Horror movies, Halloween, and the Importance of Character Development

Despite my best efforts, I am just not a consistent blogger. You'd think I would be, having spent nearly a decade managing a daily-entry blog for a Microsoft product group, but no.

It's not so much a lack of motivation or inspiration; it's more about focus and consistency. Until I figure that out, you'll just have to ignore the dates on my sporadic contributions. Or at least pay no mind to them as any kind of indicator of something meaningful.

That said, I'm stopping by today because Jason Voorhees inspired me to.

October: A Month for Horror Movies

In my house, October is horror movie month. The reason for that is simple: in my household of five, which includes myself, my husband, and our three sons, I am the only horror movie lover. For eleven months of the year, I defer to everyone else's preferences for Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Marvel Universe, Ocean's movies, and various other forms of entertainment focused on comedy, action, and adventure.

But once the mornings start dipping below 50 degrees and the winding tree-lined roads shift from green to splashes of orange, red, and yellow, it’s my turn to pick each night's after-dinner movie. And let me tell you, it’s glorious!

Costume Planning and Movie Night

With my twin teens needing quick (and cheap) costume ideas for upcoming dances, parties, and trick-or-treating, we picked up a grim reaper robe that could be altered into a Sith robe for one. For the other, we grabbed a hockey mask and a prop bleeding knife to create a quick and easy Jason Voorhees look.

Having decided this was the perfect time to introduce the boys to the Friday the 13th franchise, we watched the first movie tonight.

After it was over, I explained that yes, it was a bit anti-climactic because [SPOILER ALERT] Jason didn’t actually kill anyone (or even make much of an appearance) in the first movie. Still, it’s important to start there. Not only is the first movie a classic of 1980s slasher films, but it also marks the beginning of Jason’s story.

Understanding Character Motivation

Jason is an iconic character. You have to understand who he is and why he has a vendetta against teenaged and twenty-something camp counselors. Motivation and its resulting behavior are crucial elements in character development. That foundational understanding of the status quo must be in place before things begin to shift and change in the face of challenges and adversity. If you don’t understand what motivates a character, how can you appreciate their journey?

Later on, after the boys were in bed for the night, I found myself reviewing mock-ups of potential cover art for A Nightfall of Diamonds, which will be the second book in Autumn MacLeod's story. As I thought through how different this part of the story is from The Strangest of Places, it struck me that this series has something in common with the Friday the 13th franchise.

The Backstory Matters

The Strangest of Places is very much the backstory necessary to fully understand where Autumn comes from, why she makes the choices she does, and why she reacts to certain situations in a way that may be very different from those reading about her adventures.

It may strike some as a bit slow-moving at first—something I did see someone call out in my Amazon reviews—and that’s fair. But you have to consider that art often reflects reality.

I think everyone can identify with feeling stuck in the doldrums, with nothing to look forward to and not much new to keep things interesting. The first few chapters of The Strangest of Places have that feel to them because that’s where Autumn was at that time in her life. It’s important to establish that as the start so you can experience the whiplash of where she goes one, two, and three books later (all are written; books three and four are in various stages of editing).

Building a Series with Depth

Each subsequent installment in the series was written as if it were the only book. Similar to how the first few chapters in The Strangest of Places provide a recap on Autumn’s backstory, the first few chapters of books two through four each contain high-level summaries of previous books peppered throughout.

All this to say, I need to get off my duff and start figuring out how to get better at marketing these books with no budget.