For many of us horror fans, it’s not hard to think of iconic visuals that have haunted us for a long time. From Jack Nicholson with his axe crying ‘Here’s Johnny’ to Norman Bates’s ‘mother’ being revealed at the end of Psycho, or my personal favourite, the terrifying image of Sadako in the final scenes of Ringu – which has given me more than its fair share of nightmares – horror on screen is loaded with fabulous shots and imagery.
As a horror writer, we certainly can develop visuals in the mind’s eye of the reader. However, I would argue that the very best fiction within the genre depends on much more than simply developing an image – it calls upon each of the five senses to develop a true sense of terror. There are many cases in which you can employ aspects of smell, sound, touch and maybe even taste on top of the purely visual. Making horror a truly immersive and unsettling experience requires you to drag the reader into a genuine suspension of disbelief, and there’s no doubt that taking your description of the action beyond the ocular can help in this regard.