In most horror movies, and in most novels in the genre, the treatment of the emotional effects of the events experienced by the main characters, including the protagonist, seem to be done in either one of two extremes: it is either ignored, or the character becomes a victim of the emotional/mental effects, going of the deep end to become the final victim or the next generation antagonist.  In movies, this is easy to explain; the events are condensed in order to tell a cohesive story in the running time of the film.  In many cases, the story takes place over a short period of time.  Psychological horror is the exception to this, of course, as the entire story is centered on that very aspect.  That being said, there are also exceptions to this, and those exceptions often prove to be excellent portrayals in their respective mediums.  I believe Horror is at its best when the emphasis is on the emotional aspects of the characters involved, especially when it comes to prose.
In my upcoming fiction work, the events take place over an extended period of time, which will have the quite natural effect of affecting the mental health of the protagonist.  As I suffer from the effects of depression and anxiety related to years of narcissistic abuse, I will be drawing from personal experience to describe the effects of these events on my MC in the terms of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress.  This is proving to be both the most challenging and rewarding aspect of this new novel, and I look forward to being able to have it ready for beta in the next few months.  I’ll be giving more details in upcoming posts.

Until next time,

~Namaste
 
