Hickman Ravenloft comment in Dragonlance

[Catman Jim]

I was re-reading the Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles recently, and came across an interesting comment by Tracy Hickman. In Dragons of Winter Night, referring to some statues that are "looming out of the swirling mist', he noted the following;
"I always laugh inside whenever I see this word. Once, when I was writing the original Ravenloft module with my wife, the editor on the project noted that everything in the gothic horror game was either 'heavy' or it 'loomed'. Heavy fog, heavy beams, heavy footsteps were interspersed with looming gates or buildings that loomed overhead. At one point the editor found something that 'loomed heavily' in my text and came directly to my office cubicle to strangle me. In those days, I was called the 'Captain of Purple Prose' - TRH"

[Le Noir Faineant]

[Luke Fleeman]

He's right though. In most horror-themed writing, especially by those not accustomed to it, the same adjectives and adverbs tend to be re-used heavily. It's a problem.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

... the same adjectives and adverbs tend to be re-used heavily.

And there's "heavily", looming up yet again!

[NeoTiamat]

Can I wince loomingly?

[Luke Fleeman]

A heavy use of humor looms over this thread.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

A heavy use of something, anyway....

[Luke Fleeman]

Right. The true humor, if there were any, has disappeared into the heavy mists.

[Le Noir Faineant]

My head feels heavy with all those looming mists around...