Here are a few more words for your horror vocabulary: “Seven Spooky Words for Halloween” at Dictionary.com – Free Online English Dictionary.
I apologize for the glitch, but apparently you cannot get to the Seven Spooky Words without having to flip through the Monsters of Literature and Folklore slide show. Both slide shows are enjoyable and quick, so I recommend visiting both anyway.
Here are some intriguing words that may be of interest to writers of horror or to writers in general. Most come from Dictionary.com. I hope to be posting more from time to time. Every field has its own jargon. The writing of horror should have its own. I have taken these from two or three sources.
hadal: adjective: 1. of or pertaining to the greatest ocean depths, below approximately 20,000 feet (6500 meters). 2. of or pertaining to the biogeographic region of the ocean bottom below the abyssal zone. Hadal entered English in the mid-1900s, and comes from the name Hades, the Greek god of the underworld.
de profundis adverb: out of the depths (of sorrow, despair, etc.). De profundis means “out of the depths” in Latin. It is the opening of Latin translation of Psalm 130 which continues “Out of the depths I cry to you.” Today the term can be used as a phrase to convey sadness or as an adverb.
isolato noun: a person who is spiritually isolated from or out of sympathy with his or her times or society.
mordacious adjective: 1. sharp or caustic in style, tone, etc. 2. biting or given to biting.
topos noun: a convention or motif, especially in a literary work; a rhetorical convention.
Anacoluthon (an-uh-kuh-LOO-thon) noun: 1. A construction involving a break in grammatical sequence, as It makes me so—I just get angry. 2. An instance of anacoluthia.
Catachresis (kat-uh-KREE-sis) noun: Misuse or strained use of words, as in a mixed metaphor, occurring either in error or for rhetorical effect.
Apophasis (uh-POF-uh-sis), noun: Denial of one’s intention to speak of a subject that is at the same time named or insinuated, as “I shall not mention Caesar’s avarice, nor his cunning, nor his morality.”
Palter (PAWL-ter) verb: 1. To talk or act insincerely or deceitfully; lie or use trickery. 2. To bargain with; haggle. 3. To act carelessly; trifle.
Questions? Comments?
Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher 