POLITICAS CONTABLES A Bases de presentación

cloThing/uniforms: battle armor, coveralls, diaphanous gowns, gravity boots, hazmat suit, life support suit, military dress, powered armor, radiation-proof suit, silver space suit, sun protection, space com-bat armor, space suit, space transport armor

devices: air scrubber, artificial intelligence, artificial limb, automated medical, bioengineered medica-tion, breathing apparatus, cloaking device, communication device, conveyor belt sidewalk/road, decoder, diagnostic medical scanner, disintegration beam, force field generator, gene repair system, holographic gen-erator, interface, invisibility gengen-erator, regeneration technology, shrink ray, stasis pod, teleportation device, tractor beam, time travel device

roBoTs: alien mechanical, android, animal mimic, automaton, battlebot, cleaning, clockwork mechani-cal, constructionbot, engineering, horticultural, humanlike, humanoid, insectoid, interpreter, maintenance, medical, nanobot, repair, security, self-reconfiguring, service, spacebot, swarmbot, telerobot, transportation, unmanned combat, warbot

vehicles: air board, anti-gravity sled, anti-inertia sled, asteroid miner, bathysphere, deep sea explorer, dimensional slider, fusion sleigh, hover craft, jet pack, lunar lander, lunar rover, portal scout, speeder, un-manned submarine, unun-manned surface destroyer

Weapons: bomb (antimatter, black hole, dark matter, fusion, gamma, gauss, graviton, neutron, plasma), cannon (atomic, death ray, ion, plasma), dagger/sword (electro, energy, molecule edged, vibro), grenade (electro pulse, flash, paralysis, plasma, smart, sonic, sticky, stun), missile (antimatter, atomic, concussion, cryo, dark matter, fission, fusion, gravity, neutron, nova, planet buster, plasma, ship-killer, sun-killer, ther-mal), pistol or rifle (black ray, blaster, crystal, death ray, disintegration, fission, fusion, gauss, incendiary, laser, missile, needler, particle beam, plasma, protein disruptor, pulse, radiation, rail gun, slug thrower, sonic, tangier), unique (confining, cryonic, darkness generating, energy bolo, force field generator, paralyzing, stun-ning, torture device, vaporizing)

SpaCeShipS

spaceship drive sysTems: antimatter, atomic, dark matter, faster-than-light, fission, fusion, gravity, hyperatomic, ion, ley, magnetic pulse, nuclear pulse propulsion, photon, plasma, psionic, quark, ramjet, reaction, rocket, solar wind, steampunk, thermal hydrogen, time, total conversion, trash conversion, uranium fueled, warp, water, wave motion

spaceship shapes: animal, bat, bird, boat, capsule, cigar, cube, insect, irregular, oval, platform, pyramid, rocket, saucer, sphere, triangle

spaceship Types: cargo, colony, cruise ship, deep space probe, escape pod, evacuation, explorer, generation, military (battle cruiser, battleship, carrier, cloaked scout, cruiser, destroyer, dreadnought, frigate, gunship, light cruiser, scout, shuttle, supply tender, tender, unmanned, warship), miner, private yacht, probe, space bus, spaceliner, starship, solar sail clipper, stratocruiser

chapTer 22 —

ChapTer 23: horror

This chapter presents a multitude of horror concepts and idea starters. Horror literature is a genre that fre-quently recycles common concepts and gives them a new twist; dozens of books and movies have been pro-duced using vampires, zombies, Frankenstein’s monster, aliens, deranged slashers, and so on. When writing in these genres, authors need to ask themselves what makes their material original or unique, and what new challenges face the protagonists or what clever solutions the protagonists can apply to entertain the audience.

Moments of fright can be incorporated into almost any fiction without turning the story into a horror prod-uct. Frightful moments help keep a reader’s interest, build suspense, and add variety when used appropri-ately. Many memorable scenes have been written about the solitary damsel who hears a noise that’s only the wind or a small animal, or about the concealed heroes who fear they have been discovered but a passerby fails to notice them. Often, moments of fright can provide comic relief.

True horror is different from fright. True horror challenges an audience’s concept of reality or normalcy. In the real world, serial killers, monster aliens, zombies, and vampires are not supposed to exist. (We know that serial killers do exist, although they oppose our concepts of sanity and civilized society. And the jury is still out regarding the monster aliens.) To create true horror, an author must conceive a situation that challenges real-ity. A group of kids exploring an abandoned house can be suspenseful and frightening, but in order to achieve horror (if that’s the author’s intent), something bigger and deeper must be involved: the gateway to hell, a witches’ coven, a mad scientist, a cannibal, and so on. Understanding the difference between fright and horror will help an author craft a plot and build appropriate scenes. An author must also have a sense of the story’s purpose—whether a light, spooky, suspenseful adventure for pre-teens, or a bloodcurdling tale of a psychotic torturer for cast-iron adults.

An important horror device deserves discussion: isolation. Many books and movies use isolation to build horror. When the heroes are on a spaceship and can’t expect help to arrive for several weeks, or the family is holed up in a snowbound hotel, or the explorers are on an island and the ferry won’t be back until morn-ing, the audience feels the isolation and knows that the heroes must fend for themselves. This immediately instills a degree of suspense and danger, and many authors use isolation to great advantage.

All authors hear the advice show, don’t tell. It means that we don’t merely describe an old house as spooky—

we depict it as a house so ancient and sinister that it seemed to stare back at passersby. As an element of showing, good authors remember to make use of the five senses, and this is especially important in horror writing. Spooky or horrific sights are a good start, but what really brings a scene to life are the dripping or rustling sounds, the smells of rot or a stale tomb, the brush of a spider web or tremor of a footstep, or more rarely, the taste of bile or bitter air.

Finally, note that horror crosses paths with many other genres, including fantasy, romance, and science fic-tion. Horror doesn’t have to be a slasher film or the genius serial killer cannibal—it can be a subtle moment to give the reader a chill, serve as a distraction, or deepen a developing mystery.

liTerary ClaSSiFiCaTionS

horror genres: alien meddling, alternate Earth, alternate future, alternate history, alternate uni-verse, ancient creature/civilization brought back to life, animal/insect swarm, demons, disaster traps peo-ple in office building/cruise ship, discovery of unknown creature/civilization, doomsday, dystopian society, erotica, escaped criminal/lunatic, exorcism, ghosts/spirits/haunting, giant creatures, gothic, graphic novel, historical, human sacrifice, humor, large scale disaster, man-made disaster, medical epidemic, medical ex-perimentation, mystery, natural disaster, object/doll brought to life, occult, paranormal events, possession, religious prophecy comes true, romance, romantic horror, science fantasy, science fiction, serial killer, ship-wreck, slasher, steampunk, teenagers trapped and stalked, undead/zombie uprising, vampires, Victorian hor-ror, war crimes/atrocities, western, witchcraft

horror ploT devices: aliens, aliens regard human race as food source, ancient curse, ancient gods threaten humanity, ancient monster released during mining operation, ancient society drinks blood of virgins to remain young, ancient spell, ancient/alien technology activates and threatens destruction, android turns on cre-ator, androids, asteroid on collision course with Earth, bad weather isolates campers/travelers/residents, beautiful

woman/man is really dead, beautiful young ghost seduces man/woman, body is switched with another person, boy-friend/girlfriend kills parents of beloved, car/tools/objects/doll animate after lightning strike, child witnesses crimes and is not believed, computer tricks users into killing, computer turns evil and murderous, conspiracy forces residents out of town, crazy recluse stalks/torments/kills neighbors, criminals steal/tamper with dangerous item, cursed item causes grief, deathtrap house kills all visitors, deranged killer stalks/attacks campground, destruction of Earth looms in seven days, dinosaurs brought back to life, disease/rot/transformation of body, Egyptian tomb, elderly persons find source of youth, evil robot, evil/insane/possessed child, experimental animals turn on scientist, explorers encounter cannibals, explorers find lost race, explorers find magical object, extinct creature emerges from isolation and causes death/destruction, factory emissions cause death/rot/wasting disease, fairy colony lures innocent victim, fake psychic assaulted by actual spirits, family curse, food supply tainted, Frankenstein monster, gateway to hell in basement of home, ghost ship, ghost wants object/body part back, ghostly army rises to fight war, ghosts of large-scale disaster rise up and wreak havoc, giant insects/vermin attack, global weather turns extremely hot/cold/wet/dry, gods require a sacrifice, gold/silver/gem discovery is guarded/haunted by evil creature, haunted hotel, haunted house lashes out at new tenants, helpful stranger turns out to be evil, homeless people preyed upon by murderer/ghouls/vampires, homeless person witnesses crimes and is ignored, hotel owner traps guests, house contains gate to hell/another place, house is intelligent/sentient, house swallows up children, house/apartment traps souls of all who live/die there, immortality, industry knowingly pollutes water/air/ground, inheritance of strange object/book, intelligent insects/creatures, kidnapping, last person on Earth, malicious fairies/fae torment country home, mind control, mind reader suffers side effects, mummy rises, mutant plants attack, mysterious invitation leads to frightening ordeal, mysterious liquid or gas, mysterious neighbor, neighbor is a vampire, nuclear disaster, object changes personality, object drains life force, old document proves person guilty of murder, ordinary tenant harbors evil secret identity, people invited to remote place, people invited to spend night in haunted house, person buried alive, person makes deal with devil, person purposely gives lovers horrible disease, person transforms into monster, person trapped without hope of rescue, person/child vanishes without a trace, pet is vampire, pets attack, pets turn to zombies, possessed scientist, possessed weapon controls wielder, problem must be solved before sunrise, property tormented by evil force after construction/renovation, psychic powers, radiation leak, relative cares for body of dead person, relatives/loved ones injured/killed/trapped, revenge, rich recluse plays deadly game, school bullies tormented by their victim, school teacher in evil plot to perform human sacrifice, science experi-ment makes intelligent animals, small town performs annual human sacrifice, space travelers assaulted by horrific creature, spell needed to reverse evil magic, spirits rise from graves, spoiled daughter/son tortures parents, spooky carnival ride turns deadly, stalker, stolen religious object lashes back, storm harbors evil entity, stranded after car breaks down, strange antique harbors evil force, student bitten by vampire, super-intelligent being regards humans as vermin, supernatural powers used to terrorize others, teacher is vampire, theft of body parts, threat/villain is eliminated but bigger threat/villain emerges, time traveler meddles with history, troubled student discovers evil book, trusted person turns out to be criminal, underwater monsters/giant creatures, unexpected aid from librarian/

neighbor/stranger, vacation turns disastrous, vampire, victims must escape before time runs out, villain steals life force from victims, virgin sacrifice, wager creates deadly challenge, water supply imparts fatal disease, wishes are granted with dire consequences, young people suddenly age and die, zombie uprising threatens city

horror vocaBulary: alarm, alert, angst-ridden, appalling, apathetic, apprehension, apprehensive, atrocious, averse, awful, bashful, blood, blooded, bloody, blurred, browbeaten, callous, canny, careful, careless, cautious, chary, cold, cold-blooded, corrupt, cowed, coy, crafty, creepy, crooked, cruel, cunning, cynical, danger, dangerous, dastardly, dead, deadly, deceitful, dejected, demoralized, depressed, derisive, devious, diffident, dire, disbelieving, discouraged, dismal, dismayed, disquiet, distasteful, distress, distrustful, doubt, doubtful, downcast, downhearted, drained, dread, dubious, eerie, evasive, exhausted, exploited, faint-hearted, fatal, fatigued, fear, fearful, fright, frightful, forbidding, foreboding, foreswear, forewarn, formless, ghastly, ghostly, gloomy, grave, grim, grisly, gorge, gouge, gouged, gruesome, guarded, guilty, halfhearted, hair-raising, harsh, hazy, heartless, horrible, horrendous, horrific, horror, humorless, iffy, incredulous, indifferent, indisposed, inhuman, intimidate, intolerable, lethal, leery, lifeless, loath, lukewarm, mean, mistrustful, mock, mocking, monstrous, mortified, nervous, nightmare, noxious, opposed, painful, panic, panic-stricken, pang, panicky, passive, perilous, petrified, pitiless, poisonous, quake, quaking, qualm, quiet, quivering, rash, raw, reckless, reclusive, reluctant, remote, re-strained, reticent, ruthless, scared, scary, scheming, serious, shady, shaky, shattered, shielded, shivering, shock, shocking, shrewd, shuddering, shy, sickening, skeptical, spineless, spine-chilling, startle, subdued, subjugated, subtle, suspect, suspicious, tentative, terrible, terror, timid, timorous, tired, trembling, trepidation, toxic, unde-cided, underhanded, unearthly, unease, unenthusiastic, unfeeling, unresponsive, unstable, unwilling, vicious, vigilant, warn, wary, watchful, weary, withdrawn, worried

chapTer 23 —

general ConCepTS

common dangers: aliens, army misunderstands threat, basement/cellar, bug swarm, cursed car/

motorcycle, cursed object, cursed property, dinosaurs, extreme cold, extreme heat, extreme weather, Friday the 13th, full moon, giant bugs/creatures, haunted/abandoned house, idiot military commander, intelligent plants, intelligent robot, killer prom queen, midnight, not following the rules triggers horrible side effect, plant pods infect people/animals, possessed teacher, power failure, rabid animal, sea creatures, spell, split-ting the group, stalker, thunderstorm, tropical plants, trusted friend goes crazy, undead, undead relative, werewolf, witch

energy sources/Types: alien technology, batteries, candle/fire, clockwork/mechanical, electric-ity, ghost energy, ley line, lightning, mental abilelectric-ity, natural gas/swamp gas, paranormal, psychic energy, pyro-kinesis, solar energy cures/destoys, telepyro-kinesis, tornado, volcanic eruption, water, wind

classic iTems: axe, baseball bat, boat, bomb, book, bow and arrow, carpentry tools, cell phone, chain saw, clock, computer, crystal skull, cursed dagger, doll, duct tape, Egyptian artifact, fairy ring of toadstools, gallows, hammer, hangman’s noose, jewelry, knife, machine gun, map, meat cleaver, monkey’s paw, nail gun, pit into hell, poison, poison ring, poisoned apple, razor, robot, scroll, severed limb, silk scarf, stick of dyna-mite, Swiss army knife, ventriloquist dummy, wheelchair

horror locaTions: altar, ancient mine, attic, barn, basement/cellar, bathroom, battlefield, bed and breakfast, burial ground, camp ground, car involved in deadly crash, cave/cavern, cemetery vault, church, city of Atlantis, criminal hideout, disturbed Indian burial ground, Egyptian pyramid, Egyptian tomb, fairy ring, graveyard, haunted bridge, haunted hotel, haunted house, haunted lake, haunted road, haunted ru-ins, historic mansion, hospital, house where murder took place, mad scientist’s laboratory, remote cabin, school, shed, sphinx, Stonehenge, subway, underground catacomb, underwater city, university lab, village well, witch’s house, woods

horror occupaTions: actress, alchemist, ambulance driver, archeologist, army officer, army pri-vate, astronaut, babysitter, banker, bishop, boyfriend, brain surgeon, butler, caretaker, campground super-visor, computer genius, cook, detective, diver, doctor, empath, exorcist, gardener, gas station attendant, girlfriend, gumshoe, gypsy fortune teller, hospital administrator, hospital orderly, hotel clerk, lab assistant, landlord, lawyer, mad scientist, maid, medic, medical examiner, model, mortuary worker, national guard of-ficer, nurse, paranormal investigator, pilot, pirate, police ofof-ficer, priest, prison warden, psychic, robot techni-cian, scientist, tour guide, truck driver

Travel modes: alien technology , ancient portal, astral travel, camper, cruise liner, gate to other dimen-sion, glyph portal, horse-drawn coach, jumbo jet, ley line, lots of running, motorcycle, pentagram teleportation, private plane, run-down car, spiritual doorway, submarine, time travel, train, UFO, underwater portal supporTing casT: angry father, corrupt police officer, crazed mother, crazy person who knows the truth, creepy assistant, dumb jock, elderly sage, ghost, golem, helpful locals, kidnapped victim, know-it-all, mother who lost her baby, nosy neighbor, obnoxious preacher, practitioner of witchcraft, robot

ChapTer 24: FanTaSy

liTerary ClaSSiFiCaTionS

fanTasy genres: adventure, allegory, alternate Earth with fantasy races/creatures, alternate history with fantasy races/creatures, fairy tale, fantastic realism, fantasy horror, fantasy romance, graphic novel, historical setting with addition of magic, magic replaces science, mystery, occult, original setting inhabited by fantasy races/creatures fanTasy ploT devices: all citizens wield magic, animals use magic, artifact is discovered, book of magic works in nonmagical world, city of Atlantis rises, crazy woman holds secrets of magic, curse must be re-versed, dragon or fantasy creature appears in nonfantasy world, fae creatures are part of society, fantasy element in historical context, fantasy element in the modern world, fictional character appears in modern world, full moon grants powers, future Earth wields magic, hidden world is revealed, imprisoned witch is released in modern world, intelligent race of animals, known artifact (such as Excalibur sword) appears in real world, lost culture is discov-ered, lost magical object is found, magic fights technology, magic is responsible for ancient event or object, magic serves as energy, magical object works in nonmagical world, magical powers of artifact become understood, Mer-lin’s treasures found in modern times, people gain ability to cast spells, people gain ability to talk to animals, proof that magic is real, save the kingdom, save the princess, stolen magical item, time travel, underwater race becomes part of society, villain discovers magic, villain plans to destroy the world, villain tries to enslave population, war threatens fantasy kingdoms, wizard appears in historical period, wizard appears in modern world

general ConCepTS

common dangers: angry dragon, angry horde of creatures/dragons, apprentice loses control of crea-ture, apprentice loses control over magic, crazy wizard, creatures/monsters seek revenge, curse of darkness stops sun from rising, cursed castle/tomb, cursed object, cursed scroll is read, dangerous terrain, devil makes a deal, enemy casts magic, favorite weapon is lost/destroyed, getting lost, ghosts/spirits, heroes are captured/

imprisoned, hungry dragon, intelligent plants attack, intelligent sword, invisibility won’t end, magic back-fires, monsters, person reads magic out loud, poison, rats/insects attack town, servant rebellion, splitting the party, traps, undead/vampires/werewolves/zombies, war, warning message is ignored, witches

energy sources/Types: ancient furnace, candle/fire, clockwork/mechanical, creature power, crystals, elemental energy, geothermal, horsepower, ley energy, magic, magical explosives, magical liquid, mental powers, meteorite, solar, spiritual energy, steam, volcanic energy, water wheel, wind mill

fanTasy locaTions: castle, cave, cemetery vault, cloud city, creature lair, crypt, crystal mine, domed citadel, dragon’s lair, dungeon, dwarf citadel, elf village, fairy glade, floating magical island, ghostly city that appears during full moon, giants’ village, guard tower, hermit’s home, lost valley, lunar castle, moun-tain stronghold, observation turret, ogre fort, river bastion, sorcerer’s palace, underground city, underground labyrinth, vampire lair, wilderness, witch queen stronghold, witch’s hut, wizard tower

fanTasy occupaTions: alchemist, apothecary, archer, balloon pilot, city watchman, cleric, elf battle commander, enchanted swordsman, first officer of the kingdom, golem designer, healer, henchman, herbalist, monster army commander, monster trainer, potion maker, scroll maker, supplier of wizards’ goods, telepathic assassin, wand maker, war machine engineer, war wizard, wizard’s apprentice, wizard’s maid Travel modes: arcane pathway, astral, cloud transport, dimensional, elemental, enchanted animal, ground transportation, ley portal, magical flight, magical swimming, pentagram phasing, phasing, roc, tele-portation, time travel, underwater entrance, water travel

supporTing casT: apprentice, barkeep, bar wench, blacksmith, bumbling servant, clockwork butler, clockwork guard, creature sidekick, doorman, elderly advisor, evil priest, ghost/spirit, golem, helpful fairy, hoard guardian, hooded stranger in a tavern, indebted dragon/powerful creature, invisible creature, jester, lady-in-waiting, lookout, man-at-arms, megalomaniac, mischievous fairy, pixie scout, seneschal, skeleton army, street urchin, village idiot, wisecracking sidekick, witch/sorcerer controlled by blackmail

vehicles: air ship, broomstick, chariot pulled by nightmares, coach pulled by flying creatures, elephant caravan, enchanted bathysphere, enchanted cloud, floating citadel, flying bed, flying carpet, ghost train, ghostly chariot, giant kite, giant snail ship, platform atop giant turtle, polar bear sleigh, pumpkin coach,

vehicles: air ship, broomstick, chariot pulled by nightmares, coach pulled by flying creatures, elephant caravan, enchanted bathysphere, enchanted cloud, floating citadel, flying bed, flying carpet, ghost train, ghostly chariot, giant kite, giant snail ship, platform atop giant turtle, polar bear sleigh, pumpkin coach,