DWinchester

How Dark is Too Dark

Added 2023-04-05 14:00:00 +0000 UTC

Sometimes when I am writing a scene for Tenebroum, I wonder: is this too dark?

I asked myself that when the broken bard of blackwater was tortured to death - I even had someone read ahead and tell me they thought it was okay. I was still surprised when no one complained though.

I had the same thought when I wrote the scene where the river dragon was chained inside the corpse of the swamp dragon... and everyone thought it was awesome.

Well, today, I worry again that I went too far in the climax of Act 1. That's right. I finished act 1 FINALLY, and chapter 48 is now complete. The story will now move in a slightly different direction for the next 20-30 chapters which is how long I THINK Act 2 will take. We will see.

That's not important though. What's important is that writing is... well, it's dark. I have taken pains to make it not gory and reading some of the descriptions I've read bring Lovecraft to mind for me. At this point I wonder how many of his "unseeables" and "unknowables" were just about wanting to write terrible things that were simply too graphic for the day.

So with all that in mind: Is there such a thing as too dark when it comes to Tenebroum? At this point people know what they're in for, right?