Genre fiction writers are often accused of writing “formulaic” stories. It may surprise you to know I plead guilty as charged. My children’s adventure novels contain many well-worn tropes. My gothic mystery/horror thrillers likewise. Why? Because the reader expects them, and would be disappointed if I didn’t deliver.
It is vital, especially in genre fiction, to give the reader what they want but not the way they expect it. Genre writers understand this. Agatha Christie’s novels and crime fiction in general is hugely formulaic, but also fiendishly difficult to write well. Like most genre fiction, they are an easy target for literary snobs.
In short, I have a trope (several in fact), and I’m not afraid to use them. However, I aim to use them in interesting and original ways. Here are ten tropes used in my quintet of gothic mystery horror/thrillers.
Imperilled heroine – All these books feature a tenacious, insatiably curious, likeable but flawed heroine, who is dealing with some kind of trauma either in the recent or distant past.
Big central mystery – Spooky paintings, sinister writing competitions, inexplicable sudden deaths, apparent messages from ghosts, and murderous cover-ups all feature in these narratives.
Haunted locations – Creepy forests, castles, mansions, or office blocks, are key locations in these stories.
Supernatural elements – Ghosts, demons, witchcraft, astral projection… These are often (but not always) explored.
Hidden labyrinths – Again, these novels frequently include mysterious and sinister secret passages, caves, mazes, closed off wings in mansions, and – in one case – abandoned tube train tunnels.
Cults and/or secret societies – I seem to come back to this trope time and time again. Obscure religious movements and/or clandestine organisations pulling strings behind the scenes are an important part in many of my narratives. Often said organisations are revealed in secret rooms at the heart of the afore-mentioned labyrinths.
Villain/antagonist with similar goals to the protagonist – I am fascinated by stories where protagonist and antagonist essentially want the same thing. Of my gothic mysteries, The Irresistible Summons explores this with particular potency.
Melodramatic overdrive – With gothic horror, I have no shame in dialling up the melodrama when called for, with all the blood, thunder, and passion evident in the greats of the genre.
Religious Oppression – My protagonists sometimes have a religiously abusive past, or else the issue is relevant in the present. This isn’t so much a trope, as a theme I find myself exploring again and again, along with abuse of power. I expect this is a result of my background, upbringing, and personal experience of such things. I suppose this is no bad thing, as many famous authors wrote their greatest works around the same theme. For instance, Charles Dickens, whose father was imprisoned for debt, wrote again and again about lost families and fathers. In my case, I seem to write again and again about oppressive religious environments. This is true of The Irresistible Summons and The Thistlewood Curse, but outside of my gothic mysteries, I explore these themes in novels including Love vs Honour, and particularly Children of the Folded Valley (by far my most “personal” novel to date).
Big twist ending – This needs no explanation. I love a good twist ending, but only when it comes off as both inevitable and unexpected. It’s no good pulling out the rug from under the reader without laying the necessary groundwork, or it won’t feel satisfying. I don’t always do this (I’ve always maintained there’s a big difference between a twist ending, and an unexpected plot turn) but twist endings can be great fun to write, when they are appropriate.
Check out my published works here. If you want to try before you buy, to see if you care for my writing style, by all means take a look at a couple of short stories I’ve made FREE to download here.
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