Fifty More Horror Clichés That Should Be Left to Spoil

#10: Using Guns

Note:  I ended up heavily editing this part due to comments from many people correctly indicating that some of the points I made about guns in general were off.  Not wanting to give erroneous information to future readers, I decided to edit this part heavily in order to make things right.

Guns in horror fiction are in modern day a seemingly essential part of the narrative. A character without a gun to defend themselves seemingly is one that is doomed to die in cliché, idiotic ways. By using a simple pistol or bulky rifle, characters can seemingly take out the freaky horror antagonist with little to no effort. A simple shot to the head or chest seemingly should be enough for a horror character to guarantee their victory against any evil force. Guns are especially seemingly important in zombie narratives, where a single shot from a gun could mean either life or death. They are machines of seemingly masterful construction that create flawless methods of executing horror entities.

What a lot of writers do not realize though is that guns are not as reliable as they may seem on the surface. Though they are powerful, there are a lot of drawbacks to using one besides the gun laws that may be present in a particular region.

The first is the ammunition level a gun can carry at once. Many fictional stories wrongly depict guns as limitless in ammo, going on forever in their quest to kill horror villains. Depending on the gun being used, not a lot of ammunition is going to be possible to use at once. Ammunition will run out at differing amounts of time depending on the size and gauge of the gun in question. No matter what, a reload is going to be badly needed after a few minutes of usage. Reloading is particularly a problem for those fighting the swift undead, who will have little time to reload the gun once the ammunition runs out. Instead of coming out on top, the average person is more likely to be eaten by a swarm of zombies before the reload is even half done.

Then there is the vast amount of sound guns make when the trigger is pulled. Anyone who shoots professionally will tell you that some type of ear protection is going to be needed if the gun is going to be used constantly. This is especially true if you are using a huge riffle, the item of choice for most horror protagonists. The boom of a shot gun is powerful enough to make your ears ring in the least severe cases, and in the worst scenarios cause permanent damage to your eardrums. If your horror protagonist were to use a powerful gun constantly in battle, they are more likely to become deaf overtime than kill swarms of zombies.

What is worse with the sound problem is the large sound wave they create where triggered. Depending on the recoil, the gun's sound range can reach yards if not miles away. Those using a gun in a horror narrative are risking their nearby friends' hearing as well, which is not a very ideal situation if you are trying to escape some type of killer together. Additionally, the sound will easily alert the target in question, taking away the element of surprise the main characters need to stay out of their range of vision. So instead of zombies coming up in a line to get shot, they are much more likely to hear the sound of the gun and swarm in bigger numbers. This is why in The Walking Dead comics, the characters tend to use guns as only a last resort or when there is no risk of other zombies coming their way.

Adding into the vast amount of issues with using a gun is the particular caliber level of the bullet being used on the rifle or pistol of choice.  If the caliber level is way too high, this could result in a strong kickback that at the least will result in bad bruising.  In the worst cases with mishandled caliber levels, the person could easily crack a rib or even a bone if the force built up is strong enough.  Even if it is just a bruise, getting an injury in the middle of combat is not an ideal situation for any type of horror character.  Incapacitated from pain, they could easily become the slasher killer's next victim or a zombie hoard's new snack.

The problems with using a gun just continue to mount from there. Depending on the gun, they are very heavy to hold, making the stockpile of other supplies much smaller to balance out the large weight. Rifles and military grade guns are the worst of this category, having a weight that most people would easily not be able to handle.  Those who are not especially in shape will struggle to hold a bigger gun without straining and thus missing their shot.

  Finally, there is the lack of experience many people have with using a gun. Unless given proper training or using a scope, the person is more likely to miss the target entirely, causing the other slew of issues to pile on top of them.

Basically, guns are one of the worst weapons to use in a fast paced survival situation. Yet authors erroneously continue to use them as the weapon of choice for many characters in the horror genre. Unless the person in question is trained, wearing earplugs, knows the limits of their ammunition, and is using a lighter weight pistol, guns are more of a problem than a suitable solution. To survive a horror narrative, the character needs to get more creative in the weapons department if they wish to win.

The best alternative to using a gun is a bow and arrow. While they are not as fast to reload, they do not make a lot of sound when launched. Though training is needed to effectively use one, their targeting is very precise. Arrows can cause a lot of damage quickly, with more concentrated force. They are lightweight, and are not too much of a problem when needing to carrying a lot of supplies. If you want to get the job done right in a horror narrative, a bow and arrow is your best bet to come out alive.

For those inexperienced in using a bow and arrow, knives can be a great alternative that can cause quick damage close by. They can even be thrown with the right aim, being lightweight enough to do the job of a substitute bullet. They are easy to carry and have the small drawback of needing to be sharpened. Knives are great unexpected kills for horror antagonists that are swift and to the point.

Instead of relying next time on a gun toting Terminator, trying instead to team-up with bow and arrow users Katniss Everdeen or even Hawkeye. The bow and arrow users are much more likely to succeed in protecting people from a slasher killer or hoard of zombies than someone carrying a simple gun.