Any classic work of art is an artistic shaping of real life. No matter what the genre, even if it is science fiction or mythology, there are real events behind it as a source of inspiration for the author's creation.
So where did horror writers get their inspiration? Are they really being stalked, frightened, or attacked by supernatural forces, or are they out of touch with reality? Let's take a look at some of the real events that have happened behind some of the most photographable novels of all time, and what they have brought to writers.
A Stanley Hotel
Stephen King's classic horror film "The Shining", I believe everyone has seen it. It was filmed at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, and Stephen's inspiration for The Shining came from an authentic experience at the Stanley Hotel. In the winter of 1974, Stephen and his wife visited the Stanley Hotel.
In addition to them, the king was the only guest here, and he was staying in the famous room 217 at the time. A woman named Elizabeth was rumored to have died in 1911 due to an explosion caused by a gas leak in Room 217. Since then, her soul has been haunting Room 217, and soon the writer Jack Torrance's sudden madness in Room 217 has aggravated the supernatural color of Room 217.
The king was clearly interested in the horrors of Room 217, and he wandered alone in the empty and dreamy lobby of the Stanley Hotel. Until one day, he suddenly fell asleep while eating in the hall, dreaming that his son was running around in the hall, and was chased by a sentient fire water dragon, while screaming in horror. When he woke up, he told Stephen the story, which inspired Stephen to create.
Ii Frankenstein
Frankenstein is Shelley's volcano-infested monster inspired by the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. It was a massive volcanic disaster, with ash covering the atmosphere and killing 100,000 people. The consequences of the eruption were so severe that the following year was called a summerless year due to crop failures.
Shelley was not only a writer, but also an avid follower of science. When she arrived in Switzerland in 1816, she found the weather, mood and atmosphere there depressing. People stayed in their rooms all day and didn't dare to go out. Perhaps too boring, Lord Byron suggested that we write some horror stories that are up to date in a race-like manner, with the limitations of medicine and science dealing with disasters as a starting point.
It was this competition that allowed Shelley to create a story of scientists who transcend moral boundaries to create life.
Three Horrors
Robert Bloch's "Horror" was inspired by a real case. Bloch and the novel's protagonist, Gayn, live together in a small town in Wisconsin with about 1,200 people and no more than 50 miles in radius. It was in such a small town that several shocking murders took place over the years. The victim was stripped of his skin after death and made clothes by the killer to wear on his body. However, when the case was solved years later, it was discovered that the murderer was actually a person who had never been suspected.
Gain is an extremely low-key and humble man, and his crimes stem from revenge on his domineering mother. Bloch felt that there must be a story behind a man like Gayn who could commit such a great crime. It was the in-depth digging into the Gaine case that led her to create the classic horror novel "Horror Story".
Four Flowers on the attic
Andrews' 1979 book, Flowers in the Attic, describes a girl who elopes with her uncle and gives birth to 4 children. After the accidental death of her husband, the girl returned home, was severely beaten by her mother, and kept her 4 children in the attic to prevent them from seeing each other. Later, girls came to deliver food to their children less and less, and their attitudes became worse and worse. The four children lived in the attic in a dark life, their health deteriorating, and the youngest child eventually died of illness. The children began to suspect their mother.
Eventually they understood that all this was deliberately done by their mother and grandmother. Their aim is to inherit more inheritance after they die. When they exposed her ugly face at the wedding of their mother's remarriage, the mother jumped off a building and committed suicide.
According to Andrews' editors, the story is based on the personal experience of Andrews's doctors. When she was a child, she was kept in the attic by her grandmother, and the reason was also related to inheritance.
Five ruins
The film Ruins of Horror is based on Scott Smith's 2006 novel Ruins. The film depicts the protagonist, Marcias, and his party of 6 people, on their way to Cancun, meet a Dutch female archaeologist. Marcias's brother Henricci was attracted by the beauty of the archaeologist and decided to go to the archaeological site where she worked to find her.
The 5 people who went to look for it were led to an ancient Mayan village by the map left by Henricci. The Maya forced them to a large mountain covered with vines and red flowers with weapons, and as a result, the terrifying plants on the mountain killed them all in retaliation for these strangers who had trespassed into the territory.
The plants depicted in the film have sensations, can move, and secrete acidic liquids to corrode everything, and even they can imitate human sounds to lure people into traps.
In fact, Scott's original idea was that a group of archaeologists would dig up a deadly virus in the archaeological site, causing the entire archaeological team to die horribly and bizarrely. However, after watching the movie "Signs", he changed his mind, and he felt that compared with the horror plant, the virus seemed too dull and not conducive to creating a horror atmosphere. Hence the version we see now.
Six Cuccio
The 1989 horror film Pet Graveyard is based on Stephen King's novel Cuccio. The film tells the story of Louis and his family moving from the city to a rural town in Maine, where his two-year-old son Gage died tragically under the wheels and was buried in a pet cemetery, but his ghost was revived as a horrible killer.
In fact, Stephen King's vision of the terrible, fanatical St. Bernard comes in large part from his real-life encounter with a worrying pet. In 1977, Stephen rode his motorcycle to a ship in Maine for repairs. When he first got on the boat, a St. Bernard dog pounced on him, and although it did not hurt him, the horror experience was unforgettable.
Afterwards, the mechanic told him that this St. Bernard had never been so impulsive before his arrival, and that it was probably your face that made it feel very uncomfortable. What's even more amazing is that because of drug abuse, Stephen King never admitted to writing the film.