Bright and Cheery; June 12 2024

Last weekend, I attended the WriteHive conference (I’ve linked to their Bluesky account, but they have accounts across different social media platforms) and learned a ton! I got to make some new connections, get a new perspective on some things and validation on my perspectives on others, and found out a few ways to make my website more accessible!

I’ve altered the links to my past blog posts as a result, so if you follow me on Bluesky or Facebook, the old links won’t work anymore – and for that, I apologise! However, I think it’ll be an overall benefit to keeping the site operating relatively smoothly.

Anyway, a while back, I mentioned that I’d taken in some questions about writing horror, and I want to feature another one of those questions today! It’s in honour of my latest work-in-progress, tentatively titled What Possessed Me, about a new wife uncovering her husband’s sinister secret to immortality, while also falling in love with one of the ghosts of his murdered ex-wives. I’m trying to make use of the setting in accordance with my answer to this question, and that question is:

‘Does the setting have to be dark and spooky or does having a bright upbeat setting make it scarier?’

I love this question because one of the most horrifying pieces of media I’ve ever watched made great use of its sun-soaked scenery. It was an episode of Angel – ‘Shiny Happy People’. While not always heavy on the horror, that episode leaned hard into the feeling of isolation, danger, and helplessness that ramped up the terror, and it simply couldn’t have been done in a dark and spooky setting.

The premise, if you’re unfamiliar, was that a god-like being brainwashes people on-sight into loving her. She claims to be bringing about worldwide peace, while actually using the people’s love to hide the fact that she’s viciously devouring her enslaved worshippers. One single character manages to break free of the hold, realises what’s happening, and has to try to stop this monster… But she alone sees the darkness in this ‘shiny happy’ world.

A cheery setting is a fantastic backdrop when you’re following the one character who doesn’t see it that way. When everyone around you is seeing the light, they can deepen that feeling of terror whether on purpose or not, gaslighting you and refusing to see the shadows you’re frantically trying to point out to them.

For me, ‘dark and spooky’ is the best setting for elevating a fear of the unknown. ‘Bright and cheery’ is for when you know what’s hunting you, but no one’s willing to help.