Writing A Scary Story

So, as it's Halloween I thought it would be good to do something to do with the holiday. Over in Dublin Halloween is a big event, lots of events and parties to keep you amused. But what I thought about for all you writers is how do we make Halloween scary when all you have to use is your words. 

Making a scary film or game is easy because you can visual effects to make people jump or use blood and guts and all that gross stuff. But how do you write a story that will create fear? You have no visual effects to use, you have to use your words to inspire people's imagination to think scary. So how do you do this? 

I'm not a fan of scary stuff (although I am playing Until Dawn at the moment) but you can use these tips in any kind of book to help to create suspense, tension and jump scares. 

First of all you need to think of the situation. What situation can you make scary? Some of the popular settings are psychiatric facilities/hospitals, graveyards, temples or anything abandoned. 

Once you have your setting you need to think of who is going to be there and why. As a writer I know you always want to think outside box but for a story to be scary it has to be believable. If a reader is going to have to imagine some weird galaxy in space and you don't give them something they can relate to, they won't relate. If they can't relate they won't find it scary. So, think of a situation where characters would have to be in that place. Popular scenarios are: people getting lost, students trying to make a film, parties that go wrong. 

Okay so now you have your setting and your characters. Now you need to figure out what happens? What is going to make this story scary? Is your setting haunted? Is it to do with some cult or demons? Or some other creature lurking in the dark? 

The important thing to remember, whether you are writing a short story or a novel is to plan out. Make sure you have all of the facts, the best thing to break tension/suspense is to have an over complicated and inconsistent story. Take the film, The Ring for example. At no point in this film was I scared and do you know why? Because I spent the whole film wondering what the story was which took me away from the scariness of the film. On the other hand you have films like No Vacancy which reveal all of the information too quickly that you then get bored half way. So, keep your story simple enough that it's easy to follow and understand but interesting enough that your readers want to keep reading. 

Making a story scary is all about the description. I suggest you get your thesaurus out for this one. Something that you would describe as scary, you need to describe as spine-tingling. Get my point? 

Why not give it a go? See where your imagination takes you. Doing exercises like this will also help your writing as you expand your vocabulary.  Keep reading for my attempt at a scary story (not my speciality mind you) 

'“Are we there yet?” The father looked at his son lovingly in the back of the car, he had been asking that for the last half an hour of their drive. “We’ll stop soon son” He saw the look of indignation on his face as he went back to his handheld. His sister had fallen asleep nearly as soon as they started driving. His wife had put the window down and looked to be enjoying their family trip. “Honey, why don’t we stop soon, Rory is getting sick of the car and this forest looks amazing.”

“We weren’t planning to stop until we hit the cabins” 

“But that’s still another two hours away” 

“Two hours?! Daaad you said we were gonna be there soon, that’s not soon!”

“Okay, okay we’ll stop here, Rory can you wake your sister?” The father looked in the rear view mirror and turned off into the forest.

There was a small track that the family ventured down until they got a small clearing about one mile off of the main road. “Okay kids get out and help set up”

“I thought we were staying in a cabin?” 

“Sorry honey” The father turned around to look at his daughter “Your brother and mother wanted to stop, we have a tent and camping equipment so we’ll stay here tonight and drive to the cabin tomorrow okay?” The girl looked at her father worried “I don’t think it’s safe daddy” They always said that children have a sixth sense for the supernatural, a bit like animals but adults never heed their warning. “Oh baby, it’s safe we’ll only be here for the night” Turning back around the father got out of the car and got the equipment ready for the night. The little girl stayed in the car for a few minutes, she could feel a chill in the air as though something was passing over her. She turned to look out the back window at her family, her stomach sank as she saw a shadow lurking on the edge of the trees. She scrambled out of the car and shouted for her brother “Rory! Come here” Sensing her sister’s distress the boy ran towards her. The little girl had always trusted her brother, he was five years older than her and stopped people from picking on her. She knew if anyone was going to listen to her it would be him. “Rory, do you see the shadow there on the edge of the trees?” Rory turned to look behind him but only see the shadows that were created by the trees, thinking this is what his little sister had meant he shrugged and agreed “Do you not find it…” The little girl struggled for a word “…creepy”

“Well no sis, I mean they’re trees of course they cast shadows.” With that he turned his back and went back to helping his father. The little girl did a full circle, she could feel a sensation behind her as though she was being watched. Her brother didn’t see it, her father wouldn’t listen to her when she said that it wasn’t safe. What was she going to do? She ran towards her family, chewing her fingernail as she went.

“I was just like her, worried about my family. She has right to worry. But they never listen, until it’s too late”

The little girl turned to face the trees again, a whisper travelled to her and caressed her ear “…they never listen, until it’s too late” The little girl put her hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. “Mommy!” She ran over and threw herself at her mother “Honey what’s wrong?”

“Can we leave? I don’t like it here”

“There’s no point Angela, now that you’re here you will never leave”

The little girl shook her head trying to be rid of the whisper “It’s scary”

“Oh baby no it’s not, reign in that imagination of yours and go and get the pillows and bed clothes from the boot” The mother pushed her daughter towards the car, not realising that she was actually pushing her daughter into the arms of another woman.

“I was just like her once, I didn’t listen when my darling daughter warned me of the terrors in this forest. Passed it off as childhood imaginings… come here little one I’ll listen to you”

The little girl felt a light breeze down her arms, as though a needle was wandering over her skin. She rushed to the car to get the items her mother wanted.

“Don’t worry little one after tonight you won’t need to worry about your family ever again” Childish giggling filled the air and the little girl smiled as though she was at peace with her fate, she whispered gently to the eerie voice “Will we be together forever?”

“Oh yes child, you and your family won’t be apart again” 

“We can play allllll day long”

The little girl made her way back to her family, the breeze gently brushed against her bare skin, taking her in a gentle embrace.

As the night progressed, the little girl found solace with the whispers, they stopped her from being scared. Her family was content in their activities while they left the little girl to her new friends “It will soon be time little one, are you ready?” The little girl nodded anxiously, the whispers had been telling her all evening about their life. They made it sound like a fantasy to the little girl. She could spend all day playing with her family. No school! “Go to your family child” The little girl was pushed forwards towards her family by two icy cold hands “And don’t forget little one… there is no-one to hear you scream” Suddenly the whisper, was no longer a whisper. The whisper became a scream. The little girl crumpled to floor. Tears streaming down her face. Her parents ran to her “Angela baby what’s wrong?” Between sobs she managed to say “…you… should… have…. Listened”

“I don’t understand what are you saying baby?” The father felt the same needle sensation as her daughter did hours before, his spine became rigid and a voice appeared in his ear “She said, you should have listened to her earlier when she warned you it wasn’t safe.” The father felt a pain in his lower back and he fell to the floor “She warned you it wasn’t safe. And now you will pay the price for not listening to your daughter. Just as many before you have” The father tried to crawl towards his family. A gust of wind appeared and flew him back into the trees. He heard screaming in the distance. His family.

No-one ever walked out of the forest. The forest swallowed you like a hungry beast. All that could be heard was screams.

The whisper had lied to the little girl, she didn't see her family again until a new family showed up to camp the next year. This time she was the whisper in the child's ear.' 

I hope you enjoyed reading. Happy Halloween!