Postcards #7 - 5 Common Rural Fiction Elements

How do you know you are reading rural fiction or rural gothic fiction? How might you know it's about to edge into horror?

Here are a few hints :

1. Open, empty spaces. Wide, quiet fields with only the wind for company. Being completely alone is a foreign concept for most of us. We're never alone. When a character finds themselves isolated from every familiar thing, something ominous is about to happen.

   
   

2. Claustrophobic spaces. Whether hemmed in by a tree-choked forest or being smothered by sunflower fields, tight spaces spaces give a character nowhere to run. Have you ever been in a overstuffed second-hand store or hiked where the rocks are so tightly together you had to squeeze through? Anything can happen in those spaces.

3. Abandoned buildings. Especially if they are unexpected, or in an isolated forest or field. Aside from rusty nails and rats, abandoned buildings can go from being fun to explore to dangerous in seconds. Is someone you don't know in the building with you? Are their ghosts? Is that staircase safe to climb? Why are there so many dolls sitting in this empty place? (Lol. Just spitballing here, but you never know what you might find.)

4. Entire abandoned towns. Or towns that look abandoned, but there's a well-maintained church or cemetary. I once drove into a little community that was basically a four-way stop. Not a single person outside. Not a dog. Not a car I could see. Just then a bit trash came blowing down the street. It was disconcerting. I kept driving.

5. Picture perfect little towns. This one borders on folk horror, especially if the character has arrived during a festival unique to the town. Overly friendly townsfolk, people eager to feed you, people who ask you to stay, etc. In a story, a happy ending is not forthcoming.

This is a short list, but you get the idea. You'll find some of these in my stories you can purchase on my main page.

Books

Back to the story,

Lyndsey

Photo: Anish Banda, Unsplash