The Sharing Nightmares Anthology is an Halloween themed anthology with stories from some of Wattpad's finest 'thrill weavers'
Here, you'd find stories from 20 prolific authors with enough chills and spooky to keep you on edge all Hallo-month long.
N...
One more day to submit your entry for the Sharing Nightmares Anthology. Still not certain if it's worth it? Well maybe our next guest writer would seem convincing. 🎃
=||=
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I'm Shaun Allan, @shaunallan on Wattpad. I'm a proud member of the Wattpad Stars program and a Featured author. I work full time on an oil refinery, own a barbers salon and fit in writing with every breath I have time to take. My books include Sin, And the Meek Shall Walk, Red Queen and Dark Places and I've honoured to have written for the likes of Universal Studios for The Purge: Anarchy (Mr. Composure and Sinister II (Suffer the Little Children), along with Goosebumps and DC Vertigo comics. I believe writing can be both therapy and escape and can't imagine a time when I won't be desperate to write the words.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST POPULAR HORROR BOOK?
Of my own or by someone else? If you're talking about my books, I'd have to say Sin. Sin, the character, is a huge part of myself. There's a great many of my personal thoughts and experiences in him, hence his inability to accept his book was finished and to keep talking away. Sin finds a coin, flips it and from that point on, bad things happen. He incarcerates himself in an asylum to try and stop it but the deaths still occur so he ends up on the run from the only other person who knows, and himself.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
If you are talking about books by others... That's a difficult one. I love horror. I've read so many, picking one out would be sooo hard. I'd have to do honorary mentions instead. Stephen King's Doctor Sleep and It. Clive Barker's Weaveworld and The Hellbound Heart. Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas books. Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs. Not all horror has to be supernatural or gore filled. The psychological aspects – the ability to make you squirm or wince – can be as or more powerful.
It plays into our childhood and fears. Doctor Sleep is a brilliant follow up to the epic Shining. The Hellbound Heart introduces us to Pinhead, who I dressed as for my engagement party which was held at Halloween. Odd Thomas tells of an ordinary man with extraordinary abilities – and Sin has been compared to him. The Silence of the Lambs... Well, Hannibal Lecter. What more do you need? Weaveworld was the book which prompted me to think writing what you know could work. Before that, I thought where I was from and my life experiences were too mundane to be interesting. In Weaveworld, there are ordinary streets and ordinary alleyways. What comes later is so intricately woven (pun intended), it also showed your imagination should have no limits.
I should also mention Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, which is fantasy with very dark aspects and is one of my favourite books. It's full of longing and takes you on an incredible journey.
WHAT SCARED YOU MOST, BOTH AS A KID AND AN ADULT?
I was asked to write this for Goosebumps. I really had to think. I have read so many horror books and watched so many films, I think I've become somewhat immune to the scare. This is one of the problems with many movies. It's difficult to achieve a level of originality – look at the current trend in reboots! As a child, though, it was things under my bed. Clowns, spiders, vampires and so on didn't bother me, but I could never leave my foot or knew poking out of the covers. There's a film starring Howie Mandel and Fred Savage called Little Monsters which is a fun take on the subject and I know there's nothing there, but still....
Even now, I still have to stay under the covers (unless it's hot and I sleep on top of the duvet but I'm still ON the bed)!
YOU ARE FIRMLY SET IN THE REALMS OF HORROR, WHAT THRILLS YOU ABOUT THE GENRE?
Horror takes so many forms. It's not just about scaring you. You don't have to be made to jump or overdose on blood. Some of the best horrors are quieter affairs which build tension and work on your mind rather than your stomach. In my books, I've had the supernatural and super-ordinary. I like things that make me think and unsettle me. There are few limits in horror, but much of it exists in or just outside our own world. In the shadows, in the woods, in the cellar or in your own reflection. No-one knows what happens after death and that gives the perfect opportunities to play. And we all know one of the scariest creatures in us.
HAVE YOU READ ANY STORIES HERE ON WATTPAD THAT'S GIVEN YOU THE CHILLS?
Oh yes. In fact, I'm currently reading The First by Nate D. Burleigh(NateDBurleigh). Without giving too much away, it's a new take on a traditional horror subject. There's tension and gore and I'm loving it.
WHAT'S YOUR TOP 5 THINGS TO DO FOR HALLOWEEN?
Well, one is get engaged. I actually did do that. I dressed as Pinhead, with a full head mask, and answered the door to the trick or treaters like that. It was a fancy dress party so we had dead schoolgirls, mummies, my fiancée (now wife) was a fallen angel and even a pumpkin!
Two: Watch horror films. Most channels have movie marathons. Turn the lights off, get a blanket (for warmth, not to hide under – get a grip lol!) and settle down for the fright of your life. I once watched werewolf film The Howling like this. Nowadays, the film is quite dated but it wasn't when I watched it. It was gone midnight and the only light was from the TV. The chair had its back to most of a large, fairly empty room. I will admit, that space felt cold and dark and not entirely empty.
Three: I own a barbers salon. We go all out on decorating the salon with all sorts of creepy things. The staff dress up too, with costumes and make-up.
Four: Visit a haunted house or church. This is great. There's one near us called Skidbrook Church and it's definitely creepy.
Five: CARVE PUMPKINS! Gone are the days when a pumpkin was just a couple of eyes and a mouth. Now, you can get templates for everything from Jack Nicholson in The Shining to Gizmo from Gremlins. Bats and Freddy Kreuger. It's becoming art!
The UK is way behind the US in celebrating Halloween, but we're catching up! I'm sure I read somewhere there's a campaign to make it a national holiday! Halloween, in many ways, has been watered down. It has a distinct pantomime aspect to it now, but you can still let yourself be scared!
