Alistair Cross

I think horror, when done well, is one of the most direct and honest ways to get to the core of the human experience because terror reduces all of us to our most authentic forms.

Most of all, kink comes up in my writing because that is, very simply, just the way the cat o_ nine tails flails. Any writer knows that there isn__ always an explanation for the behaviors of his or her characters and the subjects of his or her storylines. For whatever reason, kink just kind of comes out of me.

Only I was capable of saving her now, and that, as far as anyone could argue, may have made me worse than all the devils and the demons, but it also, more accurately, made me better than all the angels and gods.

Her face was a grimace of surprised pain as she slid unconscious down the back of the tub and under the water. I held her under for several minutes after the blow, watching as the water went pink, then red, and finally crimson with blood.

Self-confidence is usually little more than wishful thinking in a thigh-high pair of Come F*ck Me boots.

._ I watched her sip at the drink some more. She was strong, healthy, but also petite enough that I was certain I could overpower her. I__ made the right decision not to tranquilize her, I thought. Slipping some powerful barbiturate into a mixed drink wasn__ something I was above, but it always felt like such a lost opportunity. I liked the fight, the tightening and clenching of a woman__ body as she writhed for freedom. I felt the slow swelling of arousal between my legs and made no effort to disguise it.

They want to be stimulated. They want to read something that can get under their skin and hang out there for a while.

Sandy__ was one of those places that made poor, white trash feel like high-class consumers. This was the kind of place you__ take your mistress to, but never your wife. Wives expected better. Mistresses were impressed by the blandness of the over-priced wine and the vast Italian menu options.

Deadlines help me, but my muse hates them. My muse functions in fits and starts, and tends to take very long vacations. Deadlines are like a hot poker to his ass. They force us both to sit down and write, which is what it takes to do this.

Yep,_ I said, rolling the body onto its back and staring into the horrified, bloated face, __ou__e a single-bagger. My kinda gal._ I gave her a smile and a friendly wink. The face stared back at me with that same frozen look of terror. __h, stop being so dramatic,_ I said, __ou__l be pretty again, I promise.

Any writer of horror needs to at least have a good, solid love of the genre. Also, good horror writers need to have a slightly twisted sense of humor. Without humor, horror just isn__ as good.

Good horror is written by people who understand that fear is one of the cardinal passageways into the core of humanity. Good horror is generally written by folks who grew up on horror; books, movies, etc. You can__ simply decide to write__n any genre__f you don__ first have an understanding of the topic and a strong mental backlog of reference.