A Sneak Peek into the Terrifyingly Terrific Toolkit: Scary Secrets for Writing Thrilling Kidlit in any Genre by Shanna Heath

 

Terror struck me the first time I read Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney.

I was terrified in a good way because I love horror—especially when I find it in unexpected places.

I was cozy in bed with my three-year-old reading Llama aloud and I turned to the middle spread, the climax of llama drama, and existential dread said “boo” to my soul. Llama’s expressive face is hidden, leaving only his teacup saucer eyes, unblinking, pupils small against the big emptiness of the recto.  The quilt is limp and offers no comfort. Inky blue darkness swallowed the bed’s headboard. Llama quivers in an abyss of shadow slashed with black and yellow. 

“What if Mama Llama’s GONE?”

Llama’s dark night of the soul in Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Like this petrified llama, children are haunted by primal fears. They are as early humanoids were: gazing up at the stars and seeing monsters or hearing the anger of gods in summer thunderstorms. The world is huge, and children are small. Adults have power, and children do not. This can be terrifying.

"Children surviving childhood is my obsessive theme and my life's concern," said Maurice Sendak, author of the wonderfully frightening Where the Wild Things Are. “To master these forces,” said Sendak, “children turn to fantasy: that imagined world where disturbing emotional situations are solved to their satisfaction." Mama Llama does come back. Sendak’s Max returns home from the kingdom of Wild Things. And in the process, children have experienced a terrifyingly terrific climax that speaks to the vulnerabilities of being a child.

This is the essence of why I write horror for children. I create monsters and show kids how to defeat them. 

Whether or not you’re interested in writing traditional horror, you can still utilize the tricks of the genre to create terrifyingly terrific conflicts and climaxes, just as Dewdney and Sendak have done. 

In my free community-wide webinar, The Terrifyingly Terrific Toolkit: Scary Secrets for Writing and Illustrating Thrilling Kidlit in any Genre, I’ll show you how. Mark your calendar for September 26, 2021 from 3:00-4:30PM EST. Access more information and the SCBWI-MI webinar link here.

While you wait, here’s a sneak peek.

Terrifyingly Terrific Toolkit Item #1: Horror Isn’t About Monsters

The experience of horror isn’t made by the monsters. This fact may surprise you. Exploitative slasher films are what many people associate with the genre, but masterful horror doesn’t focus on the monster.

 

It’s the internal experience of a character that marks expert writing craft in the genre.

Horror isn’t about the monster. In 1963’s classic film “The Haunting,” based on Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, the malevolent spirits are never shown on screen, yet the film is terrifying.

No matter your genre, you can use this technique to strengthen your writing.

My favorite non-horror example is from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. In this scene, cholera is killing young Mary Lennox’s family in horrific ways, and she is soon to be orphaned. There was an option to elevate the monster in this scene (cholera) to create the terrifying impact. A human body succumbing to cholera is grotesque.

But, this isn’t about the monster. It’s about Mary and her internal experience of the horror. Here’s how Burnett masterfully portrayed the horror of this scene through Mary’s internal experience:

“During the confusion and bewilderment of the second day Mary hid herself in the nursery and was forgotten by everyone. Nobody thought of her, nobody wanted her, and strange things happened of which she knew nothing. Mary alternately cried and slept through the hours. She only knew that people were ill and that she heard mysterious and frightening sounds. Once she crept into the dining-room and found it empty, though a partly finished meal was on the table and chairs and plates looked as if they had been hastily pushed back when the diners rose suddenly for some reason. The child ate some fruit and biscuits, and being thirsty she drank a glass of wine which stood nearly filled. It was sweet, and she did not know how strong it was. Very soon it made her intensely drowsy, and she went back to her nursery and shut herself in again, frightened by cries she heard in the huts and by the hurrying sound of feet. The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time.” (Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/113/113-h/113-h.htm)

Dixie Egerickx plays Mary Lennox in the 2020 film adaptation “The Secret Garden.” In the novel, Burnett focused on her character’s internal reactions to a horrific situation, not graphic depictions of the “monster” cholera.

Find the Monsters in Your Own Writing

Look at a moment of tension in your own writing. What is the “monster” your child protagonist is facing? Are you centralizing the monster, instead of the internal experience of your character within the scene? 

Rewrite the scene, keeping close to the protagonist but allowing yourself the freedom of description that comes with a third person limited point-of-view. Choose moments of tension and description relevant to the protagonist’s experience of fear/terror/horror/anxiety and focus not on what’s happening outside, but the character’s interior experience. 

Want more? Add Doll Bones by Holly Black and Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon to your reading list. These books include glimpses of the monsters, but the true tension is built within the minds and hearts of the characters.

More items from the Terrifyingly Terrific Toolkit will be revealed in my free webinar on September 26th from 3:00 to 4:30 PM EST. Don’t forget to add the date to your calendar and bring a writer friend! 

I hope to meet you at the free live webinar and see you on my Instagram @mother_marrow. 

Remember, childhood can be terrifying. Share horror with the children in your life. A reading list of my favorite spooky reads for all ages (including board books!) is available on my website: https://shannaheath.com/meet-shanna

Shanna Heath is an author and monster slayer who writes horror for all ages. Childhood can be terrifying. Shanna makes monsters, then shows kids and teens how to defeat them. Her favorite young horror read is Coraline by Neil Gaiman. She lives in Michigan with her patient wife and two spooky kids and is a proud member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Horror Writer’s Association (HWA). Shanna is represented by Paige Terlip at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. 

Connect with Shanna:

https://www.instagram.com/mother_marrow/

https://twitter.com/ShannaLHeath

Author website: https://shannaheath.com/ 

Coming up on The Mitten Blog:

Faith-based writing and publishing, plunging into Michigan history, website tips, a Writer Spotlight, Book Birthdays, and a post from our Equity and Inclusion Corner. But first, it's time for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. We want to trumpet your good news! Please send your writing/illustrating/publishing news to Sarah LoCascio by Sept. 7th to be included.