forum Gore

Started February 11, 2018 by @Paperok

tune

How much gore is too much gore

There is no such thing. I sometimes include scenes that involve severe slaughter, steam rising from freshly mutilated bodies, blood on the ceiling, tearing limbs off, crushing heads, decapitation, impalement, evisceration, bisection, having people burned/eaten alive, trading people to shreds, the smell and taste of blood, people being exploded, popping of eyes, tearing throats out, breaking limbs in like, six places, as long as there is no prejudice based on race, ethnicity, gender, religious or political beliefs (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, social class ect cetera, that is not plot based. And as long as children are not being killed in this manner, then it's OK. But remember that some people are sensitive.

At some point, gore isn't helping develop the story. This point comes at different times based upon the set of events that led up to the mass-slaughter/bloodshed. If you're trying to prove a point, bare in mind how many times you've tried to prove said point. For example: if the main antagonist has provoked battles upon battles, each described in a manner of grotesque lucidity, it's like okay, we get it. They're evil. Essentially, if it's helping the plot, character development, ect., then it's good, if there's gore just to have gore, then dial it down a bit.

Yeah, I agree with what Grace G. said. If you put gore in every scene, it will get annoying after a while. But, if you just sprinkle some magical gore dust every now and then in important scenes, then it will help the plot move instead of just having an entire story be gore.

That's true as well, the gore needs to have a point. If it's for plot purposes it's OK. Here are some times where gore is acceptable.

1. If you want to drive a character insane, even if it's temporary, use slaughter and gore to do so, an example would be how Darren Shan does this exact thing to drive the plot of those YA demon type books he wrote.
2. If you want to major a villain hated, go full Negan, man.
3. Shock value, seriously, but don't go too nuts with this.
4. To make an enemy seem a bit more imposing and villainous, this is literally one of the oldest tricks in the book.
5. To make your hero seem a little less heroic.
6. To emphasize a curse's affect, like how Dean slaughters those mob guys because of the Mark of Cain.
7. Because you're writing horror and not only is it OK (since pointless gore is basically all horror is [that's a joke]), but because you want to incorporate some sick body horror.

Some of your readers probably get faint or nauseous at the mention of blood or violence, so maybe keep the gore to a necessary point. Shock factor, character introduction, making the readers feel something are all good places to introduce some blood and guts, but just not all the time. Too much gore can get repetitive.

Yeah, don't let the whole thing be gore. Unless the series is one with zero continuity, there needs to be plot, speech, twists, turns, character development, nonviolent problems, etc cetera. Y'know! Also, there can be completely badass series without gore, although gore makes them even cooler. An example would be Samurai Jack, at first, it was a cool kids show that was the staple of many kids' childhoods, but, now it's gotten a bit more mature, and people absolutely love it still.

I agree that there needs to be a point to it, and that shock value is a tool that can be used, but should be used sparingly. For me, when there's tons of gore it starts getting old. If it's every so often, it can pack a real punch (and make sure the punch matters). But also a word of caution: people can get addicted to gore like they can get addicted to drugs or porn. I don't think any addiction is healthy. Some people get bothered by the littlest amount, some people could care less and don't get addicted at all (that's me, to an extent), and some people get so hooked it's scary. Know your audience and don't try to pander to everyone because it'll never happen. Some people might disagree with this, but I think you should definitely not pander to those who are addicted to gore, either.

Yes. Absolutely. Shock value is to be used sparingly, of course.

Because you want the blood and dismemberment and screams to really resonate. :P

depends on your audience but just as long as your not writing picture books your good in my opinion.

If you're going to do gore, make it both realistic, and over the top, and unique.

I actually have both real life and writing experience with gore, so I'm pretty knowledgeable about the topic, and you learn that people are often either hardcore desensitized to this, or they're too sensitive.

Too much gore is when there is nothing but gore, like no plot and no point and no personality to your characters and they're just running around dying and killing things endlessly for 300 pages.

That's right. The only thing tyo ever make too much gore work, is Hellsing Ultimate.