Horror is a speculative fiction genre that is designed to frighten, surprise, and delight your readers. Horror can be interpreted in various ways, but often there are central criminals, monsters, or threats that often reflect the fear experienced by the people at that time.
The horror genre breeds many subgenres and hybrids of various types. Each of them has its themes, but all have the same goal, that is, creating fear in the hearts of the audience.
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Here are six tips for writing horror stories that can definitely give your readers goosebumps.
Fear is the Most Important
An essential part of any horror story will, of course, be the fear factor. Hence, you need to include certain elements related to fear in your work, such as:
Supernaturalism:
Supernatural is an area or domain that transcends the observed universe. Supernatural elements include intangible beings such as angels, gods, demons, spirits, and other similar creatures. The supernatural is also presented in occult and religious contexts.
Supernatural elements, including religious figures, ghosts, witches, and anthropomorphic animals, have been used in literary history from their beginnings in oral folklore to Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Throughout literary history, occult elements have been used for developing horror as a genre.
Fear is one of the most common in horror, but if you choose to write in that sense, the plot has to be quite convincing.
Monsters:
Monsters are a kind of strange creature whose appearance is frightening, and its destructive power threatens the social or moral order of the world. They are considered one of the vital elements in the genre of horror. They include Dracula, monsters, werewolves, mummies, and zombies.
Phobia:
Fear that has a logical or biological basis is often the most terrible. Darkness, snakes, and spiders – all of these are prevalent phobias rooted in instincts. As a result, they are instrumental when it comes to creating an atmosphere of fear.
The Loss should be Prominent
For readers to be genuinely passionate about your horror story, you must tell them about the losses. The common elements of loss include:
Lives:
The primary purpose of the characters in every horror story is to live. However, some nuances accompany this goal. It is essential to show how the characters defeat their fears and survive.
Also, it is essential to include a few characters who fail to defeat their demons and end up losing their lives. Loss of lives gives rise to fear in your reader’s mind.
Close Friends & Family:
Usually, the loss of friends and family of the protagonist plays an integral role in the plot of any horror story. More the people you are close to, greater the fear of losing them and that too, one after the other.
Interesting Puzzles:
Many horror stories have mysterious occurrences as the leading theme of the plot. Here, the solving of puzzles to reach the end of the story is most important. The fear of not being able to solve the mysteries become a part of the entire journey.
To make your poetry or prose more interesting, you can combine all these elements in the plot. Having a protagonist who fights their fears, saves the lives of their near ones, and solves puzzles to reach the end will make the plot thrilling and adventurous.
There Always has to be a Twist
The twists and turns in a plot are exciting, impressive, and leads to a thrilling end. However, they are tough to implement in the story. You must carefully indicate it in the plot while ensuring that it is not too predictable for the readers.
Here are a few types of twists which would make the plot more interesting:
Red Herring:
One of the most common twists in mystery is the red herring. In this twist, all the evidence indicates an individual as guilty, but in the end, the plot takes an unusual turn, and that particular person is proved innocent. Red Herring, though usual, never fails to surprise the readers at the end.
Flashback Moments:
Today most readers are so accustomed to reading flashback moments in a story that no one considers it as a twist anymore. But flashbacks are, in fact, one of the most innovative ways to acquaint the readers with the past.
When you see the flashbacks, you get to know about some surprising facts about past occurrences. The past makes every reader more curious, and hence, flashbacks are still prevalent in the horror genre.
Narratives are Crucial
Narratives of horror literature include:
- Moods,
- Hunches,
- Surprises,
- Suspense,
- Mystery, and
- Humor.
Although most horror stories contain many of these narration techniques, not all of them are always required.
The most crucial element in horror history is creating a mood, which is again mostly related to fear. You can build the mood by including terrors like epidemics, nuclear threats, or supernatural elements in the plot.
Creating an Atmosphere
An atmosphere is the appearance of a scene determined by its visual aesthetics, environmental conditions, moods, ambient noise, and many other necessary details.
The atmosphere is the crux of a horror story. To make it frightening for your readers, include elements like:
- Darkness,
- Sudden change day into night,
- Dilapidated buildings,
- Destruction,
- Creaking stairs,
- Flickering candles
The authors control the atmosphere by mastering fine details with brilliant storytelling tricks. The atmosphere must be so intense that the readers feel the growing tension in each chapter of the prose or each line of the poetry.
Tragedy is Compulsory
Horror stories need to be tragic because of the following reasons:
- Tragedy triggers the destructive causes and consequences of cruelty.
- Tragedy makes the readers look at situations and scenarios from different angles.
- Tragedy leads to courage. More tragic elements would lead to an increase in the strength and courage of the main characters.
In other words, to write credible horror prose or poetry, include tragic components in the plot.
Conclusion
Originality and depth must be your keywords while writing horror. Horror is a genre full of conventions that have been bent, broken, and reconstructed millions of times. Make the plot original, and don’t forget to add plot twists.
Also, it is essential to have a certain level of depth in the plot, creating strong and stable characters to make your readers more attached to the plot.
