#horror tips

I love surreal horror. 

Okay. 

Plot twists are your best friend. Do the unexpected. Do a 180 last second, turn everything around on the reader. Obviously it has to be believable with in the context of the story, but keep it a surprise.

False sense of security? Works wonders. Nothing is safe. Let readers think something is good/pure/innocent/calm/safe/helpful/etc when it’s not. Lure them into that trap. Let them believe and then rip it away from them. 

Invert things. Similar to the false sense of security. Take things that are usually strongly associated with one thing, and associate it with the opposite. Take something dark and make it the good thing. Take something bright and make it evil. Take something sweet and make it bitter. Take something healthy and make it deadly. If you do it right, you can make the reader curiously uncomfortable. 

With surreal horror you want to shock your reader. You want to make them feel strangely uncomfortable. You want to make them question things. 

The Hungry Ghost Festival , also known as the  Zhong Yuan Jie is a traditional festival held by Buddhism & Taoism in Asian countries. In the Chinese calendar ( a lunisolar calendar ) the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).

In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from hell. During Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.

On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to lessen the sufferings of the deceased. Traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. People would prepare ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Vegetarian meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. 

THINGS NOT TO DO DURING THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL :

1. It is inauspicious for couples to get married during the hungry ghost festival. 

2. Don't answer when you hear someone calling you by your name from the back. 

3. Don't leave your umbrella open indoors as it may invite uninvited spirits to reside inside them. 

4. Do not pat anyone on their shoulders or forehead as it brings them bad luck and rises the risk of them being possessed.

5. Wearing black or red invites spirits to come near you. 

6. Taking pictures at night may accidentally capture wandering spirits. 

7. Pay respect to offerings and do not step on them. Apologize to them if you do. 

8.  Don't go swimming during the hungry ghost festival!

9.  Wear flats as spirits might possess you through heels. 

10. Do not put your chopsticks upright as it is a direct invitation for spirits to partake your food.

11. Do not celebrate birthdays in the middle of the night. 

12. Do not swear during this period of time. 

13. It is advised to be home before sunset.