If you’re a fan of the horror genre like I am, but are new to the field of creative writing, but are intending to produce a horror script (rather it be a Screen Play for TV or for a Movie, or heck even for manuscript that you wish to get published.) Then I thought that I would put down in to words a few tips that I thought that you guys or girls might be able to use when crafting the backstory for your Killer for your work of horror fiction!
The first thing that I thought that I would mention is that when it comes to Slasher Movies or any movie that has a flesh and blood (non-paranormal) killer in it, usually before the killer became the person they would become later, there would be some form of tragedy (usually something involving Children or Family as the plot device for making the killer the man (or woman) he or she would become!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
'Cropsey'... One of the lesser known killers from the classic 80s Slasher movie, 'The Burning' (1981)[/caption]
A couple of examples of this being:
1. Jason Voorhees became a serial killer after the cruelty he endured at Camp Crystal Lake, and ultimately seeing the one person in all-the world that actually loved him murdered (his mother).
2. Michael Myers became the man he is today because in the original series he was possessed by a demon that had him kill off his family, and in the new series he was crazy because of the torture he had to endure from the children at School and the abuse he suffered at home!
3. And yet another example is Norman Bates, who would go on to become a killer due to the obsession he had with his mother and the fear of what would happen if the truth about his mother’s death came to life!
Of course you can do any number of reasons for it, I mean ultimately Arnie Cunningham (from the Stephen King novel/movie: Christine) became the killer that he ended up being, honestly due primarily to the Demon in the car that he drove taking possession of him and rotting him away inside (I just mention the family or children thing from above because that seems to be the most traditional.)
Also another cool thing (although I have noticed this becoming more and more of a trend in the last decade or so,) but another interesting way to create a Killer’s Backstory, is if you are planning on creating a franchise around this particular horror movie/TV Series/Book, then I would recommend making the killer in Act 1 (the first book or movie, or the pilot episode), someone completely mysterious…
The reason being that I have found is that it seems to help to create the initial legend and mystique that the story tends to lose bit by bit with each successive sequel.
The next thing that I thought that I would mention here is the creation of a sort of mystique surrounding the killer in your book/movie/TV show…
At this point though, you might be asking yourself “How does letting people know the myth and legend work with what was mentioned above?”
Well it is true that a lot of times when people in the past have used this technique, they have let people know exactly who it was that the legend was about… (I,e. Jason Voorhees in the Friday The 13th Remake.)
But, (and if you have seen the original Friday The 13th movie then you might understand what I am talking about), but instead of letting people know who the killer is early on, you kind of (as Crazy Ralph from the first two Friday The 13th movies would put it), let people that there is a, ‘Death Curse’ associated with whatever the killer stalking grounds are… This way, it sets people up for the gore to come, but leaves the killer completely mysterious!
Now I know that this isn’t quite back story stuff that I just mentioned above, but the way that I would tie in all of this to the killer’s back story would be a couple of different ways that can be used either individually or collectively:
1. The area where all of these events are taking place could be where the trauma that led to the person becoming a killer occurred.
2. It could also be the last area where the killer was happy (and thus he is trying to keep people off of his land), etc…
3. As is the case with Jason Voorhees it could be the area where someone important to the killer was murdered at (and thus he is trying to keep the area clear…)
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"]
Michael Myers... The legendary killer from thr Halloween series.[/caption]
The next thing that most killers in movies (this isn’t necessarily true in novels), but in movies the serial killer tends to where some form of costume (or just a mask). Now generally speaking in movies these costumes or masks don’t really seem to be specific to anything (although they later become that)… What I would recommend is making it specific to the killer in your story (I haven’t had the chance to really use this as yet for my own work, but I saw this beautifully done in the movie, The Prowler (1981), where the killer dressed up in world war 2 fatigues to kill his victims… Now I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, so I won’t go in to the exact reasons why, except to say that it was relevant to the killer’s backstory!)
The last thing that I wanted to mention is this… When doing your killers back story, be original, don’t try to copy those writers that came before you… First off, most of the time people don’t really pull it off right… And second off, (and I don’t mean to be judgmental when I say this), but unless you have no other choice, I have found in the books that I read and the movies that I watch, where this occurs, that the quality of the movie (not to mention the killer himself tends to suffer!)
Anyway, I hope that you have found this well, and that if anything that this helps you when you are writing that horror Novel, Movie, or TV Script!
http://youtu.be/bcoi-Zgg8BU
http://youtu.be/RihvAgpC01w
http://youtu.be/WLPbtz19rng
http://youtu.be/yaAcitYY4OU
A true classic![/caption]
Presley hits are still being released decades after his death![/caption]
The BEatles playing live are just one example of the trailblazers that are still relevant today, decades after they stopped making music together![/caption]
The Beatles & their family reuniting after the death of John Lennon in 1980.[/caption]
A fun story, from a great novel![/caption]
A scene from, 'Friday The 13th Part 2' (1981)... A movie franchise that was once owned by Paramount Pictures... And was recently bought back by them after the remake came out![/caption]
'The Prowler' (1981)... A B Movie indie horror classic from the 1980s![/caption]
Jumpman (Mario) as he is trying to rescue his girl friend, 'The Lady' (Pauline) from Donkey Kong![/caption]