ObscuraJournal 11/4/25

I'm working on something for an essay, which will probably be in my next newsletter, about how occult fiction is a specialized brand of horror-fantasy. I mean, that's obvious, at least to me. Fantasy is more equipped to deal with magick and the occult as it's baked into the world-building. It works in horror fiction when the magick is underground and the reason for the scares. Combine that with occult's ability to produce scares without ever really having to do anything fantastical (believers are dangerous, and will sacrifice people for rituals that won't work anyway in a heartbeat), toss in a spoonful of folklore, and you have modern occult horror fiction.

This also flows well with some things we chatted about on the podcast with Clay McLeod Chapman and writers going into their stories with unbridled enthusiasm. Call it 'confidence' if you want, but that might too strong of a word. Sure, there are some writers that ooze confidence on the page, but who knows what kind of pangs of agony they went through wrenching the words from their imagination. I remember reading about Stephen King imagining what it might be like for Thomas Harris (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs) ... some days the words might flow, others he probably writhes on the floor in fetal position. (I'm paraphrasing from memory here, so if any of that isn't correct, let me know!) I think most writers, especially when the words are flowing, hit their stride with stories confidently, or at least sure-footedly. And when the words aren't flowing ... oh, I've felt like writhing on the floor, no doubt. That comes with the territory.

To be able to commit to our fantastical occult horrors, there must be a level of confidence with at least the characters, or the plot, and hopefully both.

I think I know what part of the secret is of making it work on the page, and it's not really a secret. This isn't some nugget of information wasting away in some crumbling tome in the backroom of a decrepit library. It's quite easy, right in front of your nose stuff.

More to come.

peace&love