Halloween Haunts: Horror: Isolation by C.R. Langille

Horror shows its face (or doesn’t if it’s effective) through a lot of mediums these days, be it via television, movie, or my very favorite, books. There are some common themes that you can find with horror regardless of the medium. One I would like to touch upon is isolation.

Isolation occurs when your protagonist finds themselves in a setting that is removed from a populated society. They may not have ready access to needed services such as medical, police/security, or even other people at all. Why is this effective?

It works because when we remove easy access to help, it racks up the tension. How many times in a movie or a book did you think the whole problem could be solved if the protagonist could call the police, or just run out into a crowded area searching for some assistance? Let’s look at some great examples.

In the movie, Alien the crew of the Nostromo is awakened from cryo-sleep to investigate a distress signal emanating from a nearby planet. Enter the alien and all sorts of wonderful chaos as it kills the crew members one-by-one. The plot itself is great, but it’s even scarier because the crew is isolated. They can’t really run away, they can’t call for help. They are on their own to deal with the threat. Even if they called for help, it would take too long for help to arrive.

Another great example is the movie, The Thing. An American research team stationed in the Antarctic find themselves at the mercy of an extra-terrestrial being that is systematically killing and infecting team members. The Antarctic is much like outer space in the fact that the team is cut off from society. Help would take too long to reach them, and they are surrounded by hundreds of miles of extremely harsh environment. They can’t run, and help isn’t coming.

One more example, this time from a book (since this is supposed to be a writing post), Stephen King’s, Misery. Author Paul Sheldon wrecks his car while driving through snow-covered mountains and is “rescued” by Annie Wilkes. She is his number one fan and nurses him back to health at her house which is out in the middle of nowhere. After she finds out that Paul kills one of the main characters in his series, she flips her lid and ends up torturing the guy to get him to rewrite the novel to her specifications. Due to his injuries and other things that happen during the book, he’s effectively cut off from society and isolated in Annie’s home.

Now that we’ve looked at some prime examples, let’s take a gander at how to implement this into your own writing. In this case, setting is key. Pick a place that cuts your character off from the normal services big cities have. It could be a woodland setting, space, or the Antarctic. It could even be a rural town if your character is used to urban environments. Take away the benefits of technology and help and watch your characters squirm.

The setting itself almost has to become a character in this case. It just can’t be referenced in passing and never touched upon again, it has to be a recurring theme. However, don’t be heavy handed. It can be a recurring theme in the story by showing how your protagonist is dealing with the situation (or perhaps not dealing with it depending on how you want things to go). Some examples could be extreme weather pinning them down and cutting off their escape, or even harsh wilderness doing the same. Perhaps they can’t call for help because there is no cell or phone service. Maybe they are injured and don’t have access to proper medical personnel or supplies to help, and the injury is making it difficult to deal with whatever is after them.

Another thing I’ve found is that there are certain genres/time-periods that lend themselves to horror and the use of isolation. Westerns and horror go hand-in-hand very well. The Western setting of small pockets of civilization surrounded by wild frontier is a golden goose egg of possibilities. Sci-fi works very well too, as seen by the Alien and The Thing example. Nothing screams isolation like being on a space ship in the middle of the universe.

Speaking of Westerns and horror, our local Utah Chapter put together a fine anthology mixing the two entitled Old Scratch and Owl Hoots. Leave a comment and one lucky person will win an e-book copy. Have a happy Halloween, now go write!

TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: C.R. Langille is offering one e-book copy of Old Scratch and Owl Hoots. Enter for the prize by posting in the comments section. Winners will be chosen at random and notified by e-mail. You may enter once for each giveaway, and all entrants may be considered for other giveaways if they don’t win on the day they post. You may also enter by e-mailingmembership@horror.org and putting HH CONTEST ENTRY in the header.

C.R. LANGILLE spent many a Saturday afternoon watching monster movies with his mother. It wasn’t long before he started crafting nightmares to share with his readers. An avid hunter and amateur survivalist, C.R. Langille incorporates the Utah outdoors in many of his tales. He is the Organizer for the Utah Regional Chapter of the Horror Writer’s Association, and received his MFA: Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

www.crlangille.com

https://www.facebook.com/crlangillewriter

Twitter: @CRLangille