How to write horror: 10 tips (plus examples and quotes) Pace the big horror scares for suspense Use characterization to make readers care Make the known scary (not just the unknown) Don’t feel you have to explain everything Play with the terror of plausibility Scare horror audiences when they least expect Deepen the story with layers of fear
What are the best horror stories?
The best horror stories are about fear, whether it’s fear of death, fear of disease, fear of the unknown, fear of loneliness, or fear of pain
The main problem with horror stories is that most people don’t like to be scared
Our minds prefer the familiar, the comfortable, and the easy
So how do we get around that?
What makes a good horror writer?
As famed horror writer Stephen King once said, to be a real writer, you have to “read and write a lot
” Think about ghost stories or urban legends told around a campfire when you were a kid as well as any award-winning horror tales you read in school or on your own
You may want to look at specific examples like:
5 Common Elements of The Best Horror Stories
The best horror stories share at least five elements in common: 1. They explore ‘malevolent’ or ‘wicked’ characters, deeds or phenomena. 2. They ar...
Learn How to Write Horror Using Strong, Pervasive Tone
Tone and mood are two elements that contribute to how your story feels. Great tone and mood can have readers’ spines tingling before a single chara...
Read Widely in Your Genre
Whatever genre you write in, whether psychological or paranormal horror read as many books by respected authors in your genre as possible. Examples...
Give Wicked Characters Better, Credible Motivations
When you write a horror novel, it shouldn’t read as though a malevolent force is sitting at a bus stop, waiting to infiltrate your unsuspecting cha...
Use The CORE Elements of Tragedy
This is excellent horror-writing advice from Chuck Wendig’s blog Terrible Minds. As Wendig puts it:Horror is best when it’s about tragedy in its tr...
Write Scary Novels by Tapping Into Common Human Fears
If the point of horror writing (and horror elements in other genres such as paranormal romance) is to arouse fear, shock or disgust, think of the t...
Terror vs Horror: Learn The Difference
To learn how to write horror novels, it’s useful to understand the difference between horror and terror. Both have their place in horror writing. ‘...
Horror novella series by R.L. Stine
Goosebumps HorrorLand is a horror novella series by R.L. Stine, a spin-off of his popular Goosebumps books. There was an almost ten-year gap between the publication of the initial installment in the Goosebumps Horrorland.
Book writing horror stories
2019 film by André Øvredal
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a 2019 supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal, based on the book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz. The screenplay was adapted by the Hageman Brothers, from a screen story by Guillermo del Toro, as well as Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. The film, an international co-production of the United States and Canada, stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, and Lorraine Toussaint.
Teatro Grottesco is a collection of short stories by American horror
Teatro Grottesco is a collection of short stories by American horror author Thomas Ligotti. This is his fifth collection, containing tales written throughout his career. The book was first published in 2006 by Durtro Press as a limited edition hardcover: another hardcover edition was released on November 30, 2007 by Mythos Books, and a paperback edition was released on July 10, 2008 by Virgin Books.
The Dunwich Horror is a horror novella by American
1928 short story by H. P. Lovecraft
The Dunwich Horror is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts. It is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Horror novella series by R.L. Stine
Goosebumps HorrorLand is a horror novella series by R.L. Stine, a spin-off of his popular Goosebumps books. There was an almost ten-year gap between the publication of the initial installment in the Goosebumps Horrorland.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is
2019 film by André Øvredal
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a 2019 supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal, based on the book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz. The screenplay was adapted by the Hageman Brothers, from a screen story by Guillermo del Toro, as well as Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. The film, an international co-production of the United States and Canada, stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, and Lorraine Toussaint.
Teatro Grottesco is a collection of short stories by American horror
Teatro Grottesco is a collection of short stories by American horror author Thomas Ligotti. This is his fifth collection, containing tales written throughout his career. The book was first published in 2006 by Durtro Press as a limited edition hardcover: another hardcover edition was released on November 30, 2007 by Mythos Books, and a paperback edition was released on July 10, 2008 by Virgin Books.
The Dunwich Horror is a horror novella by American writer H
1928 short story by H. P. Lovecraft
The Dunwich Horror is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts. It is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.
