**THROWBACK POST**
January 25 2025
Author friends: I need to write a horror (scary) short story. I’ve never written horror. Do you have any pithy and powerful tips? Thanks!
Feedback Received:
Val: I think Horror in this context is perhaps a misleading word. Recent news would fall under this category but if you think ‘Scary’ it might open up the creative juices. 😉 A claustrophobic caught in a broken lift, someone petrified of spiders or mice abandoned on an island overrun with them, dark forest night alone with noises in the bushes etc. Think what would be your own personal nightmare, and take it from there. 🥺
Me: Yes!! I’m going to adjust my wording. We are living in an actual horror story currently. Thanks much for getting my creative juices flowing, Val!! 🦄🦄🦄
Brad: Horror is ultimately about fear and fear is primal. Fear is ever-present. Fear drives both action AND inaction. Fear often feeds on itself.
“Dead silence in the darkness thundered louder than the pounding of her heart in her ears as she felt the soft padding of the cell walls. When she finally grasped the doorknob in blackness, she gasped in pain. The metal, burning cold, forbidding, refused to turn at first. As she cried out with effort, the bolt snapped open like the crunch of breaking bone. She paused, unsure if what lay beyond was something she could face.”
Brad: Camilla and of course, it can’t be all linear. Whether it’s simply “normal” or “comedy” (as suggested elsewhere) the give and take of the tension (building up to the crescendo of course) is part of what keeps readers engaged, guessing, and avoids exhaustion.
I didn’t include that in the example so hopefully you’ll forgive me the arrogance of briefly continuing the story for the sake of demonstration. 😃
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She steeled her nerves and pulled the door open wide. Light poured into the enclosure. Blinking away the tears from the brightness, she paused, focused, then immediately pulled the covers over her head and turned away from the window.
“Another nightmare,” she mumbled, rubbing away at the soreness in her palm.
Christine: I’ve experimented with horror/scary writing a few times (which is weird since I don’t watch that genre – too scary!). Best I have is, try to scare the crap out of yourself (giving yourself chills is a good sign). I think I read that Stephen King does this. For me that means psychological, mind stuff rather than gory stuff. Then see if what you’ve written scares the crap out of your friends/family. I wrote one story once, a take on the “Bloody Mary” tale, and a friend of mine went upstairs by himself to read it but a few minutes later came downstairs and said – “Okay I’m too scared to be alone with this.” 🤣
Me: I don’t watch the gory stuff. But the mind stuff, I can do that. And that’s probably what my short story will likely revolve around. Yours must have been pretty good for it to make someone not want to be alone! 🤣
Christine: This is how I approach writing in general, especially fiction. So for this genre: Less – “what will readers find scary?” and more “what will literally keep me up at night questioning how such thoughts and visuals came out of my twisted brain.”
Sarah: I’d suggest playing on something that scares you so it feels relatable and then consider an ordinary of every day occurrence of such a thing happening. Play on the psyche and build suspense. I love horror!
JT: The distinction between ‘horror’ and ‘terror’ may be useful to consider in writerly approaches to composing a scary story; ‘horror’ is shock / repulsion / revulsion at something experienced / witnessed, whereas ‘terror’ is the dread / fearful anticipation of something unseen. Edgar Allan Poe’s groundbreaking short stories are psychological studies in the effects of horror and terror upon characters; his experimental fictions often contain both.
Claire: The most frightening monsters are never fully visible or understood— when Stephen King goes for the full reveal, showing readers the monster’s face, it more often reduces the tension and dread (sometimes it’s rather laughable). If we are going to see a monster’s face, it should always be the more familiar face, because that is the true horror of monsters we can actually witness— they end up looking like a neighbor or even our own reflection.
I’d also say that William Trevor’s “A Day” may be the best horror story I’ve ever read, although most would place the story firmly in literary realism (which it also is).
Patricia: Start by reading horror, and see what works for you.
Me: Yes, yes!! Great suggestion! We have a gigantic book of strange and dark stories we are reading for the class. Good stuff!! It’s titled, The Weird.
Patricia: I’d also recommend a book of short stories, Dark Flashes, by my friend Philippa Bower. They are all strange and some quite horrific. Also try Clay Boy by Craig Sawyer. I worked on that as an editor and it gave me the shivers.