Notes on my Entries to the Barcast's Halloween in April Contest... and My Formal Retirement From Horror · 10:03am May 1st, 2020
'Thalassophobia' Notes
-This story was inspired by my own very real, very deep fear. Ever since childhood, I've always been terrified of deep water. Probably stems from when I nearly drowned in a water park's wavepool when I was seven or eight. To this day, I can't physically get in water I can't see the bottom of without hyperventilating.
-It was only after the story was finished and published that I realized Rarity's role made more sense for Rainbow Dash. Oh well. It was nice revisiting the 'Appletillado' pair one more time. Poor Rarity never does well when I write these situations...
-In case the description of the monster is too vague; it's a giant snapping turtle.
'Ghosts in the Graveyard' Notes
-The haunted house "Graveyard Games" at last year's Halloween Horror Nights stands out as one of my all-time favorite haunted experiences. A beautifully detailed house that tells a clear and concise story from start to finish, "Games" was an obvious choice for my second take on transferring an HHN property to the world of Equestria (the first of course being 'Field of Screams.') Here's an awesome walkthrough to give you a taste of what inspired me so;
-The original outline also featured Silver Spoon hanging out with Snips and Snails, with her being the one who defaces All Bright's grave and the one to be "punished." Ultimately, I found her inclusion unnecessary and far too evocative of 'Grogar: a Hearth's Warming Horror Story.'
-The image of the CMC dressed as previous villains seemed like a cute idea. I couldn't find a place to naturally fit the detail, but Scootaloo is wearing full body paint as part of her Cozy Glow costume.
-All Bright's name comes from Madeline Albright, the "Glowing Mother" and central antagonist of the house that inspired this story.
So... yeah. That's it. That's the last Jade Ring horror story.
I need to stress that I didn't decide to do this because I lost the contest. I've been planning this for quite some time, ever since the failure of 'the Trouble.' The fact is that while I love the Horror genre, I clearly have a disconnect between what I think is scary and what the general populace of FIMFiction finds scary. Calling it quits on Horror allows less distractions from other, longer existing projects.
And I know it might sound shallow, but putting a ton of effort into a story just to see it pretty much ignored does not do wonders for self-esteem.
I'm very proud of most of my Horror stories on this site, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about directing that specific creative energy towards more original Horror concepts. To those of you who enjoy when I get spooky, don't worry. Just because I'm not going to be actively writing Horror fanfiction anymore, there's no telling when that wonderful creative lightning will strike me again...
The Horror Stories of Jade Ring
2012-2020
'The Sin of Envy, or a Mother's Love'
'Grogar: a Hearth's Warming Horror Story'
Huh. Thirteen. Nice way to end it...
-Jade Ring
Shame you're retiring, but it's your choice. You've and some good ones over the years, despite what you might think.
Here's to having made our spines tingle for 8 years.
I'd argue a couple of these turned out great, but two out of thirteen still isn't the best record with horror, yeah.
I feel this. There's nothing harder than trying to communicate to someone why you think something is scary, and nothing worse than them going, "I don't get it."
That last part is of course true for all writing. <.<
5254026
Don't get me wrong. I'm tremendously proud of all these for different reasons. I've gone record saying that I consider 'Wicker' the best thing I've ever written.
It's other people that tend to think otherwise.
I just want to put it out there that I REALLY enjoyed Thalassophobia personally in particular, and I'm really glad you submitted it. It did incredibly well in the contest over all, and I'm glad you added the note that not winning isn't the reason you're retiring from it. Because OH BOY WAS I GENUINELY WORRIED ABOUT THAT.
I'm sorry to hear we won't get any more horror from you, but what I did read was genuinely enjoyed. Thank you for doing it.
5254113
I'm glad you liked it. And like I said, I'm just retiring from the genre formally. No more plans for stories at this time, but if inspiration strikes then I might dive back into the world of Horror at a later date.
I think fans of my Frenemies series and my big Continuity will be glad there's one less distraction for me.
Never really read the horror ones since I need to be in a very specific mood to consume something in that genre. Hell I can probably count the number of horror movies I've seen on one hand. Still, it's a shame when works you're proud of don't do hot. As another writer I can relate. If you do end up returning to horror in the future, I wish you luck there.