I've always shy writing horror. That statement is a bit of antithesis since I do read so much of this dark side of the fantastic genre. I've read countless Stephen King books, with a sprinkling of Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Bentley Little and other horrormeisters. However, whenever I tried to sit down and write a horror story, it doesn't always turn out right. It either turns out to be too cheesy and off-kilter that I have to abandon writing it altogether.
Nevertheless, horror has always been a genre that fascinates me. Reading a good horror fiction invokes palpitation of the heart. Flipping the pages as fast as you can eagerly anticipating what the next course of event would be. The mounting, escalating terrors just envelops you and it grips you until the final page has been turned. That's how I usually feel if the horror story was done superbly well. A few instances that I remember feeling this way when reading a scary story was when I read Pet Sematary, The Shining, Carrie and Misery by Stephen King, Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke.
I never would have thought I would turn to writing this sort of genre during quarantine. Maybe it's my own coping mechanism from the real horrors that's is currently happening in our world. The feeling of despair and uncertainties brought about by this pandemic, I have found solace on the tales of the supernatural and fantastical during the almost five months I'm working on this story collection, Out Of The Blue & Into The Black.
I've decided on writing novella-length horror stories. Aside from the fact that it's more manageable to yield, there's a good chance I won't mess up the story since it's more compact. And if these stories prove to be a success, that it actually delivers what these stories intend to do, which is to scare readers, I might gain more confidence in conceptualizing a more ambitious horror story with a more ambiguous plot.
The four novellas are somewhat interconnected making the book more like a novel rather than a story collection. Pusa Ng Ina was conceived after my pet kitten died, he was actually killed by a speeding motorist. My pet kitten was splattered flat on the surface of the pavement, his innards was torn open because of the impact. I cried profusely when I saw the state my cat was in when he died. I wrote this novella, venting out all my anger and frustration, picturing whoever did this crime to my cat would encounter the same horrid nightmare as what happened to the main character in this story.
Sa Kabilang Dulo was supposed to be a very short. It supposed to be a story of two lovers or two peers discovering some unnamed horror when they decided to venture at the end of a trail in the middle of the forest. But as I set out to write the story, I see the possibility of writing an own voice story. Being a gay man myself, I saw a way to tell a gay story in a scary setting. But don't be fooled, this is not a romantic story with a supernatural element. This is all-out horror. And to be quite honest, this is the most unsettling story I've churned out among the collection. It also gave me a few sleepless nights.
Estatwa Sa Dilim espoused the original plot that I abandoned with Sa Kabilang Dulo. Mixing the two stories actually make it a complete novel. However, this story could also be read on it's own. This is also my own take of telling a slasher story.
Manyikang Marikit is indirectly related to the first story in the collection, Pusa Ng Ina. It is also the only story in the collection with less the supernatural aspect and more on the psychological drama. This is also more like a feminist story. With two unlikely female allies battling a female villain. This is also the only story in the collection that has a happy ending.
I'm also quite happy that my very first completed online novel, Pinakatatagong Lihim, is slowly gaining quite a readership. It currently reached more than 1K reads on Wattpad. Possibly the recent cover change I made on the novel that very much resembles the New Moon book cover of Stephenie Meyer what draws the readers in. For anyone who read the novel and if have comments, whether you like it or you see a way to improve the story, just leave a comment on Wattpad. I would love to hear your feedback. A word of caution, Pinakatatagong Lihim is rated Mature and intended only for mature readers due to the theme and content of the story.
For those people following me on my Dreame account, you might be surprised to see my young adult novel Sulat Kamay also uploaded on Wattpad. Since this ongoing novel has not been commissioned or tied to any exclusivity contracts, I might as well promote this story on Wattpad for it to gain more readership. Although all advance chapters on Sulat Kamay will be first uploaded on Dreame.
I'm still planning which story I should write next after finishing Out Of The Blue & Into The Black. I have a story idea about a female clique in school who kills their unruly male students and teachers. I also have a Dystopian horror-science fiction idea about a school in the middle of a forest that abducts children with hidden, unusual talents. I'm also inclined to write an adult romance about a famous actress/model who has an adulterous relationship with a giant media-mogul but ends up falling in love with a peasant painter. The possibilities are endless and I just hope I have ample time as well as endurance and the creative inspiration to write them all.
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