Appeal of fear factor in novels demystified at literature festival
Session sponsored by Gulf News delves into the fundamental human emotion
The emotion of fear was discussed by a panel of top authors specialising in the horror, psychological thriller genre at the ongoing Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai.
During a special session titled ‘Fear Factory’, sponsored by Gulf News on ‘Friday Fright Night’, best-selling author David Eagleman, who is also a neuroscientist at Stanford University; Polly Phillips, winner of the 2019 LitFest Writing Prize; and New York Times best-selling author Stephen Graham Jones examined how fear is deeply rooted in human psyche and how it plays a “complex role in art and culture”.
Creating a page turner
They talked about the purpose of fear in their writing and how it can be used to keep a reader turning the pages rather than scaring them away. They said “people seek out scary books and movies or extreme experiences for a wide variety of reasons. And the things that we are afraid of, sometimes change as we age and develop our personalities.”
Eagleman, internationally best-selling author of Livewired, The Brain, Wednesday is Indigo Blue, and The Runaway Species, among others, talked about the concept of death and the afterlife. He said human understanding of themselves is limited and this is reflected in arts and literature. Readers identify themselves with the characters and the feelings of regret, relief or what could have been, can be explained with the books they read.
He added: “By getting to live these vicarious lives, we increase our empathy … We like to step into other’s shoes and have different kinds of experiences. The general story of literature is that it allows us to live different lives, which in turn could lead to increased empathy.”
By getting to live these vicarious lives, we increase our empathy … We like to step into other’s shoes and have different kinds of experiences.
David Eagleman | Writer
Engage with the characters
Jones, a Blackfoot Native American and New York Times best-selling author of Mongrels, The Only Good Indians, and My Heart is a Chainsaw, said he spends a lot of time in his writing to let the readers know and identify with the characters in his books. He noted: “All my characters are like me but with different haircuts.”
Explaining about his writing regimen, Jones said: “I invest completely on the emotional level because there is a thin line between fiction and real world, and I expect my characters to be there.” Jones said his characters like Jade (My Heart is a Chainsaw) find a way how to make sense of the world. His books, which noted and applauded for their “dark playfulness, narrative inventiveness, and genre mixture” also talk about “neglect and abuse, gentrification, racism, and loneliness.”