Am I a Wuss?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I cannot see how that is conceivably offensive to anyone, unless that person happens to already be upset about killing animals for food in the ordinary way of things. In which case, why are you so upset about the vampires of all people???

Killing animals for food is not a vampire-specific thing.

Aside from the fact that I might fit into your proviso, you seemed to have missed my point - where I said: "think about the environment people!". The U.S.A., like many other places, has limited wildlife sanctuaries. While cougar (for example) are classified as "Least Concern" - their position at the top of the food chain does mean their status could change quite quickly (numbers are low relative to those further down). One family of vampires might not impact their status, but it wouldn't take many. It is also possible to object to the method of killing - and to the waste of taking just the blood.

But, to bring this back to topic, you do underscore one of the other points of my post. Different people will react differently to the same scenes of violence in a book.

[eschwartz]

[TechniSol]

I think, like most things involving a wide and disparate population, everyone has their own level of comfort regarding such things and much of that may have to do with how drawn into the story and characters they are by the level of writing and character development. If characters are explored, and they resonate with the reader, everything "done to them" will have greater impact. On one hand, done correctly, it can really play on your emotions and your sense of empathy.

If you identify and a character is sketched deeply enough to make you care, even though it is fiction, their struggles resonate. Violence depicted against them can resonate with your sense of identification, and at the same time reinforce your dislike of the brutality inflicted by "the black hat" and add dimension to them. Conversely, violence directed at less developed characters will not carry the same weight, but may again increase the appreciation of how bad the bad guy can be while allowing you enough detachment to focus on the level of heinous behavior or lengths the character will go to justify their actions. I think this goes along with the notion that "everyone is the hero of their own life story." Imagine all the Hannibal Lector stories written from his viewpoint!

All that said, I'm no great slasher film buff and would rather watch a classic horror movie where much time and effort is spent in ramping up the tension rather than just splat, splat, splattering freshly rendered corpses. Ew. I'm from the old school that thinks that your imagination, properly prodded and tweaked, is probably better at delving into darkness than any Hollywood makeup or CGI master yet to come. I think seeing much of the monster prior to about 3/4 of the way in is a mistake. Heinous acts can be portrayed, but leave a little something to the imagination and reveals. If I recall, "Mr. Sardonicus" was a great example of making you wait to see "the monster" revealed even as his evil nature was revealed by his actions throughout the movie.

[KileJ]

Originally Posted by AstoundingBruce

In some of these books, I wonder about the story itself. It doesn't seem as if the violence is moving the story along. Rather, it seems as if the plot is just a vehicle to get from one ultra-violent scene to another.

That is simply a failure then on the editor's behalf, in my opinion. Part of their job is to make sure the writer doesn't lose the forest for the trees.

This is a topic of interest to me, personally -- and one I have some experience with. I write horror, and it's all too easy to lapse into a sort of trance when writing violence. I mean, it's like any intense action sequence where the action itself is vital. When one wants to lay it down vividly, it's a terribly delicate balance, and of course it's impossible to please all the people all the time. Everyone's tolerance is totally different. That said, the line must be drawn when it stops advancing the story.

And I don't know if the writer is always the one best equipped to make that determination. For me, anyway, it is usually best to write the scenes as they come and let my editor tell me when I've gone too far. Make him earn his money. And he does. And then I kill my babies and leave them in the waste bin beside my writing desk.