I used to dislike winters because of the number of hours of darkness. As a suspense writer, however, I find them inspiring.Who is afraid of something in broad daylight with a bright, cheerful sun shining down upon us?
Take us to the same location, however, in the dark of night with tumbling, roiling clouds that block the moon, owls hooting in the distance or wolves howling, visibility down to barely seeing your hand in front of your face... And now you have the makings of a spooky setting.
There is also something sinister about trees that have lost their leaves, especially when their skeletal limbs are shown against a full moon... Something evil about the wind howling past us, bending the trees toward us as if they are reaching for us in the darkness... And the snap of cold as it claws at our skin. These are the things that make us look over our shoulder, shiver against the dark and the cold, and walk just a bit faster...
