The Definition of the Horror Story

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      Here are a list of things I would incorporate from the Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe into the writing of a horror movie.

• The dark ominous setting.  The setting sets the mood in any story.  A dark setting with creeping, pale, obscuring fog, ancient architecture, and shifting, deep shadows adds to the effect of the unnatural.  Poe did this in the House of Usher to great effect. I would use this to plant the seed of fear and suspense in my audience.   

•  The portryal of characters.  The characters of a horror story are as equally important to the story as the setting.  Pale, mysterious, brooding characters help to reinforce the unnatural, unsettling the audience.  Roderick Usher is one such character.  Poe depicts him as unnaturally deathly and makes his appearance and mood detached and ethereal.  I would create my characters in such a way as to ensconce the peculiarity of the story, unnerving the audience.

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• The supernatural or ethereal is a key part in a horror story.  Poe uses this when the Mad Tryst is being read and the sounds of the story happen in reality.  This sows fear into the characters and, further, the audience.  I would use the abnormal and supernatural in order to establish the plot and aid it along.

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• The fear of the unknown is a primal fear found in all.  It is a very useful tool in acquiring the basis of a horror story.  Poe gives brief unsettling instances of the narrator seeing Madeline even though she is dead.  The noises during the Mad Tryst are another example of that.  I would use the fear of the unknown to create suspense in the story.

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• The creation of doubt and mystery at the end is another good item to use.  Poe destroys the house in a flash of light and the house sinks.  This raises the question of the reality of the situation.  Did it really happen?  Am I delusional?  This would leave a disturbed feeling in the audience and would further facilitate the fear in the story.

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