The mainstream publishing industry may have momentarily turned its collective back on the genre, but the small press scene is thriving, not to mention the burgeoning number of horror Ezines on the Net. It ain't easy. But I've got three tips to offer that will increase your chances of joining the dark pantheon of horror writers who kick major ass. In it, a young punk torments and kills an elderly man whose ghost comes seeking Yuletide revenge. At least I had the good sense never to send this piece of crap out.
Readers know exactly how they're going to turn out every time.
The man character, a young boy who blames himself for the drowning death of a friend, is visited in his dreams by his friend's ghost. I took the notion that vampires don't cast reflections and created a dark mirror which displays only the reflections of vampires. Draw on your own experience for your story ideas, write about the things that excite and disturb you, the people, places and events that form the unique fabric of your existence, which make your life different than any other that's ever been lived before. If you do this, you can't help but be original. There's a difference between disturbing readers and simply grossing them out.