I like the end result. I believe that writing from what I know and understand yields a more potent and personal result. Recycling the opinion of others just doesn't quite do it for me. I don't want to come off sounding insincere even if I'm writing about a guy being sodomized by a flying gorilla... which I'm not, by the way. But if I was I'd write it in a way that best suited the story and not the demands of bloodthirsty fan boys. Story comes first. Of course, I'm just a beginner and I'm still trying to find out what makes me tick and what doesn't. So what do I know. 

However, I read the article from Shane McKenzie, an author I've never read anything from at all, on the Bizarro web page and thought I'd share it. I don't agree that the gross-outs should be the most memorable part of the book or story, but I'd agree that a good gross-out is an attention-grabber. 

I love a good hardcore story, but I do not think characterization is uninteresting and it should not be treated as such. Indeed, if you can make the characters real enough and important enough to where the reader doesn't want a bloodbath to happen than I believe the book or story will be all the more gut-wrenching when the bloodbath does happen. Sometimes starting slow and steady yields far more satisfying and disturbing results. 

But that's just my take as a reader. 

This is Shane's: Blood, Pus, Cum, & Dead Babies: Tips for Writing Extreme Horror