Shock Value vs. Appropriate Gore: Drawing the Line in Horror Fiction

Horror has always focused on testing the limits of what readers are willing to tolerate. In fact, some would argue that finding the limit is the point of the genre.

Even knowing that, there is still a difference between darkness that serves the story and darkness that is used purely to get a reaction. Or, in this case, gore that serves the story and gore that is just there to create a reaction.

What Shock Value Actually Is

Shock value is gore (or any form of extreme content) that exists purely to create a negative reaction in the reader. It does not deepen character, build theme, or serve to help strengthen the narrative architecture. It's only point is to damage the reader's comfort levels.

If extreme content can be removed from a scene without losing anything except the discomfort, it was only there for shock value.

If its removal would collapse the meaning of the scene or take away a moment of character growth, it was being used with purpose.

Shock value also has a diminishing return problem. Readers find trends quickly. Once a novel establishes that it will go anywhere for a reaction, the reactions stop escalating.

Basically, repeated use of shock value within a book will drain the horror out of your horror story.

What Appropriate Gore Does

As was briefly mentioned above, there are plenty of instances where gore earns its place by doing some form of narrative work. This could be helping establish the true nature of a threat, revealing something about a character, or even introducing a thematic element.

The violence in It is there to show the destruction of childhood, safety, and the illusion that adults can protect you. In comparison, Shirley Jackson almost never shows gore at all, and her horror is among the most enduring ever written.

As with any tool in your arsenal, it is your job as a writer to decide what purpose the gore is serving. You should always be able to answer the question, what is this adding to the story? If the answer is nothing, then the scene just might be there for shock value.

What This Means

Just like a constant barrage of jump scares eventually becomes ineffective, readers will eventually lose interest and tension once they figure out the rhythm of a book is SHOCK, SHOCK, SHOCK.

The best horror writers are not the ones who go furthest. They are the ones who understand what is being put on the page. A talented writer knows that shock value is only occasionally helpful, and can always provide an answer when faced with the question, what does this moment add to the story?