[QUOTE=Lankist;17065530]What kind of sociopath doesn't find rape scary?
[editline]12:46PM[/editline]
Jesus Christ it's RAPE[/QUOTE]
Uh... sociopaths by definition do not actually feel or show much emotion in response to anything.
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065600]Uh... sociopaths by definition do not actually feel or show much emotion in response to anything.[/QUOTE]
I think the implication was that if you don't find rape scary, you are a sociopath.
[QUOTE=3v3ryb0dy;17065593]It's clever discriptions that make you play the whole thing through in your own head. Also you're generalizing.
Lovecraft's work was the first piece of literature to actually scare me.[/QUOTE]
I find myself reading his books, just reading and saying outloud to myself.
"I don't see it. What is he?"
It's not very good. How are they clever? He cuts corners by just saying "If I told you, you'd go insane" because apparently reading a description of a mythical creature vs. actually seeing it will cause a man to go insane. Apparently he saw it and he's sane enough to write a book.
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065550]How does insanity work, Dr. Lankist?[/QUOTE]
Writing frightening looks into insanity requires treading the delicate line between sanity and insanity, making the two indistinguishable from one another and making the differences between the two entirely moot. The way to fuck with people in insane fiction is to make the reader empathize with the insane characters, and only revealing their insanity at a later point. Like Fight Club.
When you outright say "the character is going insane he is seeing crab people," that is neither scary nor sympathetic to the reader. The most frightening part of following a character into insanity is recognizing WHY they are going insane. If you don't have a damn good and a damn real reason for the descent into psychosis, it is just drivel.
[editline]12:53PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065600]Uh... sociopaths by definition do not actually feel or show much emotion in response to anything.[/QUOTE]
If you don't find the idea of being raped, murdered and/or kidnapped scary, you are a sociopath.
[QUOTE=Lankist;17065619]If you don't have a damn good and a damn real reason for the descent into psychosis, it is just drivel.[/QUOTE]
And none of Lovecraft's characters have that.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065606]I think the implication was that if you don't find rape scary, you are a sociopath.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for clearing that up. Lankist should be a psychologist. He knows so much about insanity and sociopathy!
Also a book about being stalked by a rapist could be absolutely terrifying. The protagonist wouldn't actually get raped, though. It would just seem like they were going to be.
[QUOTE=Negrul1;17065633]Also a book about being stalked by a rapist could be absolutely terrifying. The protagonist wouldn't actually get raped, though. It would just seem like they were going to be/[/QUOTE]
Sell this idea to Stephen King
The only book I've ever read that did Insane decently was Fight Club.
That may seem immature or shallow.
[QUOTE=pvt.meh;17065582]Some people enjoy rape. :sax:
And something you can see, isn't necessarily scary as you know where and what it is, and you can fight back. What would be more scary, seeing a guy chasing you, who you can fight, or seeing only the shadows, or the evidence that a creature is following you?[/QUOTE]
Maybe for children or people with the intellect of a child. Imaginary monsters rarely frighten adults like real monsters do. And at very least if you're going to write an imaginary monster, root it in reality.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065646]Sell this idea to Stephen King[/QUOTE]
He doesn't need ideas, he just pulls them out his ass or has other people do it for him.
Then write it.
Read Shadow Over Innsmouth when it's dark and you're alone with only one light on.
You'll see why I sacrifise a goat to my Lovecraft's statue every day
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065630]And none of Lovecraft's characters have that.[/QUOTE]
You gotta' admit, the vast majority of them are 'insane' because of fictitious entities. He out and out says time and time again that certain integral parts of the story are incomprehensible. That's just poor writing.
And yeah, the way Lovecraft deals with insanity is pretty stupid.
[QUOTE=Lankist;17065668]You gotta' admit, the vast majority of them are 'insane' because of fictitious entities.[/QUOTE]
Jesus christ really? I thought he was writing about real entities.
Explains the shoggoth I saw on my way to class yesterday
[QUOTE=Lankist;17065619]Writing frightening looks into insanity requires treading the delicate line between sanity and insanity, making the two indistinguishable from one another and making the differences between the two entirely moot. The way to fuck with people in insane fiction is to make the reader empathize with the insane characters, and only revealing their insanity at a later point. Like Fight Club.
When you outright say "the character is going insane he is seeing crab people," that is neither scary nor sympathetic to the reader. The most frightening part of following a character into insanity is recognizing WHY they are going insane. If you don't have a damn good and a damn real reason for the descent into psychosis, it is just drivel.[/QUOTE]
Insanity isn't a disease. It's not something that you can catch by licking doorknobs or by being in a doctor's office too long. Insanity is a psychological condition. People don't wake up one day and are suddenly insane. It takes its roots in the person's mind, but the degree at which the person acts with his insanity is determined by his environment and other people's reactions to him. But generally, people that appear to become insane have been insane their entire lives.
Lovecraft was a huge racist
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065708]Insanity isn't a disease. It's not something that you can catch by licking doorknobs or by being in a doctor's office too long.[/QUOTE]
I did. :(
[QUOTE=Lankist;17065652]Maybe for children or people with the intellect of a child. Imaginary monsters rarely frighten adults like real monsters do. And at very least if you're going to write an imaginary monster, root it in reality.[/QUOTE]
Fun fact: most of Lovecraft's gods are based on ancient, near forgotten ones.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065473]You're right needs more ghosts
[editline]12:42PM[/editline]
And zombies[/QUOTE]
moar goasts
[img]http://www.mariomonsters.com/contents/characters/200704/boo/main.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.arkeis.com/images/pokemonfactory/gengar.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065749]Fun fact: most of Lovecraft's gods are based on ancient, near forgotten ones.[/QUOTE]
And Cthulhu is based on Alfred Lord Tennyson's [i]The Kraken[/i]. It's basically the exact same thing.
Insanity doesn't need roots, it can be produced by a single traumatic experience.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065803]And Cthulhu is based on Alfred Lord Tennyson's [i]The Kraken[/i]. It's basically the exact same thing.[/QUOTE]
Except that it causes you to realize just how insane you are and ruins your life, whereas the Kraken pretty much kills you instantly.
He pretty much hated anyone who wasn't a white Protestant male
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;17065691]Jesus christ really? I thought he was writing about real entities.
Explains the shoggoth I saw on my way to class yesterday[/QUOTE]
You're shrugging it off.
I can understand exploring the concept of the incomprehensible, but there are plenty of things that are incomprehensible that actually exist. There are plenty of realities to integrate into a story about insanity, but Lovecraft rarely did that. I could understand using made-up words if he were a bad sci-fi writer but he was a horror writer. Horror only works when it's steeped in reality, even if the premise is wacky it can be scary provided it is even a barely plausible story.
Lovecraft didn't use reality, though. He tried to scare people with what is the equivalent of pseudo-religious entities. Anyone who's ever read the Bible wouldn't be scared of the concept of some cookie-cutter malevolent entity destroying the world.
[QUOTE=3v3ryb0dy;17065829]Insanity doesn't need roots, it can be produced by a single traumatic experience.[/QUOTE]
PTSD =/= Insanity
[QUOTE=Rigged237;17065833]He pretty much hated anyone who wasn't a white Protestant male[/QUOTE]
Thanks, we're all aware.
[QUOTE=3v3ryb0dy;17065829]Insanity doesn't need roots, it can be produced by a single traumatic experience.[/QUOTE]
That is a root.
[QUOTE=Rigged237;17065833]He pretty much hated anyone who wasn't a white Protestant male[/QUOTE]
As did most of society.
[QUOTE=Nerdeboy;17065847]PTSD =/= Insanity[/QUOTE]
It can result in one :eng101:
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