How to write an apocalyptic horror story

Basically, the story takes place in the suburb of an edge city, and there's a certain apocalypse going on. How do you make the character development, prose, atmosphere, and action both frightening and intelligible?

Seriously, guys, I need some advice.

" How do you make the character development, prose, atmosphere, and action both frightening and intelligible?"

Seriously, that question is far too broad to answer intelligently. You're basically asking us how to write horror fiction. You need to ask a more specific set of questions. Is there some particular aspect of, say, your characters, or your plot, that you need some guidance about?

Well, at the heart of the matter, its writing fear.

The "Apocalyptic Horror" gives you an idea of what to fear. Thing going to hell. After the End. (As opposed to say, Friday the 13th which is fear of the super natural.)

As for the rest, just write them as you would write people.

Yes, actually. The apocalypse in this scenario is a car apocalypse, where vehicles come to life and start slaughtering every human they find. How do you make that scary?

The story technically takes place one night after the apocalypse has started, so it's really during the end.

That doesn't sound like an apocalypse at all, actually. Your main problem I would guess is to make it scary rather than hilarious.

Read Christine.

edited 21st Jun '13 6:52:53 AM by ohsointocats

How does that not sound like an apocalypse? A car apocalypse would be harder to survive than a zombie apocalypse.

I started reading Christine when I was in school, but I never got the chance to finish it.

I don't understand why you're spoiler tagging car apocalypse.

There are a lot of stories that have "x thing comes to life and kills everyone" and they're not really labeled apocalypses. Killing vast numbers of people does not an apocalypse make.

Maybe because the human race is getting picked off in huge amounts? I don't know, that seems pretty apocalypse worthy...

And as for why I keep spoiler tagging car apocalypse, think of it as a running gag.

Well, I'm gonna start working on the story soon. If you guys like it, then I'll continue. If not, oh well.

For the most part though, people who label stories as apocalypse and post-apocalypse stories don't care about the technicalities. If it's big in scale and most of the population is dying off, it could be considered an apocalyptic story. But at the very least, it might be labeled a disaster story but then get shelved with the apocalyptic stories.

I think a car apocalypse story can work. You just need some characters and some plot attached to it to elevate it to an awesome concept and premise. Who's your protagonist(s)?

What if the cars could turn into people and then back, to like infiltrate groups of survivors and then be like "RAR I'M A CAR" and drive over everyone?

I actually started the idea with a concept for a movie my cousin and I were planning, but it never materialized beyond a few deleted scenes. So the protagonist would be a young boy who wakes up alone in his house, realizing his parents are not back from the party they went to last night, and his older brother is still at his sleepover. That's when the terror begins...

Sounds So Bad It'sGood and therefore unintentionally hilarious, but alas, I am going for a darkly serious story.

The thing about apocalyptic horror is that the horror stems from the fact that this is the end. Think about that for a second. Everything you have ever loved, cared about, hated, was indifferent to is gone. Every hardship mankind had to face and ever victory was ultimately rendered pointless. That picture you made in kindergarten that your parents kept on the fridge? Meant nothing. First girl you kissed down by the lake? She's gone. So is the lake. That fight you had with your best friend over the money he owed you? Pointless. It's all gone. Everything. All thats left is what all those things meant to you. And they will haunt you. To survive in what ever apocalypse means to do so knowing that if you can push through everything thats trying to kill you, all you'll have left are painful memories of what everything was.

edited 24th Jun '13 3:55:02 AM by AtomJames

You know what? I never even took that into consideration before. Thank you for really hitting the nail on the head.

But then, how do you make it so it isn't filled with Wangst?

Well thats on you. Its basically a balancing game, just like anything else. Besides in an apocalypse, or any survival situation for that matter, movement is life. The character or characters are allowed to have their introspective moments, but unless theres a good reason otherwise they cant dwell on them or theyre dead. You have to know when to pick your moments. Heres an example:

The characters are in a deserted city, the roads strewn with the whatever the initial panicked mob lost or left behind. They have to be quiet and keep moving forward. A character starts to look at all the junk as the group moves and comes across a trampled teddy bear. As the group move they all hear this character quietly cry as he soldiers on. They let him have his moment.

Its not great, but you get the idea.

What if there is just one protagonist and it's told entirely in first person? Does that still apply?

It still applies but again self control is key here, which is difficult of course considering the nature of the first person perspective , but yes its still possible.

Alright, I'll start writing the first chapter on this site. I'll post a link to it for you guys.