scary horror story essay

132 Best Horror Writing Prompts and Scary Story Ideas

Generate Full-Length AI Horror Novel Instantly

Table of contents.

Horror stories send shivers down our spines. They are gruesome, shocking, and chilling. Scary stories are meant to horrify us, and there are many ways to make a powerful impact on the reader. The element of surprise is crucial to make the readers’ blood freeze.

There are different types of horror stories. They often deal with terrible murders, supernatural powers, psychopaths, frightening human psychology, and much more.

Horror Writing Prompts List

Although many horror writing prompts and scary ideas have been written, the following 132 horror writing prompts can spark great creativity in aspiring writers of the horror genre.

A family is on a camping trip. The parents are walking with their two children, a daughter and a son. The little boy trips and falls into a dark river. His father jumps to rescue him. Somehow, the boy manages to swim to the surface. The father is nowhere to be found. When the mother gets a hold of the boy, she can’t recognize him. She tries holding him, but the moment she touches his wet body, her hands start burning.
A young girl goes missing in a nearby forest. The whole town is searching for her. Her parents find her sitting and smiling in a cave. Her eyes are completely white.
A woman starts watching a movie late at night. The movie seems all too familiar. Finally, she realizes that it is a movie about her own life and that she might be already dead.
A house finds a way to kill every visitor on its premises.
A child makes her own Halloween mask. She glues a lock of her own hair on her mask. The mask comes to life and threatens to take over the girl’s body.

While digging in her backyard, an old lady discovers an iron chest. She opens it and finds a pile of old photographs of her ancestors. All of them are missing their left eye.
A priest is trying to punish God for the death of his sister. He is getting ready to burn down the church when supernatural forces start to torture him.
Every year, a woman goes to the cemetery where her husband is buried, and when she looks at his tombstone, she notices her own name carved into it.
A woman puts a lipstick on in the bathroom when she hears a demonic voice saying to her: “Can’t you see?”
A mysterious child psychiatrist promises parents to cure their children if they give him a vile of their blood.
A group of 10 friends decide to rent an old English castle for the weekend. The ghosts are disturbed and seek their pound of flesh.
A photographer travels to an Indian reservation for his next project. He starts taking photos, but there are only shadows in the places where people should have been.

A young married couple decides to renovate an abandoned psychiatric hospital and turn it into a hotel. Everything is going well until their first guest arrives.
Three sisters are reunited for the reading of their grandmother’s will. She has left them a diamond necklace, but they have to fight psychologically and physically for it.
An old woman pretends to be lost and asks a young woman to help her get home. She offers them a cup of tea and drugs them. When the women wake up, they are chained in the basement. The old woman gives them tools and boards so that they can build their own coffin. If they refuse, she inflicts pain on them.
A mysterious stranger with a glass eye and a cane commissions a portrait. When the portrait is finished, the painter turns it into stone.
A little girl’s sister lives with a monster in the closet. She exits the closet on her sister’s birthday.
The demons under the nuclear plant get released after an explosion and start terrorizing the families of people who work at the plant.
A woman gets trapped in a parallel universe where every day, she dies horribly in different ways.
A cannibal hunts for pure children’s hearts, hoping they will bring him eternal youth.
A politician hides his weird sister in the attic. She’s had her supernatural powers after their family home burned to the ground.
A 16-year-old girl wakes up on a stone-cold table surrounded by people in black and white masks. They chant and start leaning forward. All of them carry carved knives.

A boy hears screaming from his parents’ bedroom. He jumps and hides under his bed. Suddenly, everything becomes quiet. A man wearing army boots enters his room. He drags the boy from under the bed and says: “We’ve been searching for you for 200 years.”
A husband and his wife regain consciousness only to see each other tied to chairs, facing each other. A voice on the radio tells them to kill the other. Otherwise, they would kill their children.
A mysterious altruist gives a kidney to a young man who has the potential to become a leading neuroscientist. After a year, the altruist kills the young man because he proves to be an unworthy organ recipient. The following year, the mysterious altruist is a bone marrow donor.
A group of friends play truth or dare. Suddenly, all the lights go out, and in those ten seconds of darkness, one of the group is killed.
A young man becomes obsessed with an old man living opposite his building. The young man is convinced that the old man is the embodiment of the devil and starts planning the murder.
Concerned and grieving parents bring their 8-year-old son to a psychiatrist after their daughter’s accident, believing that the boy had something to do with her death.
A woman is admitted to a hospital after a car crash. She wakes up after three months in a coma, but when she tries to speak, she can’t utter a sound. When the nurse sees that she is awake, she calls a doctor. The last thing the woman remembers is hearing the doctor say: “Today is your lucky day,” right before four men in black robes take her out.
A small-town cop becomes obsessed with a cold case from 1978. Three girls went missing after school, and nobody has seen them since. Then, one day, in 2008, three girls with the same names as those in 1978 went missing. The case is reopened.

Scary story ideas for a psychological horror

After his parents’ death, a cardiologist returns to his small town, where everyone seems to lead a perfect life. This causes a disturbance in the idyllic life of the people since none of them has a heart.
A man is kidnapped from his apartment at midnight and brought to a large private estate. He is told that he will be a human prey and that ten hunters with guns will go after him. He is given a 5-minute head start.
A strange woman in labor is admitted to the local hospital. Nobody seems to recognize her. She screams in agony. A black smoke fills in the entire hospital. After that, nobody is the same. A dark lord is born.
A young girl finds her grandmother’s gold in a chest in the attic, although she isn’t allowed to go there by herself. She touches the gold, and she starts seeing horrible visions involving her grandmother when she was younger.
An anthropologist studies rituals involving human sacrifice. She slowly begins to accept them as necessary.
A family of four moves into an old Victorian home. As they restore it, more and more people die suddenly and violently.

An old nurse has lived next door to a family that doesn’t get older. Their son has remained to be a seven-year-old boy.
A girl wakes up in her dorm and sees that everybody sleepwalks in the same direction. She acts as if she has the same condition and follows them to an underground black pool where everybody jumps.
A bride returns to the same bridge for 50 years, waiting for her husband-to-be to get out of the water.
An old woman locks girls’ personalities in a forever-growing collection of porcelain dolls. Parents of the missing girls are in agony, and they finally suspect something. When they tell the police, their claims are instantly dismissed.
A chemistry teacher disfigures teenagers who remind him of his childhood bullies. One day, he learns that the new student in his school is the son of his childhood archenemy.
A girl starts digging tiny holes in her backyard. When her mother asks her what she is doing, the girl answers: “Mr. Phantom told me to bury my dolls tonight. Tomorrow night I am going to bury our dog. And then, you, mother.”

Twin brothers were kidnapped and returned the next day. They claim that they can’t remember anything. The following night, the twin sisters disappear.
A boy has a very realistic dream about impending doom, but nobody believes him until, during a storm, all the birds fall dead on the ground.
Room 206 is believed to be haunted, so hotel guests never stay in it. One day, an old woman arrives at the hotel and asks for the key to room 206. She says that she was born there.
A genius scientist tries to extract his wife’s consciousness from her lifeless body and insert it into an imprisoned woman who looks just like his wife.
Two distinguished scientists developed a new type of virus that attacks their brains and turns them into killing machines.
A woman steps out of her house only to find four of her neighbors dead at her doorstep. Little does she know that she isn’t supposed to call the police.
A bachelor’s party ends with two dead people in the pool. Both of them are missing their eyes.
A young woman wearing a black dress is holding a knife in her hand and threatening to kill a frightened man. She is terrified because she does not want to kill anybody, but her body refuses to obey her mind.
A strange religious group starts performing a ritual on a playground. The children’s hearts stop beating.
A woman discovers that her niece has done some horrible crimes, so she decides to poison her. Both of them take the poison, but only the aunt dies.

Free Small decorative ghost in white cape hanging on tree sprig on blurred background in autumn park during holiday celebration in daylight Stock Photo

A man encounters death on his way to work. He can ask three questions before he dies. He makes a quick decision.
An older brother kills his baby sister because he wants to be an only child. When he learns that his mother is pregnant again, he decides to punish her.
A husband and his wife move to a new apartment. After a week, both of them kill themselves. They leave a note saying: “Never again.”
A man is trying to open a time portal so that he can kill his parents before he is ever conceived.
A famous conductor imprisons a pianist from the orchestra and makes him play the piano while he tortures other victims as musicians. Every time the pianist makes a mistake, the conductor cuts of a finger from his victims.
A popular French chef is invited by a mysterious Japanese sushi master for dinner. A powerful potion makes the French chef fall asleep. He wakes up horrified to learn that he is kept on a human farm, in a cage.
A nuclear blast turns animals into blood-thirsty monsters.
A mysterious bug creeps under people’s skin and turns them into the worst version of themselves.
A kidnapper makes his victims torture each other for his sheer pleasure.
Four friends are invited to spend the afternoon in an escape room. A man’s voice tells them that they have won a prize. They happily accept and enter the escape room. They soon realize that the room was designed to reflect their worst nightmares.

Two sisters have been given names from the Book of the Dead. Their fates have been sealed, so when they turn 21, dark forces are sent to bring them to the underground.
A mother-to-be starts feeling severe pain in her stomach every time she touches a Bible. Despite the fear for her own life, she starts reading the New Testament out loud.
A literature professor discovers an old manuscript in the college library. He opens it in his study, and suddenly, a black raven flies through the window.
You are the Ruler of a dystopian society. You kill every time your control is threatened.
You are an intelligent robot who shows no mercy to humanity.
You are a promising researcher who discovers that all the notorious dictators have been cloned.
A nomad meets a fakir who tells him that he will bring agony to dozens of people unless he kills himself before he transforms into a monster.
A most prominent member of a sect goes to animal shelters to find food for the dark forces.
A man hires unethical doctors to help him experience clinical death and then bring him back to life after a minute. Little does he know that one minute of death feels like an eternity full of horrors.
You travel home to visit your parents for the holidays. Everything seems normal until you realize that demons have taken over their consciousness.
A mysterious woman moves into your apartment building. One by one, all of the tenants start hallucinating that monsters are chasing them and jump to their own deaths.
Divorced parents are kidnapped together with their son. Both of the parents have been given poison, but there is only one antidote. The boy needs to decide which parent gets to be saved. He has 30 seconds to make that decision.
A patient with a multiple-personality disorder tells you that you are one of six characters.
You wake up in bed that is a bloodbath.

Free Man Wearing Black Mask And Hoodie Jacket Stock Photo

The Government abducts children with genius IQ and trains them to fight the horrors in Area 51.
A woman who has just given birth at her home is told that the baby is predestined to become the leader of the greatest demonic order in the country.
A man signs a document with his blood to relinquish his body to a sect.
A woman enters a sacred cave in India and disappears for good.
A man opens his eyes in the middle of his autopsy while the coroner is holding his heart.
You look outside the windows in your house only to see that the view has changed and there is black fog surrounding you.
The gargoyles from Notre Dame have come to life, and they start terrorizing Paris.
Somebody rings your doorbell. You open the door, and a frightened girl with bloody hands is standing at your doorstep. “You’re late,” you reprimand her.
You wake up in the middle of the night after a frightful nightmare, so you go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. You turn on the light, and a person looking like your identical twin is grinning and pointing a knife at you.
A renowned book editor receives a manuscript elegantly written by hand. The title grabs her attention, and she continues reading page after page. When she finishes, the manuscript spontaneously starts burning, and the editor is cursed forever.
The last thing you remember before losing consciousness is fighting a shady Uber driver.
You find yourself in a cage in the middle of a forest and black mythological harpies hovering above the cage.
A woman wants to quit smoking, so she visits a therapist who is supposed to help her with the use of hypnosis. She goes under, and when she wakes up, she feels like a born killer.
Five hikers get stranded during a horrible storm. One of them kills the weakest and starts burning his body.
A mother goes in to the nursery to check up on the baby and discovers that the baby is missing and, in her place, there is a baby doll.

Horror story ideas about a serial killer

A killer is willing to pay a large sum of money to the family of a volunteering victim. A cancer patient contacts the killer. The killer ends up dead.
The sacred river in a remote Asian village fills up with blood. The last time that happened, all the children in the village died.
A tall, dark, and handsome stranger invites a blind woman for a romantic date in his botanical garden. The garden is full of black roses in which women’s souls have been trapped. He tells her that she will stay forever with him in his garden.
A frightened man is trying to lead a werewolf into a trap and kill him with the last silver bullet.
An architect designs houses for the rich and famous. What he doesn’t show them is that he always leaves room for a secret passageway to their bedrooms, where they are the most vulnerable.
A man’s DNA was found on a horrible crime scene, and he has been charged with murder in the first degree. He adamantly negates any involvement in the crime that has been committed. What he doesn’t know is that he had a twin brother who died at birth.
Every passenger on the Orient Express dies in a different and equally mysterious way.
A magician needs a volunteer from the audience in order to demonstrate a trick involving sawing a person in half. A beautiful woman steps on the stage. The magician makes her fall asleep, and then he performs the trick. In the end, he disappears. People in the audience start panicking when they notice the blood dripping from the table. The magician is nowhere to be found. The woman is dead.
A mother discovers that her bright son is not human.
Specters keep terrorizing patients in a psychiatric hospital, but nobody believes them.

A man’s mind is locked into an immovable body. This person is being tortured by a psychopath who kills his family members in front of him, knowing that he is in agony and can’t do anything to save them.
A bride-to-be receives a DVD via mail from an unknown sender. She plays the video and, disgusted, watches a pagan ritual. The people are wearing masks, but she recognizes the voice of her husband-to-be.
A man turns himself to the police, although he hasn’t broken the law. He begs them to put him in prison because he had a premonition that he would become a serial killer.
Jack the Ripper is actually a woman who brutally kills prostitutes because her own mother was a prostitute.
A ticking noise wakes her up. It’s a bomb, and she has only four minutes to do something about it.
After a horrible car crash, a walking skeleton emerges from the explosion.
A world-famous violinist virtuoso uses music to summon dark forces.
A philosopher is trying to outwit Death in order to be granted immortality. He doesn’t know that Death already knows the outcome of this conversation.
A beautiful but superficial woman promises a demon to give him her virginity in exchange for immortality. Once the demon granted her wish, she refused to fulfill her end of the deal. The demon retaliated by making her immortal but not eternally youthful.
A voice starts chanting spells every time somebody wears the gold necklace from Damask.
Three teenagers beat up a homeless man. The next day all of them go missing.

Scary story ideas and horror story writing prompts

Thirteen tourists from Poland visit Trakai Island Castle in Vilnius. Their bodies are found washed up the next morning. They are wearing medieval clothes.
A group of extremists ambush the vehicle in which the head of a terrorist cell is transported and rescue him. They go after anybody who was involved in his incarceration.
A hitman is hired to kill a potential heart donor.
A man is attacked by the neighbor’s dog while trying to bury his wife alive.
A woman disappears from her home without a trace. He husband reports her missing. The police start to suspect the husband when they retrieve some deleted messages.
After moving to a new house, all the family members have the same nightmares. Slowly, they realize that they might be more than nightmares.
A psychopath is drugging his wife, pushing her to commit suicide so that he can collect the life insurance.
A woman loses her eyesight overnight. Instead, she starts having premonitions.
A vampire prefers albino children.
A man commits murders at night and relives the agony of his victims during the day.
A black horse carriage stops in front of your house. A hand wearing a black glove makes an inviting gesture. Mesmerized, you decide to enter the carriage.
Demons rejuvenate by eating kind people’s hearts.
People are horrified to find all of the graves dug out the morning after Halloween.
Men start jumping off buildings and bridges after hearing a mysterious song.
A voice in your head tells you to stop listening to the other voices. They were not real.
A severed head is hanging from a bridge with a message written in the victim’s blood.
A delusional man brings his screaming children to a chasm.
A 30-year-old woman learns that a baby with the same name as her died at the local hospital 30 years ago.
A vampire donates his blood so that a child with special brain powers can receive it.
A teenager is determined to escape his kidnapper by manipulating him into drinking poison. He doesn’t stop there.

If you want to streamline the horror novel creation process, you can also generate a custom book template with AI:

Final Words

Write a good horror story with scary story ideas

The 132 scary story ideas will help you take a deep dive into the human psyche. These horror story prompts will make you a seasoned writer and help you captivate readers. So, get ready to write a good horror story with unique writing prompts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s take a look at the following questions and answers:

What is a good way to start horror writing prompts?

To grab readers’ attention, craft the beginning of your horror story around an active scene featuring characters in the thick of an action. Introduce the central conflict and sprinkle tantalizing hints of danger or the unknown, such as clues about an accident or murder, to create an air of suspense and intrigue.

What are some good scary story ideas?

Effective horror story ideas delve into innate human fears and weaknesses. These fears can manifest as physical threats like monsters or ghosts or as psychological anxieties such as uncertainty or the unraveling of reality.

How can I start writing unique horror stories?

To craft a spine-tingling horror story, delve into the emotions that haunt your audience. Fear thrives in the unknown and the unforeseen, so weave these aspects seamlessly into your narrative. Craft a haunting atmosphere or chilling plot through vivid descriptions that linger in the reader’s mind. Gradually intensify the tension to keep them captivated and quivering on the brink of terror.

Is it easy to write on scary story prompts?

If you’re a horror enthusiast, you likely have some scary story ideas for your own screenplay. However, crafting effective horror stories isn’t straightforward. To truly scare your audience, your scary story must connect with their most primal fears.

What are cliches to avoid while writing scary story ideas?

To create effective horror stories, don’t rely solely on common tropes like haunted houses or creepy children. Instead, find unique angles or reinterpretations to keep your readers engaged in your scary story. Avoid overused scary story ideas unless you can add a novel twist. Remember that the goal of a horror story is to surprise and disturb the audience, making it crucial to avoid predictability and create an unsettling experience for your readers.

Instant AI Horror Novel Generation

Full-Length, Professional Quality

Published in Writing Prompts

Join 5000+ Technical Writers

Get our #1 industry rated weekly technical writing reads newsletter.

101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts

Welcome to the story den of horror, scares, and the macabre.

Most writers are often asked, "Where do you get your ideas from?" A majority of the time, writers find it difficult to answer that question.

We get our ideas from a plethora of sources — news headlines, novels, television shows, movies, our lives, our fears, our phobias, etc. They can come from a scene or moment in a film that wasn't fully explored. They can come from a single visual that entices the creative mind — a seed that continues to grow and grow until the writer is forced to finally put it to paper or screen.

In the spirit of helping writers find those seeds, here we offer 101 originally conceived and terrifying story prompts that you can use as inspiration for your next horror story.

They may inspire screenplays, novels, short stories, or even smaller moments that you can include in what stories you are already writing or what you will create in your upcoming projects.

But beware! If you scare easily — and have active imaginations like most writers do — turn up the lights and proceed with caution...

1. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her parents find only a decrepit and scary doll left behind. They soon learn that the doll is actually their daughter. And she's alive.

2. New residents of an old neighborhood are invited by their friendly neighbors to a Halloween party. The neighbors are vampires.

3. A family dog runs away from home. He returns a year later to the delight of his family. But there's something different about him. Something demonic.

4. A girl goes missing. Fifteen years later, her parents get a call from her older self. But they listen in fear because they killed their daughter that dark night years ago.

5. A man reads a novel, soon realizing that the story is his very own — and according to the book, a killer is looming.

6. A scientist clones his family that died in an airplane crash — but soon learns the repercussions of playing God.

7. A man wakes up bound to an electric chair.

8. A man wakes up in a coffin next to a freshly dead body.

9. A woman wakes up to find her family gone and her doors and windows boarded up with no way to escape.

10. A man afraid of snakes is shipwrecked on an island covered with them.

11. Serial killers worldwide are connected by a dark web website.

12. The world's population is overtaken by vampires — all except one little child.

13. A woman afraid of clowns is forced to work in a traveling circus.

14. An astronaut and cosmonaut are on the International Space Station when their countries go to Nuclear War with each other. Their last orders are to eliminate the other.

15. A treasure hunter finds a tomb buried beneath the dirt.

16. A young brother and sister find an old door in their basement that wasn't there before.

17. Winged creatures can be seen within the storm clouds above.

18. A man wakes up to find a hobo clown staring down at him.

19. Residents of a town suddenly fall dead while the dead from cemeteries around them rise.

20. A doctor performs the first head transplant — things go wrong.

21. A man is texted pictures of himself in various stages of torture that he has no memory of.

22. A girl wakes up to find a little boy sitting on his bed, claiming to be her younger brother — but she never had one.

23. A scare walk in the woods during Halloween is actually real.

24. A bartender serves last call to the only remaining patron, who is the Devil himself.

25. Earth suffers a planet-wide blackout as all technology is lost.

26. A boy's stepfather is actually a murderous werewolf.

27. Something has turned the neighborhood pets into demonic killers.

28. A priest is a vampire.

29. A woman wakes up with no eyes.

30. A man wakes up with no mouth.

31. A monster is terrified by the scary child who lives above his bed.

32. An astronaut jettisoned into the cold of space in a mission gone wrong suddenly appears at the doorstep of his family.

33. A woman answers a phone call only to learn that the voice on the other end is her future self, warning her that a killer is looming.

34. A boy realizes that aliens have replaced his family.

35. A woman wakes up in an abandoned prison that she cannot escape.

36. A bank robber steals from the small town bank that holds the riches of witches.

37. A door-to-door salesman circa the 1950s visits the wrong house.

38. Deceased soldiers return to their Civil War-era homes.

39. Kidnappers abduct the child of a vampire.

40. An innocent circus clown discovers the dark history of the trade.

41. A homeless man is stalked by faceless beings.

42. A spelunker stumbles upon a series of caverns infested with rattlesnakes.

43. A group of friends is forced to venture through a chamber of horrors where only one is promised to survive.

44. He's not the man she thought he was. In fact, he's not a man at all.

45. Suburbia is actually purgatory.

46. Someone discovers that we are all actually robots — who created us and why?

47. She's not an angel. She's a demon.

48. An old shipwreck washes ashore.

49. A sinkhole swallows a house whole and unleashes something from beneath.

50. A man has sleep paralysis at the worst possible time.

51. A woman out hiking is caught in a bear trap as the sun begins to go down.

52. Naked figures with no faces stalk campers in the woods.

53. An astronaut is the sole survivor of a moon landing gone wrong — only to discover that the moon is infested with strange creatures.

54. A woman is wrongfully condemned to an insane asylum.

55. A mother's baby will not leave its womb and continues to grow and grow and grow while doctors try to cut it out but can't.

56. Friends on a road trip stumble upon a backcountry town whose residents all dress up as different types of clowns.

57. Tourists in Ireland retreat to an old castle when the country is taken over by greedy and vengeful leprechauns.

58. A boy on a farm makes a scarecrow that comes alive.

59. A figure dressed in an old, dirty Easter Bunny suit haunts the children of a town.

60. The abused animals of a zoo are unleashed and wreak havoc on a small town.

61. A deceased grandma's old doll collection comes alive.

62. Little Red Riding Hood was a vampire.

63. Somebody clones Hitler and raises him as a white supremacist.

64. A pumpkin patch comes alive — beings with heads of pumpkins and bodies of vines.

65. An endless swarm of killer bees wreaks havoc on the country.

66. Christ returns to Earth — at least that is who people thought he was.

67. A natural anomaly brings all of the country's spiders to a horrified town.

68. A woman finds old 16mm film from her childhood and sees that she had a sister — what happened to her?

69. Something ancient rises from an old pond.

70. A woman suddenly begins to wake up in somebody else's body every morning — each day ends with her being stocked and killed by the same murderer in black.

71. An Artificial Intelligence begins to communicate with a family online, only to terrorize them through their technology.

72. A family buys a cheap house only to discover that an old cemetery is their back yard.

73. Years after the zombie apocalypse subsides, survivors discover that the epidemic was caused by aliens that have appeared to lay claim to the planet.

74. A woman has memories of being abducted by aliens — but she soon learns that they weren't aliens. They were...

75. A boy has a tumor that slowly grows into a Siamese twin — the older they get, the more evil the twin becomes.

76. A cult that worships history's deadliest serial killers begins to kill by copying their methods.

77. Stone gargoyles suddenly appear on the tops of buildings and houses of a small town.

78. A family on a boat trip stumbles upon an old pirate ship.

79. A winter snowstorm traps a family in an abandoned insane asylum.

80. A little girl comes down from upstairs and asks her parents, "Can you hear it breathing? I can."

81. A town is enveloped in unexplained darkness for weeks.

82. A jetliner flies high in the sky as Nuclear War breaks out below.

83. Children discover a deep, dark well in the woods — an old ladder leads down into it.

84. A child sleepwalks into their parent's room and whispers, "I'm sorry. The Devil told me to."

85. As a woman showers, a voice comes from the drain whispering, "I see you."

86. A child finds a crayon drawing of a strange family — it's inscribed with the words we live in your walls .

87. All of the cemetery's graves are now open, gaping holes — the dirt pushed out from underground.

88. A woman is watching a scary movie alone on Halloween night — someone, or something, keeps knocking at her door.

89. Someone is taking a bath as a hand from behind the shower curtain pushes their head into the water.

90. A farmer and his sons begin to hear the laughter of children coming from his fields at night — no children are in sight.

91. Someone looks out their window to see a clown standing at a corner holding a balloon — staring at them.

92. Mannequins in a department store seem to be moving on their own.

93. What if the God people worshiped was really Satan — and Satan had somehow kept God prisoner?

94. A man dies and wakes up in the body of a serial killer — and no matter how hard he tries to stop killing, he can't.

95. A prisoner awakens to find the prison empty — but he's locked in his cell.

96. A woman jogging stumbles upon a dead, bloody body — she then hears a strange clicking sound and looks up to see a dark figure running towards her.

97. A girl hears laughter downstairs — she's the only one home.

98. An Uber driver picks up the wrong person — and may not live to tell the tale.

99. There's someone or something living and moving up in the attic — but it's not a ghost.

100. A child's imaginary friend is not imaginary.

101. The reflections that we see of ourselves in the mirror are actually us in a parallel universe — and they are planning to do whatever it takes to take our place in this world.

Share this with your writing peers or anyone that loves a good scary story.

For some more scares, check out ScreenCraft's 20 Terrifying Two-Sentence Horror Stories and 8 Ways Horror Movies Scare the S*** Out of Audiences!

Sleep well and keep writing.

Once you're inspired, take your idea to the next level and Develop Your Horror Movie Idea in 15 Days .

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

For all the latest ScreenCraft news and updates, follow us on Twitter and Facebook !

Get Our Screenwriting Newsletter!

Get weekly writing inspiration delivered to your inbox - including industry news, popular articles, and more!

Facebook Comments

Free download.

Screenwriting Resources:

$ 15.00 Original price was: $15.00. $ 12.00 Current price is: $12.00. Add to cart

Next Related Post

Get Our Newsletter!

Developing your own script.

We'll send you a list of our free eCourses when you subscribe to our newsletter. No strings attached.

Hidden Name
Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Connect With Us

Writing competitions, success stories.

Screenwriting Newsletter

Join our community of over 100,000 screenwriters and get weekly inspiration delivered to your inbox:

✓ Popular blog posts and industry news ✓ New ScreenCraft online events ✓ Screenplay competition announcements!

" * " indicates required fields

🎉 Our next novel writing master class starts in – ! Claim your spot →

Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of horror short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Authors to follow

5230+ Horror Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest . From hauntings and murderers to terrifying creatures from the deep, our collection of horror stories will have you breaking out in cold sweats. Take a look… if you dare.

🏆 Winning stories

“ the gingerbread cookies ” by aaron chin.

🏆 Winner of Contest #229

The Gingerbread Cookies Let’s go downstairs and bake some cookies, like mother used to make. The warm smell sits right at home in your nostrils, invading them like wild ax-murderers hacking and slashing their way through endless miles of human bodies that stand in the way of their inhumane, carnal desires. Shhh, shhh, but that’s too dark. It’s Christmas after all. So let’s go down...

“ Cerulean ” by AnneMarie Miles

🏆 Winner of Contest #223

The door is cerulean, a bright and vibrant blue, but really it is the color of my sudden uneasiness. The feeling creeps up me slowly, jumps out at me dauntingly, and I am frozen in it. If the door were a mirror – and how I wish it were as innocent as a mirror – I would see my face reflected back to me, and it would tell me to run.I’m not sure what’s more jarring: the fact that this door is a clashing contrast to the rest of the library décor, or the fact that I’ve never noticed the path we took to get here before. I supp...

“ Do Flamethrowers Belong In The Library? ” by Kenz Ross

🏆 Winner of Contest #211

We lose people all the time. It’s just the nature of the job. What can you expect from a place full of nooks and crannies people intentionally go to get lost in? I usually don’t worry when I don’t see someone for a while, but when it’s been days since someone’s checked out, it’s usually a sign that I need to step in. I’m not doing this alone, thankfully. No Librarian i...

⭐️ Recommended stories

“ o mother, please send my father across ” by anshu yadav.

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #260

It was all a dream, Murli’s breath like rotten fish on top of her tongue, the balled-up grey dead mass of it settled at the back of her throat like stale phlegm, his beedi stained tongue wriggling around on top of her tongue, his hand under her blouse, fumbling, scratching, his nails yellow and black and green the sight of which made her vomit, his puss-filled-bandaged hand on top of her breast, the nail digging into her nipple, the dirt in his nails mixing with her blood, in her blood, the blood cool in the thick heat of the dark room, swee...

“ Team Meeting | 10 AM - 1hr ” by J. Rain Sherwin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #259

“Happy Monday everyone,” Suzanne burbled. Emma used a good deal of restraint and avoided rolling her eyes. A small victory. Her poker face was getting better. “Now, everyone got the agenda. So first up, we have some housekeeping items. First, congratulations to Melinda, on her six-year work anniversary!”Emma dutifully hit the applause reaction button. Then the “celebration” reaction button. Then, finally, the “heart” reaction button. She watched as everyone else hit various reaction buttons. Poor Melinda. Six years was a long tim...

“ Tallow ” by Daniel Laing

I spotted the village from the train window. It emerged from grey fields, its houses crooked upon the short slope of a hillside. Tallow - that was its name - possessed a certain sadness, as if it longed to be forgotten. A manor, with its many wings and porticoes, loomed over the houses from the hill’s peak. There were few signs of life when I exited the train. No one walked the streets and all the curtains were closed. It stunk of old cabbages and sulphur. In the distance, children played, but no school or playground existed ...

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE .

✍️ All stories

“ dino-soar ” by joshua g. j. insole.

Submitted to Contest #265

The sound of the airport tannoy coming to life – bingbingBONG! – reverberated around the terminal.Tony Dittman closed his eyes and inhaled between his clenched teeth. For the love of God, what was it now? Further delays? Say it wasn’t so. He hoped they were about to say they’d discovered time travel, and there would be no delays for anyone ever again. If Tony didn’t board a plane in the next ninety minutes, he wouldn’t be able to get to the hotel until noon. His interview was at 12:30. He’d never make it on time, meaning all his hard work wo...

“ Maxwell Needs Help... ” by Jeff Meade

A month had past since Chloro Phil had brought home the survivors. The small group had suffered tremendously at the hands of the wasteland raiders, but their robust recovery gave everyone in Chama hope for the future. Optimism not just for the survivors but for survival of humanity in general. Chama may have been a small community, but it was strong and healthy. A new problem had arisen though. The Elders’ Council emergency meeting had failed to settle upon a course of action regarding a young boy who had wandered out of the wastes. He was e...

“ The Layover ” by Jed Cope

They all looked up attentively. Craning their necks to discern the truth of the situation. Facsimiles of strange meerkats. Vigilant. Impatient. The energy in the room was twisted out of kilter. Something was happening, but no one knew what shape it would take, let alone what it was. The uncertainty created a vile razor edge that would draw blood and poison its host. It wasn’t a question of if. Only when. When. All the flights in the small airport were delayed. The old and obsolete TV was the oracle of the delays, but between the lines was wo...

“ TERMINAL DREAD ” by Darvico Ulmeli

1: The Announcement The loudspeakers crackled to life, sending a sharp hiss of static through the cavernous, dimly lit terminal. The noise was jarring, a sudden intrusion in the uneasy silence that had settled over the travelers, who were slumped in their seats, fatigue etched deeply into their faces. The endless delays had worn them down, and now they were too exhausted to glance up. The air was thick with the stale scent of burnt coffee and damp, worn-out carpets, a suffocating blend that only added to the growing sense of unease. Then, th...

“ A Super Duper Totally Awesome Party!!! ” by Madeline Green

Submitted to Contest #264

There's some spookums ahead so beware. When your friend invited you to the “party of a lifetime”, you imagined gorgeous ball gowns, delectable appetizers, and all the delights of the more privileged. You didn’t think you’d be cast to the side like a slice of stale cake, and yet, here you are. After you and your friend got out of the limousine they “rented”—you don’t believe that; they probably just wanted you to feel better about your financial situation—you rolled up to the party, dressed in not matching, but complementary outfits. This wa...

“ Don't Do This To Me ” by Michael Mackenzie

Rhys stood beneath the bright chandelier in the threshold of his parent’s mansion, staring though the windows wondering how close he was to a liquor store when he caught a glimpse of two men standing on their driveway, peering into the house. “Rhys,” Abigail said, tapping him on the shoulder, her thin fingers pressing against his shoulders. “This is bad Mom,” R...

“ The Crafting of a Prophet ” by KA James

The rains came often enough in the spring, always in mid-afternoon, but lasted not long enough and were usually too violent to be of any real benefit. Full of wind, lightning and loud with booming thunder, the brief but torrential downpours often managed to wash away soil more than provide any real saturation to the fields. The blistering sun always followed the storm, drying and cracking the now muddy top layer of claylike earth.The village had been in slow decline now for years, weather patterns changing as is their ilk. The previous winte...

“ Wedding Roulette ” by Dakota Peterson

She fidgeted with the white invitation, tracing its edges every time she seemed to have a troubling thought. Anxiety isn’t something I would ever associate with her; she’s more of a social butterfly-something I both love and resent. I wanted to rub her arm reassuringly, but she didn’t give me any sign that it would be proper. Although, she flew me across the country for this. Just the two of us. We sat side by side for hours on the plane. I even carried her bags and let her sleep on my shoulder. Still, I rested with something simple:“It’s go...

“ A Trip To The Country ” by PJ Town

(some violence to animals)The drive leading to the house must have been a mile long, at least. It was as straight as a die, affording an unashamed view of the estate’s grandeur. On both sides, immaculate lawns stretched away into the distance, punctuated here and there by mossy stone statues of indeterminate subjects – possibly animals. And there up ahead, at the vanishing point, the mansion itself, imposing even from a distance. Behind and in front of us, other limousines swept along in an impressive caravan, neither rushing nor dawdling, r...

“ half of my soul ” by Lea Hoffmann

Plus one—I glance at the wedding invitation on my desk one last time before hearing Vanessa buzz at the door. My girlfriend had invited me to one of her distant cousin’s big white wedding at a grand estate or whatnot tucked away in the picturesque Kent. “I’m coming,” I call out, locking the door behind me. “There’s no rush, we still have some time before it starts,” Vanessa reassures me with a smile. “You look great by the way, lovely dress.”We slide into the back of the cab. The drive to the venue takes about 40 minutes, but it flies ...

“ Guilty Party ” by Derrick M Domican

Two and a half hours after touching down in Innsbruck and boarding the SUV that waited to greet her, Amelia Carver’s overnight expedition came to an end at a squat, crumbling structure in the rugged terrain of Saminatal Valley. From Dublin to Austria to Liechtenstein, from 12am to 6, from civilisation to desolation, and she still didn’t know if it was worth it. Looking at the building, little more than an abandoned mound of concrete, it was difficult to see how it could be. She hadn’t accomplished anything of note since last year. She w...

“ Plus One ” by Johan Persson

Plus One “How much further is it?” I said, and then chuckled. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to sound like a five-year-old just then.” She didn’t look away from the road as she answered. “Twelve minutes.” A weirdly specific answer since she wasn’t using a GPS. An old forest towered over the dirt road we were on. The slash of sky visible above us was diming by the minute. “Bit late for a wedding, isn’t it?” She shrugged. I tugged at the cuffs of my dress shirt, trying to make them stick out past the sleeves of the too big suit jacket I’d rented. I’d ...

“ You're My Rock ” by Joshua G. J. Insole

The bride and groom danced their first dance together, the room dark, the spotlight on them.Imogen Carlson tried and failed to grit her teeth. God, nothing was simple these days, not even the simple acts of jealousy and resentment. How cruel this dance was to parade their beautiful normalcy for everyone to see. She glared.Her mother leaned over – but not too close, gosh no – and whispered into her ear. ‘Do try to smile, dear. You’re positively green with envy. It is your cousin’s wedding after all, couldn’t you try to look happy for her? And...

“ An Order of Reflections ” by Penelope Stansfield

The silver Porsche tore along sun-soaked country lanes, passing farmhouses and fields, Eva couldn’t believe this turn of events. She shot a glance across at her companion as he guided the car, his profile set against the countryside as it flashed by, his dark blue suit, immaculate shirt and cuff-links, she felt as though she were in a film. Eva smoothed out her skirt and took a deep breath. That morning, She’d been at the local market shopping for supplies for the meal she was cooking for Jordan that evening. In her late tw...

“ Sleeping Beauty ” by Michael McKean

"Friends, family members of my dear best friend, Chastity - this will truly be a wedding to remember," Sarah tapped her microphone and smiled, looking at the audience. Then she looked down at Chastity lying in the glass box at her feet. The flowers draped over her. The veil covering her face. She was the perfect 'Sleeping Beauty.' "Chastity has been my friend since - well, as long as I can remember, really. We go back to elementary school. No, preschool even. I remember one day at recess when she taught me how to click my tongue."&...

The Best Horror Short Stories

Horror stories. What is it that you think of first? Maybe it’s malevolent, otherworldly spirits. Or perhaps it’s psychopaths, serial killers, and struggling writers driven mad by a deserted hotel? Whatever it is, there’s one thing that unites you and every other horror lover out there — adrenaline. You know the feeling: your skin crawls, your heart pounds, a shiver runs down your spine. And, as all the best horror story writers will tell you, the cause of this feeling isn’t just the presence of a monster, but the creation of suspense.

That’s where short stories come in. Think Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft: some of their best horrors take the form of a short story. Tales that climb steadily towards a dark and horrific denouement. The kind of thing that, if you’re brave enough, you’d tell your friends around a campfire — a torch casting spooky shadows on your face.

Looking for some spine-chilling horror stories?

If you’re into creepy stories that keep you awake at night, then look no further than our collection of short horror stories, compiled from submissions to our weekly writing contest. Here we’ve gathered together all the scary stories that made us want to lock our laptops in a cupboard and hide under the blankets. And at the top of the page, is the cream of the crop: horror stories that have either won our competition or been shortlisted.

Lots of promising new writers have emerged from this collection, deftly creating atmosphere and building that all-important suspense. So who knows? You might just discover the next Stephen King. And if you enjoy this collection of horror stories, then why not try your hand at writing your own? You could join this week’s short story contest , and walk away with the cash prize — and a shot at publication in Prompted , our new literary magazine!

Find the perfect editor for your next book

Over 1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy, come meet them.

Oops, you need an account for that!

Or enter your email:

RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.

101 Horror Writing Prompts That Are Freaky As Hell

Looking for some scary story ideas for your next writing project?

Sometimes, a good scary prompt idea is all you need to get started on a dark story your readers won’t be able to put down.

And that is the goal. What’s a horror story without white-knuckle suspense?

You want your readers at the edge of their seats, unable to stop though they know something bad is about to happen.

You also want to reward them for reading to the end and leave them wanting more.

So, how can this collection of horror writing prompts help with that?

What Are the Main Elements of Horror Writing?

List of most common horror themes and tropes to write on .

66 Horror Writing Prompts

Halloween Writing Prompts

Mystery writing prompts, psychological horror story ideas, “the monster you know” story ideas, ghost story writing prompts, funny horror story ideas, horror story ideas.

Every good story needs an idea that takes root in your imagination and doesn’t let go. Horror stories in particular need to affect you a certain way. If they don’t sound an alarm in your head, they won’t sound one in the heads of your readers, either.

They need to reach into your psyche, take a scrap of memory, and turn it into something that would keep you up at night.

And as you’ve no doubt read already, “No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

Look through the prompts that follow, and choose one that calls out to you and lingers in your imagination.

Paint a picture in your mind of the characters involved. Give yourself a reason to invest in them by giving each one some interesting backstory.

Then set a timer and write.

Since Earl Horace Walpole’s gothic horror The Castle of Otranto hit shelves in 1764, English readers have clamored for dark plots that excite primitive instincts and tickle our fear bones.

Many horror authors leverage shadowy impulses by sprinkling stories with uncomfortable happenings and gruesome fatalities.

But that’s not all it takes to write within the genre, begging the question: What are the main elements of horror? Traditionally, there are five: suspense, fear, violence, gore, and the supernatural.

Suspense : Creating anxious tension is a critical component of horror as it keeps the audience glued to the story. They need to find out what happens! Traditionally, suspense is valued as a sophisticated form of horror, and building it well is a skill.
Fear : Confronting fearful things is a powerful emotion with chemical reactionary consequences, making it a hallmark of horror writing.
Violence : Savagery is scary because it’s inextricably linked to death and pain — two of the four great human fears.
Gore : Brains and guts are a cornerstone of classic horror. For better or worse, our neural pathways light up when confronted with intestines, brain matter, and gushing fluids. Successful horror writers keep readers and watchers engaged by deploying gore effectively.
Supernatural: The main difference between “true crime” and “horror” is a supernatural element. While horror stories draw people in with realism, they usually feature an emotional detachment valve in the form of an explicit or implicit otherworldly presence.

Vampires, ghosts, zombies, and murderers are big-picture mainstays of the horror genre. But what are some other, more detailed tropes associated with scary storytelling?

Babysitter Alone in Big House: The naive babysitter trope is oft-repeated because it works. The sitter acts as a stand-in for the reader or audience in that, like you, they’re vulnerable. Horror-sitters are the character conduit through which readers and viewers can experience the impending fear.
Manipulative Vampires: Maybe it’s their piercing eyes, snappy attire, or mysterious penchant for the “nightlife.” Whatever the case, people stan vampires, and sensual and manipulative ones are an incredibly effective horror character trope.
Ghost-Haunted House: Ghost-haunted houses are a recurring horror motif. Whether you approach it from a traditional or modern angle is up to you. Both can work.
Creepy Kid: In real life, it’s kind to see all kids as precious and special, no matter their quirks. But when it comes to Horror World, creepy kids are a dime a dozen! Sometimes they’re the main attractions or “red herrings” (which we’ll get to more below); other times, they’re supernatural catalysts that serve as a story’s MacGuffin. Whichever the case, unnerving kids go a long way when devising a disturbing scene and fomenting suspense.
The Nonbeliever: Most horror stories have at least one character whose lack of fear or faith (in the story’s “supernatural” element) lands them six feet under.
The Red Herring: A “red herring” is a false clue. The term dates back to the 1400s to describe a culinary preparation for fish, but the first known use as a euphemism for “distraction” appeared in 1884.
Isolation: Few things frighten people more than being all alone while danger looms. As such, isolation can be a helpful trope when crafting horror stories.
Graveyard Chase: A well-conceived chase around a graveyard is another horror mainstay that continues to deliver. Try adding a twist to modernize the trope.
Distorting Mirrors: Whether a single reflecting glass or a full-on maze, using mirrors as a motif is a tangible and effective way to signal distortion.
Aliens and Cultists: The human psyche can’t resist rubbernecking when confronted with the possibility of aliens and the sociopathic underbelly of cults. Resultantly, they work well as engaging frameworks for horror stories.

101 Horror Writing Prompts

Whether you’re writing for a special occasion or just to experiment with the horror genre, any of the scary story prompts in the following groups should get you started.

Go with your gut on this one, and choose an idea that feels both familiar and provocative. Then give it a go!

1. A mysterious gift from an estranged aunt arrives on Halloween with a crystal ball and a note addressed only to you, her godchild.

2. One of the trick-or-treaters bears an uncanny resemblance to your departed sibling and repeats that sibling’s last words before picking your sibling’s favorite candy bar.

3. On Halloween night, you find a box at your door that contains a strange note and a little something from each of the people who have hurt you in the past year.

4. On this Halloween night, your guinea pig won’t stop running in circles, and your dog keeps staring at the door, emitting a low growl.

5. You run out for candy on Halloween afternoon to find the streets empty and the store abandoned. A single car cruises into the lot and pulls into the spot next to yours.

6. Every time you went to answer the doorbell, no one was there. The next day, you heard about the missing children. The worst part? Your kids spent Halloween with your ex and were supposed to come trick-or-treating last night.

7. You arrive home on Halloween to a large package from your new boss, who’d bought every piece of your favorite candy from local stores. The note reads, “Save some for me.”

8. You’re watching TV on Halloween night when your show is interrupted by a faintly familiar someone declaring their love for you and saying they’ve watched you all your life.

9. You come home to find a stranger walking through your home, sipping your wine and admiring your collected antiquities. They startle at your approach and act as though you’re the intruder.

10. The night before Halloween, you have a dream in which you wake up to see a dark shape standing outside your closet. You wake up screaming with your hands around your spouse’s throat.

11. Election day looms, and Halloween feels more ominous than ever. You’ve kept the lights off, but that doesn’t stop one visitor from leaving a note: “Knew you lived here.”

12. Your best friend has gone missing, and someone keeps leaving small reminders of them in your mailbox. You see someone approach to deliver something else, and your heart nearly stops when you recognize them.

13. You’ve always wanted a dog, so when a rain-soaked mutt shows up on your front step, you let him in. Unfortunately, something else hitched a ride.

14. Someone moves into the apartment next door and starts playing loud music at night. You call the police, who find the guy dead holding a note with your name and address.

15. Someone keeps replacing items in your home with different objects that look vaguely familiar. No one else has a key to your home, and there are no signs of forced entry.

16. You bake some cookies to share with the new neighbor, but the terrified woman backs away from the plate, shaking her head. Someone from inside calls out, “I’ll have those.”

17. Someone at work has offered to do a tarot card spread for you, and you politely decline. You find a single tarot card in your mailbox when you return home.

18. You don’t remember wandering alone on a country road as a small child, but someone does. And he wants to make sure you’re not around to testify against him.

19. Someone has gotten to your laundry before you and left it neatly folded in piles on top of the dryer. A note reads, “For more TLC, knock on #303.”

20. The window of your apartment leads to a fire escape, but twice you’ve come home to find it open. Nothing is missing. But someone keeps leaving a ring on your kitchen table.

21. You order a Christmas wreath for your door and the company sends you a package with money instead. The note reads, “Keep half. I’ll pick up the rest in 72 hours.”

22. A child knocks on your door and tells you you’ll be visited by three people that night. One of them will show you your future. The child’s face reminds you of someone.

23. Your best friend is dating a woman who seems familiar to you — and not in a good way. Turns out, she’s got a bad feeling about you, too, and she warns your friend.

24. You receive a surprise delivery of a holiday flower arrangement with a note from someone who went to jail for assault. The message reads, “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

25. An abuser from your past has written you a long letter of apology, and you agree to meet them for coffee. You find your favorite coffee place deserted — on Black Friday.

26. You broke up with your sweetheart when he lied about taking you to the prom and begged you to run away with him so he could escape an abusive home. He’s back.

27. An old friend, who had tried to warn you about an ex-boyfriend years ago, has come back to town to run a diner. Within a week, known bullies start disappearing.

28. For the past three dates, the guy you met ended up dead and posed as if proposing. A note on each one’s empty chest cavity reads, “My heart belongs to [your name].”

29. You’re with a friend at the home of the guy she’s dating. In the bathroom, you find a box with jewelry for almost every birthstone. Yours is the only one missing. You hear a scream.

30. Everyone keeps telling you your memories can’t be trusted. You’re safe with them. They’ll protect you. But you haven’t left the house in years.

31. You thought it was cute when your little sister wanted to wear your aunt’s high heels and pose with a hand on her hip. But your sister had an uncanny way with accidents.

32. You never expected to win the ‘57 Chevy from the church raffle. Neither did the car’s owner, who immediately tried to buy it back. He didn’t respond well to “No, thanks.”

33. Every time you saw anything like “Tornado Warning” or “Flash Flood” in the news, you knew someone would end up dead. And your ex would blame the weather.

34. You come home to a dozen roses from a guy who’s been telling his friends you’re dating, and you get angry. For some reason, though, everyone you know is on his side.

35. Your “Secret Santa” leaves an expensive bottle of wine with a note, “Drink me.” You call a familiar number and hear the phone ring on the other side of your door.

36. Your dad has a secret known only to his twin brother, who mysteriously disappeared but left a note with a box of his belongings in the attic. You take it with you when you leave.

37. You just broke up with the person who’s catering your best friend’s wedding. They also made the cake.

38. Some of your in-laws have decided to deliver their sibling from you. When they cross the line, you make a promise to them and to your spouse. One by one, they disappear.

39. Your health is steadily declining, and you don’t know why. Neither do your doctors, who test for the usual health issues and find nothing. Then someone calls to warn you.

40. Your estranged father sends you a porcelain doll — the one he swears you told him you wanted. It has the face and hair of your missing mother. And her eyes are glued open.

41. You’ve just told your family you’re asexual, and they seem to accept it. Out of the blue, the handsome guy next door shows up to ask you out, and your parents quietly nod.

42. A cop pulls you over for driving a few miles over the speed limit, tells you to get out of your car, slams you against the hood and whispers in your ear, “This is from your ex.”

43. You emailed your fiancé for months before meeting him for the first date. Now, you’re getting strange phone calls from someone claiming to be his wife and telling you to run.

44. You stood numb at the coffin of a close friend and flinched when your father rested a hand on your shoulder. “Had to be done,” he whispered. “Remember the bigger picture.”

45. A small package bears the name of your sister, who died five years ago. It contains a pendant that matches her own and a note asking you to activate it by chanting, “Sisters Forever.”

46. Your elderly neighbors died on the same day of an apparent suicide pact. In their will, they left their pug to you, along with a small box of what they called “magical items.”

47. You receive a note penned by your best friend, who died in a car accident the month before, His parents had found it in his room and hand-delivered it, barely looking at you.

48. You pounce on a new opening in the apartment building close to your favorite coffee place. The first night there, you wake up to ghostly shapes surrounding your bed.

49. At your first slumber party, your friend’s older brother surprised you during a late-night run to the bathroom. He died a decade later in prison. Now you see him in your dreams.

50. Your home is the high-tech brainchild of your best friend, who bequeathed it to you (rather than to his wife). It anticipates your every need and desire.

51. You’ve been having dreams about a door that shows up in your room. In one, you walk through it and see someone you love being murdered . You warn them the next day.

52. You’re the lone survivor of a horrific train crash, and everywhere you go, you see the ghosts of some of the passengers. Some have told you the crash was no accident.

53. You’re looking through your mother’s possessions when a note slips out of the book she’d been reading, warning you about “the ghost who runs this house.”

54. Your new boyfriend is obsessed with ancient artifacts, but when something hitches a ride on his latest find, you witness disturbing changes in his behavior.

55. Your life is already complicated when your boss asks you to stay at his home to care for his dog while he’s away. You soon learn the house is as mischievous as the dog.

56. You’re an editor for the college literary journal, and you’ve been getting poetic hate mail from a student who’s angry you didn’t choose their poems for the latest issue.

57. Your favorite neighbor is a trans woman named Lani who looks out for you. She warns you about a guy down the hall, who keeps trying cheesy pick-up lines to get you to smile.

58. Your co-workers tease you about your weight gain. One is found dead in the bathroom, her mouth stuffed with candy. Everyone but the custodian suspects you.

59. An anonymous admirer sends you a singing telegram with a chilling question. Now you have less than 24 hours to sing your answer in a public square, with a flash mob.

60. You sign up for wine deliveries but are disappointed by the first bottle you open and taste. On the label, you find a crass, insulting note from an old enemy.

61. Your date finds out your BFF is asexual and starts asking intrusive and insensitive questions. When your friend shuts him down, he insults and warns you both.

62. You’re working the dinner rush, and a customer loudly insists on changing her order the moment you deliver it. Someone quietly follows her as she storms out the door.

63. You’re having an open house for your new shop, and you catch a customer shoplifting. She says, “I was told to come in here and take these. You’re being watched.”

64. You arrive at your new house, and the keys from the realtor don’t work. Someone answers the door with a disarming smile. “So, you’re here about the room? Come in!”

65. Your date is going well until you reveal that you have a dog. “I’m not really a dog person,” you hear. When you get a bad feeling and end the date, things get messy.

66. Your journal goes missing, and within a week, a goofy, adorable guy starts showing up at your usual stops. He seems surprised to see you, but something isn’t quite right.

Creepy Writing Prompts

67. The old tunnel had been blocked off for as long as anyone could remember, but late at night, you could still hear the faint screams echoing from deep within.

68. As you walk past the abandoned house on your way home from school, you notice one of the curtains move slightly in an upstairs window, but the house has been empty for years.

69. You wake up suddenly in the middle of the night and see two small handprints on the foggy bathroom mirror that are far too small to belong to anyone in your family.

70. Every night when you go to sleep, you feel an uncomfortable pricking sensation on your skin, yet every morning, you find strange symbols carved into your arms that you don’t remember making.

71. While exploring the attic, you find an old doll that looks eerily like you did as a child, and when you pick it up, its eyes suddenly open.

72. The scraping sound from the closet stops whenever you turn on the light, but it always returns as soon as the room goes dark again.

73. Every time you glance in the mirror, your reflection behaves slightly differently than you do – blinking at the wrong time or moving too late.

74. You wake up covered in mud and scratches with no memory of where you’ve been all night, and the soles of your shoes are worn through as if you had walked for miles.

75. Lately, your pets have refused to go into certain rooms of your house, but you have no idea what frightens them so badly about those areas.

76. You discover a trap door hidden under an old Persian rug in your basement and shining a light into it reveals a set of footsteps descending into the darkness below.

77. You wake up one morning to find all the mirrors in your home have been turned around to face the wall, even though you live alone.

78. Your television is switched on in the dead of night, the static slowly resolving into shapes, and what looks back at you from the screen makes your blood run cold.

79. You keep finding sticky notes around your house with messages written on them in unfamiliar handwriting, like “GET OUT” or “I’M WATCHING YOU SLEEP.”

80. Every time you look at a clock, the time is exactly 3 minutes slow, though all the clocks in your home are set correctly and keep perfect time when others view them.

81. On your way home, you notice a figure standing motionless at the end of the street, staring directly at your house with its face hidden in the shadows of its hooded robe.

82. Your dog comes running inside with its leash still attached but hanging limply, yet when you call the number on the leash’s tag, your own cell phone starts ringing from within your house.

83. Your computer camera activates unexpectedly while you’re working, and you see your own bedroom behind you from an impossible angle near the ceiling, suggesting someone is watching through the camera right now.

84. You hear your name called out softly in an empty room, and even though the voice sounds familiar, you live alone, and you know no one else is inside.

Spooky Writing Prompts

85. Every night when you lie in bed, you hear the floorboards outside your room creaking as if someone is pacing back and forth, but every time you quickly open the door to check, the hallway is empty.

86. While exploring the woods behind your new house, you discover a crumbling old stone well, and when you peer down into the darkness, you think you see pale faces staring back up at you.

87. Your reflection in mirrors and windows often moves independently, quickly looking away whenever you try to catch it, watching you from impossible angles that don’t align with where you’re standing.

88. An unfamiliar chat window opens on your computer screen with only the message “I can see you through your webcam” written inside it by an unseen sender.

89. Plants within your home have been dying overnight no matter where you place them, the leaves and stems drained of all color as if the life has been completely sucked out.

90. You wake up to find a pile of dead birds on your lawn, their wings broken and necks bent at odd angles as if they crashed directly into the ground from high altitudes.

91. The old paintings hanging on the walls of your recently inherited mansion seem to follow you with their eyes, and occasionally, you notice mysterious new figures added in the backgrounds that disappear by morning.

92. Turning on all the faucets causes blood to drip out instead of water, yet when others in your home check them, the liquid running from the pipes is perfectly clear.

93. You wake from a nightmare convinced someone was standing silently at the foot of your bed, only to find the imprint of two bare feet seared into your bedroom carpet right where the figure was standing.

94. Whenever you look in the bathroom mirror late at night, you see dead relatives standing silently behind you who disappear when you turn around to check if anyone is there.

95. The baby monitor in the nursery suddenly emits a strange crackling sound followed by a singsong voice you don’t recognize whispering your baby’s name over and over.

96. Your shadow appears to have a mind of its own, often following you more slowly or quickly than it should and reaching areas you know your body has not moved to.

97. Photos taken with phones or cameras in and around your home show blurry figures lurking in the background that do not match any of the people in the images.

98. Any writing you leave out overnight – from sticky notes to notebooks – has mysterious reoccurring symbols added in unfamiliar handwriting scattered among the existing text.

99. You wake in the middle of the night to the sound of your locked window being forced open from the outside, but when you jump out of bed to check, it’s closed securely as if nothing happened.

100. From your garden, you can see directly into your neighbor’s bathroom mirror, but instead of the neighbor’s reflection, you swear you sometimes see your own face staring back with an expression you don’t recognize.

101. While searching through the attic in your recently purchased Victorian home, you find an old portrait of a severe-looking woman whose eyes seem to follow you around the room; later that night, you wake to find the same woman standing at the foot of your bed, silently watching you sleep.

How Do You Come Up with Horror Ideas?

Coming up with fresh, frightening ideas is key to crafting an effective horror story. While horror inspirations can spring from ordinary events and observations, it helps to have strategies to unleash your most sinister creativity. Here are some tips for conjuring bone-chilling tales:

Mine your nightmares. Dreams often access our deepest fears. Pay attention to recurring nightmares or startling images from your subconscious, as these can inspire terrifying new monsters or situations.
Twist tropes. Take common horror archetypes like haunted houses, demonic possession, or slashers and put a new spin on them. Surprise readers by changing elements they assume to be familiar.
Extrapolate fears. Think about phobias you or others have, like darkness, insects, or tight spaces. Imagine those fears exponentially intensified to petrifying extremes.
Research real horror. Study disturbing historical events, murders, superstitions, or unexplained phenomena and fictionalize them in a new horror setting.
Observe people. Carefully watch those around you and look for small creepy details in their appearances or behaviors that could be expanded into something sinister.

With an observant eye and inventive mind, creators can find endless inspiration from both mundane moments and their most nightmarish dreams. Putting ordinary things in an ominous light or letting one’s imagination run wild with “what if” scenarios generate the kinds of situations and figures that fuel truly frightening tales.

Pay attention to the world around and inside you, and plumb the depths of your creativity, and you’ll never run short on horror ideas.

110+ Horror Writing Prompts (With A Twist)

Give yourself the chills with this list of over 110 horror writing prompts. From scary ghost stories to creepy stories about animals and monsters. Now is the time to write your own horror story , just like Goosebumps or The Haunting of Aveline Jones.

From the gory to the scary, from the monstrous to the supernatural, from the humorous to the wacky, we have it all! Use this horror writing prompts generator to get a random horror writing idea to write about:

Keep on reading for a list of horror story prompts.

Most horror stories are based on one thing, fear. And it’s always a good idea to have a bit of that in your own life. Fear makes us all think differently, it makes us do things we wouldn’t normally do. And it’s the same thing that makes horror stories so scary. It’s a good idea to think of something that scares you, and then write about it. As a starting point, we have provided you with this list of horror prompts. For some of these gory ideas, we have included a twist, while for others it’s up to you how the story goes! Feel free to use any of these prompts in your writing, and to expand on any of the ideas.

List of Horror Writing Prompts

This list of horror writing prompts will you give you the well-needed inspiration for a good horror story:

The Haunting Hospital: A small girl named Julie is walking down a country road when she finds a cemetery and realises it is her home town. She goes to her house and finds that it has been turned into a hospital. She finds her father and her mother there. Her father tells her that she is now a part of the hospital and that she must work to be paid. Julie and her mother go to work as nurses.
Chasing Shadows: A girl named Becky is walking in her neighbourhood when she sees a little boy playing in the street. Becky runs over to him and asks him what he is doing. He tells her that he is a little monster and that he will kill her if she does not leave him alone. Becky takes off running and the little monster chases her.
Park of Peril: A little girl named Melissa is walking through the park when she finds a little boy who tells her that he will eat her if she does not take him home. Melissa takes off running and the little boy chases her.
Claws of the Night: This one involves a kid named Angela. One night she goes to sleep and when she wakes up the next morning her hands have turned into the claws of a cat.
The Poisoned Harvest: A boy named Billy is walking down the street one day when he sees a homeless man. He notices some fruit by the man. When the homeless man is not looking, Billy steals the fruit. Later on, he goes home and eats this piece of fruit. The fruit is poisoned, and Billy goes blind.
Carnivorous Confrontation: A story of a kid who loves to eat the flesh of dead animals, but one day a man appears and tells him not to eat them.
Invisible Menace: Write a story about a young boy who is terrorized by an invisible monster.
Nightmare Room: The invisible monster is eating kids and it is in their room all the time.
Enchanted Chaos: A handsome prince on a quest to learn magic wants to marry the beautiful princess, but the kingdom is being attacked by demons, ghosts, and…his dad.
Insanity’s Feast: The whole little town goes insane. They start killing people with their mouths. They kill them in the most gruesome way.
Shuttered Nightmares: A serial killer is taking photos of their victims. He is telling them how he is going to kill them. And then he starts his killing.
Witch’s Chains: Two kids named ‘Bud’ and ‘Chip’ got separated from their parents. They live next door to a witch and are unable to leave the house. One day, the witch makes their parents get into a container, and leaves them in the backyard, chained to a tree.
Enchanted Camp: A summer camp where a powerful wizard casts a spell on the children to make them do his bidding.
The Weeping Specter: A ghost that follows you around and cries on your shoulder and if you get sad it gets angry and turns into a ghostly voice that spooks people.
Haunted Truths: The lead character is haunted by a ghost who knows the truth about their past.
Distrustful Shadows: A girl named Dana, who works at a daycare centre, doesn’t trust anybody. This causes her to make sure she does everything she can to stop any other person from ever entering her place.
Realm of Nightmares: One day, the princess wakes up in a terrible nightmare. She is being chased by something, she cannot see what it is. And then she hears the voice of her mother, telling her to run away. She goes to her room and sees that the covers on her bed are in a shape that reminds her of the monster she just saw. She knows she cannot sleep in this place. She goes to the other side of her room and sees a window. She goes to the window and finds that it is an opening to a new world…
Witch’s Wrath: A girl named Misty lives with her parents and their next-door neighbour who is an evil witch. One day her father and the witch get into a fight and the witch accidentally kills him.
Brief Awakening: A boy named Sam is suffering from a terrible disease and he only has days to live. He’s in a coma, and he’s not responding to any medical treatments. Until one night he starts to experience some new changes…
Vengeful Wishes: A little girl named Mina finds a genie. The genie grants her 3 wishes. Because Mina has been a victim of bullying, she uses all her wishes to punish her bullies with ghoulish consequences.
Jar of Horrors: One day, a boy named Marcus went out to take a walk, and he found a jar that he thought was full of gold. Marcus had also found a bag that was heavier than he could lift, but he drags it home anyway. When he opens to bag he discovers something disgusting…
Game Over: A creepy character named Nemesis is trying to kill Luke, who plays video games and lives in his basement. At night, Luke hears voices telling him to hide. He goes to the basement and a creature knocks him out. He ends up as a character in his gruesome game.
Bracelet of Resurrection: A boy named Josh loses his best friend to a freak accident. He finds the other half of a bracelet he gave his friend that day. He hangs on to it until one night the bracelet brings his best friend back to life.
The Ghost Writer: Write a story titled, The Ghost Writer. Write about the ghost of someone who haunts you.
Eternal Specter: Write a scary ghost story about a man who is cursed to spend eternity as a ghost.
Hidden World: A boy named Brody is having problems adjusting to life in his new home after his parents divorced. He tries to see his dad, but they don’t want him around. One day he discovers a secret passage to a hidden underground world where his father now lives.
Stuttering Shadows: A story about a young man named Kenny, who works as a garbage man. He also has a terrible stuttering problem that he has to deal with. One day he discovers that his stuttering is getting worse and worse and he becomes scared to death because of it. He thinks that the talking squirrel next to him is a demon.
Haunted Corner: Write a story about an object in your room that becomes haunted.
Ghostly Deception: A boy named Bryce has been hiding out from his abusive father. One day his father is gone and his dad’s new girlfriend walks into the house. He thinks it’s the ghost of his dead mother. The ghost shows him that his dad’s new girlfriend has been lying to him about how his birth mother died.
Trapped in Terror: A young boy named Spencer and his sister Sarah, are on a camping trip when they find a box of mysterious objects. When they open it, one of the items shoots at them, striking Sarah and trapping her in a pod inside a tree. While locked inside the tree, Sarah meets an evil doll named Alice.
Possessed Playtime: A young girl named Cassandra is babysitting her neighbour’s two kids. One day the kids eat some forbidden foods and a demon spirit possesses one of the kids and turns him into an evil creature who haunts the neighbourhood.
Eyes of the Bunny: A little girl named Hayley discovers a secret house that no one in the neighbourhood knows about, and is welcomed inside by a red-eyed white bunny. One day when Hayley goes to a party, her newfound friend kidnaps her and traps her inside this mysterious house.
Eternal Echo: Write a horror story about a horrible accident or a nightmare that has haunted you your whole life.
Drowning Destiny: A boy named Joshua falls into a river and is about to drown when he gets rescued by a beautiful mermaid. She tells him that he will die the next day because that is his destiny.
Keys of Madness: A young boy named Alex finds a set of glowing door keys and uses them to enter a huge abandoned mansion. When he explores the mansion, he is visited by a dark spirit who attacks him and drives him insane.
Alien Abduction: A boy named Sam wakes up one day to find that his parents have been missing for over a year. The day he discovers them, they tell him that he was kidnapped by aliens, and they built an experimental human brainwashing machine.
Dreams of Stella: A young boy named Toby starts having strange dreams of a girl named Stella. One day, he sees Stella when he’s on a roller coaster, but it turns out to be a ghost who is trying to take over his mind.
Eye of the Leaf: A little boy named Ben is playing outside one day when he finds a strange leaf. When he picks it up, it turns into a leaf with a red eye and starts to follow him.
Vengeful Spirit: Write a horror story about a ghost who just wants to kill the person who called him a monster when he was alive.
Nightmare Adoption: A young girl named Annabelle is adopted by a family that lives in a very old house. One day when is playing outside, she is kidnapped by a scary man named the Nightman.
Stuffed Shadows: A young boy named Jack gets lost in the woods and finds an old abandoned house. He enters the house and finds a huge stuffed animal. When he touches it, it wakes up and attacks him.
Depths of Fear: Imagine your worst fear and write a scary story about it.
A Rude Awakening: Write a horror story titled, A Rude Awakening. What would you do if you woke up in a place that you weren’t familiar with?
The Mysterious Case: What happens when someone goes missing and no one knows where they’ve gone?
Dreamstalker : Write about a monster that might be stalking you in your dreams.
Write a story titled, When The Wind Blows. This story could be about a sudden change in weather that comes with a new problem.
Mirror Demon: Continue the following story: Suddenly, the demon in the mirror reappeared and she began to scream.
Doctor’s Dread: When the doctor gave her the news, she screamed out loud and ran in circles.
Safekeeping Shadows: In her final hours, she told me to be thankful that I had done my best to keep her safe. That I had made sure no evil would ever hurt her again.
Camping Secrets: Continue the following horror story: As I was growing up, every year our family went camping in the woods. My grandfather passed away a few years ago. He was a rich man, and I wanted to visit his grave at the cemetery.
Forest of Shadows: While walking around the forest, I came across a monstrous-looking creature. I was scared and ran back home. The next day, I decided to go back and see what the monster was doing.
Echoes of Dread: Write down your biggest fear. And then write a story based on this fear.
Silent Stalker: When I looked in her file I saw that she had gotten five serious stab wounds. But, I could not see any sign of her attacker. Her wounds were all over her body and all over her arms.
Arachnid Terror: After discovering that a spider was sleeping in her bed, a young girl named Amy screams and runs away, locking herself in the bathroom.
Electric Fury: A scientific team is doing research on electricity. They find a very strong cell that could create many things when it is exposed to electricity. Suddenly the electricity static comes alive. It gets angry and attacks the scientists.
Imaginary Friend: A little girl named Amber loves to play with her new imaginary friend. She calls him “Giant” and she makes up stories about him. She believes that he is her friend for real.
Melting Nightmare: Continue the following story: As it continued attacking, it even caused my teeth to start to melt off of my jaw. My skin would start to burn, and my hair would become brown.
Friday Night Terrors: It’s Friday. The TV is on, and you are wide awake. As you lie there listening, you begin to feel tired. And just as your eyes begin to close, you hear a creak of the floorboards. Your eyes snap open. What you see scares the living hell out of you.
Blood Dawn: You wake up one morning to find your entire body covered in blood. What do you do?
Room of Despair: How would you react if you were locked in a room and told you could never leave?
Haunting Memoirs: What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? Can you explain this in great detail?
Chilling Chronicles: Make a top ten list of the creepiest books or stories you have ever read.
The Gruesome Creation: Describe the most gruesome and disgusting creature you can imagine.
Zoo’s Menace: Write a horror story where there is a threat of animals getting out of the zoo.
Red-Eyed Pursuit: Continue the following starter: A red-eyed man of tall and dark build looms over a bus stop on a lonely, deserted country road, staring at me intently. I run like hell to get to the other side of the street, but it’s too late…
Homebound Horror: A strange animal has been following you through your home. Have you been doing anything strange or dangerous that has made it freak out?
Midnight Messages: Someone is leaving you messages in the dead of night. What’s the creepiest message you’ve received?
Ghostly Watcher: Create a ghost story about a creature that watches and waits in the corners of dark, abandoned places.
Jack and Jill’s Nightmare: Jack and Jill went up the hill, but they never came back down. Will they ever make it to the bottom? Write a horror story based on this idea.
Dark Secrets: The history of your town has a long dark secret that nobody wants to talk about. What is it?
Mutated Reality: Reality show participants get kidnapped and sent on a dangerous mission, where they must learn how to blend with mutated creatures.
Beastly Intrusion: In a small community in Japan, a supernatural force enters the community through a sewer. To beat it, the village must learn to work as a team and think like a beast.
School of Shadows: School kids don’t believe in ghosts until they’re suddenly being terrorised in their school at night.
Vampiric Genesis: Someone is using a contaminated strain of bat DNA to create vampires in real life. And it’s up to a group of scientists to put an end to it.
Promised Souls: The dead walk, and all they want to do is get what they were promised. Will you figure it out?
Spellbound Silence: An aspiring rapper, who always dreamed of singing in front of an adoring crowd, becomes the target of a spell that makes him unable to sing, his most cherished talent. Will he survive the consequences of his initial desire to be a star?
Mirror Man: Continue this story: You look into the mirror and see a man in black standing in the corner…
Cryptic Chronicles: Imagine that you stumble upon a really creepy story in your local library and it leads you on a very strange and frightening journey.
Lost in a Strange World: When night falls, people get teleported to an area far away, in a very different world! The only way to return home is by combining body parts with the different elements of the land.
Wicked Takeover: A small town gets taken over by a wicked witch, who’s on a mission to suck the souls of all the inhabitants.
Soul Seeker: When someone posts an ad online about finding a soul and bringing it home for a price, things get really interesting.
Human and Beast: What would happen if human DNA was spliced with that of a deadly monster?
Unknown Beyond: A guy receives an advance warning from his friends in the afterlife to get ready for the afterlife, or something worse may happen…
Death’s Present: A girl gets a letter that someone wants to give her a present before they die, but the present comes with a very specific clause. What happens when she follows the instructions?
Dark Diary: As a local woman is trying to recover from the death of her husband, she discovers an old diary, in which she discovers something that happened in her past that has led to events that followed.
Christmas Carnage: It’s beginning to look like Christmas! But there’s more to Christmas than Santa and presents. A deadly secret is hidden away in a child’s bedroom. And with a massive killer about to make an appearance, it’s a race against time to track him down.
Empire of Evil: A ship sets sail for the distant colony of the Empire, but its mission becomes a mission to find the source of evil.
Hell Town: Using a sinister new machine, a small-town mayor is convinced to turn his town into a hell-like world.
Wild Dogs: A group of four friends are lured into an abandoned house by a pack of wild dogs.
I Went To A Party: Complete the following sentence in three different spooky ways: I went to a party and…
Sea’s Claw: The captain was anxious to get home, but the sea was so rough that his ship could not make it. Suddenly, from the fog, a giant black claw appeared. The giant black claw grabbed the ship and then brought the ship to the bottom of the ocean.
Dybylu’s Awakening: A monster named Dybylu wakes up one morning, alone in her room. She can feel it in the air; her pet cat is afraid. She goes to look in the mirror and see’s a human staring back at her.
Murdered Spirit: A little boy is asked to help a spirit of a man who was murdered, but as he hears the story, it sounds weird and a bit confusing, and he begins to wonder if the story is even true.
Playground Horrors: In a playground near an orphanage, there are many playgrounds where kids play. The best playground is found next to an abandoned asylum.
Barn Cat’s Secret: A drifter named Mick goes to a farm with his friend Sam, and the owner of the farm is a creepy scientist. Mick climbs a barn ladder and sees a strange cat in there…
Cape Creature: A sweet girl named Annie and her sister, Charley, are having an adventure in their neighbourhood. Suddenly, Annie spots a strange black cape creature lurking in the distance. It was the most feared and horrible creature Annie has ever seen.
Island of Souls: The main character goes to an island that no one has visited before. He is enjoying his vacation, but one night he finds out that his home is being invaded by creatures who want to steal his soul.
Spookie’s Nightmares: A witch known as ‘Spookie’ causes horrible hallucinations to victims of her nightmares. Her victims can’t scream or cry or run. All they can do is panic.
Stick’s Mischief: A girl named Paige finds a stick that attracts a mysterious creature that will play a sick joke on her.
Black Blood: One day, a girl named Robin started having problems in school. Her parents, who are very smart and caring, see something is very wrong with Robin so they take her to the doctor. The doctor makes her go through a lot of tests, and everything is okay except for one last thing. Robin has black blood running through her veins.
Mirror’s Curse: A teenage girl named Sarah who is obsessed with her appearance starts turning into an old, ugly witch every time she looks into a mirror.
Bee Killer: When bees start dying suddenly out of nowhere, the lead detective in a bee colony must find the culprit.
Demon’s Puzzle: A strange jigsaw puzzle holds a horrific secret… In it, a grinning demon holds a girl’s head in its giant mouth.
Forbidden Drawing: A little boy sees a drawing of him in a forbidden book he had found. He is then transported to a never-ending forest, lost forever…
When the Past Comes Back: An adult is being haunted by their younger self.
Beast of the Woods: A reporter goes into the woods where there was a fierce animal attack. In this attack, five women and a little boy were killed. He decides to search for evidence on who this killer creature might be…
Letters of London: A man lives by himself in a flat in London. A mysterious person starts sending him letters which talk about how scary things will happen if he doesn’t leave his flat.
The Ghost in Her Friend’s Mother: A 7 year old girl is having a sleepover at her friend’s house. Her friend’s mom leaves them alone, but they soon find out that she was poisoned, and that a ghost has taken over her body.
Creepy Crawlies in Your Kitchen: The first animal the kids see is a snake that eats people’s brains. It sneaks around in people’s kitchens.
Revolving Nightmares: The story starts off with a character telling the readers about the night he and his parents got stuck in a revolving door. The night would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Tommy’s Window: A long time ago there was a man named Tommy, who was lost in a forest. Tommy thought he heard a ghost calling him. Tommy went in the direction of the noise and found a scary-looking house that has windows that never opened. Tommy finds out that the house belongs to a witch and that if he opens the windows, the witch will turn Tommy into a puppet.
Tommy the Dog: This is a story about a little boy and his dog. The little boy goes to a big park, and he sees a dog that is alone. He walks over to the dog, but it just barks and then runs away. The next day Tommy starts turning into a human-sized dog.

Fear no more! Just use this list of horror writing prompts to start writing your own fantastic horror story! Use any of these scary prompt ideas to take the story from your mind to your computer screen.

Looking for more creepy horror prompts? Check out this list of Halloween writing prompts , as well as this scary Halloween picture prompts .

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the 5 elements of a horror story.

Every good horror story contains the following five elements: Character, Setting, Action, Horror and Resolution. You can’t write a good horror without these elements.

How do you write in creepy writing?

To write in creepy writing, you need to immerse yourself in the world of horror. You think to think exactly like your main character or antagonist. Imagine yourself as a ghost, a demon, a monster, or a murderer. You can be a ghost who haunts people in their dreams or a monster who stalks them in the real world. Use extreme details to describe scenes of horror with gory and disgusting elements.

How do you get inspiration for horror?

Most horror stories are based on fear. Think about the things that scare you or haunt you in your nightmares. You can also get inspiration from watching scary movies or reading about scary stories. Finally, horror stories can also be inspired by real-life situations. For example, a girl who is bullied decides to take revenge on her bullies in a gruesome way. Of course, you can also use this list of horror writing prompts to inspire you too!

What are common horror themes?

Horror themes can be based on personal experiences, fears, or nightmares. Here are some common horror themes to explore:

Stalker: Someone who stalks you in your dreams or in the real world.
Monsters: Someone or something who appears to be human, but isn’t.
Revenge: Someone who is still haunted by a past event, and needs to seek revenge to overcome it.
Secrets: A deadly secret that could shake the lives of anyone involved.
Psychopaths: People who just kill or hurt others for the fun of it.

Did you find this list of over 110 horror writing prompts useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

Comments loading...

Additional Resources
A List of Writing Contests in 2022 | Exciting Prizes!
Em Dash vs. En Dash vs. Hyphen: When to Use Which
Book Proofreading 101: The Beginner’s Guide
Screenplay Editing: Importance, Cost, & Self-Editing Tips
Screenplay Proofreading: Importance, Process, & Cost
Script Proofreading: Rates, Process, & Proofreading Tips
Manuscript Proofreading | Definition, Process & Standard Rates
14 Punctuation Marks: Examples & Free Guide on How to Use
Tips to Write Better if English Is Your Second Language
Novel Proofreading | Definition, Significance & Standard Rates
The Top 10 Literary Devices: Definitions & Examples

Top 101 Bone-Chilling Horror Writing Prompts

Top 10 Must-Try Writing Prompt Generators in 2024
100+ Creative Writing Prompts for Masterful Storytelling
Best 101 Greatest Fictional Characters of All Time
Top 10 eBook Creator Tools in 2024: Free & Paid
50 Timeless and Unforgettable Book Covers of All Time
What Is Flash Fiction? Definition, Examples & Types
Discover the Best Book Review Sites of 2024: Top 10 Picks
80 Enchanting Christmas Writing Prompts for Your Next Story

Your Guide to the Best eBook Readers in 2024

Top 10 Book Review Clubs of 2024 to Share Literary Insights
2024’s Top 10 Self-Help Books for Better Living
Writing Contests 2023: Cash Prizes, Free Entries, & More!
Top 10 Book Writing Apps of 2024: Free & Paid!
Top 10 Book Marketing Services of 2024: Features and Costs
10 Best Book Publishing Companies in 2024
What Is a Book Teaser and How to Write It: Tips and Examples
Audiobook vs. EBook vs. Paperback in 2024: (Pros & Cons)
Top 10 Book Writing Software, Websites, and Tools in 2024
How to Get a Literary Agent in 2024: The Complete Guide
An Easy Guide to the Best Fonts & Font Sizes for Your Book
Top 10 Book Promotion Services for 2024’s Authors
Alpha Readers: Where to Find Them and Alpha vs. Beta Readers
Author Branding 101: How to Build a Powerful Author Brand
How to Write a Book Report | Steps, Examples & Free Template
A Guide on How to Write a Book Synopsis: Steps and Examples
How to Write a Book Review (Meaning, Tips & Examples)
Book Title Generators: Top 10 Book Name Generators of 2024
50 Top Literary Agents in the USA for Authors in 2024
Building an Author Website: The Ultimate Guide with Examples
Top 10 Book Printing Services for Authors in 2024
10 Best Free Online Grammar Checkers: Features and Ratings
How to Write a Poem: Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Poetry
What Is a Poem? Poetry Definition, Elements, & Examples
2024’s 10 Best Paraphrasing Tools for All (Free & Paid)
Top 10 AI Detector Tools in 2024 (Free & Paid)
Top 10 Book Editing Software in 2024 (Free & Paid)
What Is an Adverb? Definition, Types, Differences & Examples
What Are Large Language Models and How They Work: Explained!
What Is an Adjective? Definition, Usage & Examples
Top 10 Hardcover Book Printing Services [2024 Update]
15 Types of Poems Everyone Should Know About
2024’s Top 10 Setting Generators to Create Unique Settings
Different Types of Characters in Stories That Steal the Show
Top 10 Screenplay & Scriptwriting Software (Free & Paid)
10 Best AI Text Generators of 2024: Pros, Cons, and Prices
Top 10 Must-Try Character Name Generators in 2024
How to Track Changes in Google Docs: A 7-Step Guide
10 Best AI Text Summarizers in 2024 (Free & Paid)
2024’s 10 Best Punctuation Checkers for Error-Free Text
Top 10 AI Humanizers of 2024 [Free & Paid Tools]
Top 10 AI Rewriters for Perfect Text in 2024 (Free & Paid)
10 Best Plot Generators for Powerful Storytelling in 2024
11 Best Story Structures for Writers (+ Examples!)
Writing Contests 2024: Cash Prizes & Free Entries!
How to Write a Book with AI in 2024 (Free & Paid Tools)
Pre-Publishing Steps
Book Cover Design: An Introduction
What is a Book Copyright Page?
8 Pre-Publishing Steps to Self-Publish Your Book
7 Essential Elements of a Book Cover Design
How to Copyright Your Book in the US, UK, & India
How to Format a Book in 2024: 7 Tips for Print & EBooks
Beta Readers: Why You Should Know About Them in 2024
How to Publish a Book in 2024: A Beginners’ Guide
ISBN Guide 2024: What Is an ISBN and How to Get an ISBN
Self Publishing Guide
How to Hire a Book Editor in 5 Practical Steps
Self-Publishing Options for Writers
How to Promote Your Book Using a Goodreads Author Page
What Makes Typesetting a Pre-Publishing Essential for Every Author?
4 Online Publishing Platforms To Boost Your Readership
How to Find the Perfect Book Editor for Your Manuscript
Typesetting: An Introduction
Quick Guide to Novel Editing (with a Self-Editing Checklist)
Quick Guide to Book Editing [Complete Process & Standard Rates]
10 Best Self-Publishing Companies of 2024: Price & Royalties
Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: 2024 Guide
How to Publish a Book on Amazon: 8 Easy Steps [2024 Update]
10 Best Book Cover Design Services of 2024: Price & Ratings
A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing a Book in 2024
Learn How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book in 2024
What are Print-on-Demand Books? Cost and Process in 2024
What Are the Standard Book Sizes for Publishing Your Book?
Top 10 EBook Conversion Services for 2024’s Authors
How to Copyright a Book in 2024 (Costs + Free Template)
How to Market Your Book on Amazon to Maximize Sales in 2024
What Is Amazon Self-Publishing? Pros, Cons & Key Insights
Manuscript Editing in 2024: Elevating Your Writing for Success
Know Everything About How to Make an Audiobook
Traditional Publishing
How to start your own online publishing company?
8 Tips To Write Appealing Query Letters
How to Write a Query Letter (Examples + Free Template)
Third-person Point of View: Definition, Types, Examples

Writing Tips

How to Create Depth in Characters
Starting Your Book With a Bang: Ways to Catch Readers’ Attention
How to Write a Powerful Plot in 12 Steps
Research for Fiction Writers: A Complete Guide
Short stories: Do’s and don’ts
How to Write Dialogue: 7 Rules, 5 Tips & 65 Examples
How to Write a Novel in Past Tense? 3 Steps & Examples
What Are Foil and Stock Characters? Easy Examples from Harry Potter
How To Write Better Letters In Your Novel
On Being Tense About Tense: What Verb Tense To Write Your Novel In
How To Create A Stellar Plot Outline
How to Punctuate Dialogue in Fiction
On Being Tense about Tense: Present Tense Narratives in Novels
The Essential Guide to Worldbuilding [from Book Editors]
What Is Point of View: 1st, 2nd & 3rd POV with Examples
How to Create Powerful Conflict in Your Story | Useful Examples
How to Write a Book: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to Write a Short Story: 6 Steps & Examples
How To Craft a Murder Mystery Story
How to Write a Novel: 8 Steps to Help You Start Writing
What Is a Stock Character? 150 Examples from 5 Genres
How to Write a Children’s Book: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide
Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey: Worksheet & Examples
Novel Outline: A Proven Blueprint [+ Free Template!]
Character Development: 7-Step Guide for Writers
Foil Character: Definition, History, & Examples
What Is NaNoWriMo? Top 7 Tips to Ace the Writing Marathon
What Is the Setting of a Story? Meaning + 7 Expert Tips
Theme of a Story | Meaning, Common Themes & Examples
5 Elements of a Short Story & 6 Stages of a Plot
What Is a Blurb? Meaning, Examples & 10 Expert Tips
What Is Show, Don’t Tell? (Meaning, Examples & 6 Tips)
How to Write a Book Summary: Example, Tips, & Bonus Section
How to Write a Book Description (Examples + Free Template)
10 Best Free AI Resume Builders to Create the Perfect CV
A Complete Guide on How to Use ChatGPT to Write a Resume
10 Best AI Writer Tools Every Writer Should Know About
15 Best ATS-Friendly ChatGPT Prompts for Resumes in 2024
How to Write a Book Title (15 Expert Tips + Examples)
The 10 Best AI Story Generators: Features, Usage & Benefits
100 Novel and Book Ideas to Start Your Book Writing Journey
Exploring Writing Styles: Meaning, Types, and Examples
Mastering Professional Email Writing: Steps, Tips & Examples
How to Write a Screenplay: Expert Tips, Steps, and Examples
Business Proposal Guide: How to Write, Examples and Template
Different Types of Resumes: Explained with Tips and Examples
How to Create a Memorable Protagonist (7 Expert Tips)
How to Write an Antagonist (Examples & 7 Expert Tips)

Writing for the Web: 7 Expert Tips for Web Content Writing

What are the Parts of a Sentence? An Easy-to-Learn Guide
How to Avoid AI Detection in 2024 (6 Proven Techniques!)
How to Avoid Plagiarism in 2024 (10 Effective Strategies!)
10 Best Spell Checkers of 2024: Features, Accuracy & Ranking
What Is Climax Of A Story & How To Craft A Gripping Climax
What Is a Subject of a Sentence? Meaning, Examples & Types
Object of a Sentence: Your Comprehensive Guide
First-person Point of View: What Is It and Examples
Second-person Point of View: What Is It and Examples
10 Best AI Essay Outline Generators of 2024

Still have questions? Leave a comment

Add Comment

Checklist: Dissertation Proposal

Enter your email id to get the downloadable right in your inbox!

Examples: Edited Papers

Need editing and proofreading services.

Tags: Fiction , Fiction Writing , Short Story

If you love writing scary stories, this article is for you! Dive in to discover the best 101 horror writing prompts for your next masterpiece. From creepy ghost story ideas to supernatural horror, we’ve covered everything for you.

For Halloween enthusiasts, we have also added a special section of horror story prompts. You can use these prompts for horror stories to craft suspenseful and engaging stories. So let’s get started!

Perfect your spine-chilling tale! Learn more

Horror writing prompts

1) You are accused of beating a man but you have no memory of the incident. You start hearing voices in your head and realize that evil spirits have entered your body.

2) A psychologist suggests a new therapy to a patient after which the patient starts getting scary nightmares.

3) A man insults a circus clown after which the clown commits suicide. The clown’s ghost now haunts the man.

4) A hunter sees a blood-sucking vampire in Albanian forests and flees to save his life.

5) A volcano erupts near the Pacific Ocean and releases a wicked force living at the bottom of the volcano.

6) A girl finds an ancient key and unlocks a box, releasing 20 monsters who had been imprisoned for 500 years.

7) A mother purchases an ancient dollhouse with Chinese dolls for her daughter and realizes that the dolls are haunted by cursed spirits.

8) A strong current pulls a fisherman into the ocean’s deep waters. The fisherman sees a ship and manages to climb into it, only to realize that it is a phantom ship.

9) A boy is followed by the shadow of death everywhere, leading to death wherever he goes.

10) A gardener finds an ancient telephone while digging in the garden and accidentally contacts aliens using that telephone.

11) An explorer discovers a cave and sees a banshee living in the cave. The banshee traps him in the cave.

12) A child breaks a magical snow globe and hears screams. Suddenly there is heavy snowfall and hailstones begin falling hard from the sky.

13) A priest opens a locked room in a church and releases ghosts of dead scientists who want revenge.

14) A thick fog suddenly envelops a tiny village and a wicked witch who feeds on sorrow enters the village. She enchants dead bodies and makes them obey her commands.

15) A girl starts getting dreams of what will happen in her future. To her horror, every dream comes true and she must act before the dream of her death becomes reality.

16) A drunk man throws a stone in the dark and urinates near a tree where a zombie lives. The angry zombie tortures the man.

17) A poacher is haunted by the spirits of animals whose skin he has sold.

18) A woman takes a free lift from a man who is a demon in disguise. Attracted to her, the demon takes her to the land of demons.

19) A museum adds a new artifact to its collection without realizing that the object is cursed and belongs to an ancient tribe. Angry, the tribe performs black magic on all the museum’s employees who must face torture till the artifact is returned to its rightful owners.

20) A girl befriends a stranger on a train who hypnotizes her and she is forced to obey him.

Three ghosts are near a spooky castle on the outskirts of a forest.

21) A librarian sees a young girl who was supposed to have died in 1913. The young girl asks for the librarian’s help to take revenge against a powerful man. When the librarian refuses, the angry girl unleashes horror into the librarian’s life. The librarian begins seeing blood on the walls and hears creaking sounds, scary footsteps, and a hand that reaches out to kill her.

22) A businessman doesn’t honor the promise he made to a poor man. He suddenly realizes that all the bad incidents that the poor man experienced are now happening to him.

23) One day, you wake up and begin to hear the thoughts of trees, plants, and animals, and echoes start haunting you wherever you go.

24) A government employee visits an orphanage for a survey and finds out how every child is controlled by a satanic cult.

25) A crazy and gifted musician creates an eerie tune that enchants and forces people to kill other people.

26) A group of friends is separated due to a landslide and finds themselves in parallel universes due to the mistake of an inexperienced sorcerer.

27) You enter an abandoned house and the door slams shut on its own. You realize that you are trapped in that house and see a strange yellow light.

28) You find a key to a magical land of history and a dragon follows you from the historical land to the earth.

29) An actress is kidnapped by a witch who wishes to manipulate her and control the world.

30) An investigator who tries to find out the truth behind a college student’s murder realizes that the boy invoked supernatural forces before dying. Now, the investigator must stop the supernatural forces from killing him and other humans.

31) A scientist discovers a door to the land of memories and accidentally damages the memory of his identity, forgetting everything he knows about himself.

32) A boy is cruel to a rat and other rats angry at his cruelty, drag him inside a big black hole.

33) A bed bug sucks the blood of a magical witch and starts growing larger.

34) A magician has the rare gift of bringing dead people in paintings to life. Chaos spreads after the magician brings Hitler to life by working magic on a painting.

35) A horrible black monster steps out of the Atlantic Ocean and begins eating everything it sees.

36) A teacher finds an old coat that belonged to a demon in the past. Every time he checks the coat pocket, he reads news of people dying. Hours after he reads the notes, the people mentioned in the notes die and blood spots keep appearing on the coat.

37) A beggar walking close to a forest finds a trail of notes and happily picks them up. Later, he realizes that the notes belonged to wedding guests who died in an accident. The ghosts of the wedding guests notice that he has picked up the notes and haunt him.

39) A sorceress trapped in an enchanted mirror manages to control a young girl who pulls her out of the mirror.

40) A team of psychic youths is hired to find and fight a ruthless demon who feeds on despair. They must make a terrible sacrifice to prevent the demon from knowing their darkest secrets.

41) A lady discovers an old well near the flat she is renting. She peeps to see what is inside the well and a half-human, half-animal hand grasps her neck.

42) A journalist arrives at her flat and finds a scary message written in red ink on her mirror. The message reads,”‘I’m coming for you!” and somebody has drawn a smiling face with red ink on the mirror.

43) An angel is given the task of saving the world from a deadly plague. An army of tiny demon bacteria fight the angel and try to force him to go back.

44) A man desperately tries to remove his car which is stuck in a swamp. Suddenly, he sees a muddy, ugly, hairy creature raise its head from the swamp.

45) A camper suddenly sees a little girl sleepwalking with an evil smile on her face and blue sparks flying from her hands.

47) Imagine that Pandora has a human heir called Nymphadora who opens a box she discovers. Tiny creatures that have feelers like needles step out of the box and make an attempt to stop time and the wheel of destiny.

48) You wake up and discover that you are 40 years old whereas the day before, you were just 19.

49) A couple who are hiking enter a village where no one speaks and everyone has pale yellow eyes.

50) A traveler accepts a drink from a tribal and after drinking it, falls into a deep sleep. The next day he realizes that he is in a large cage with animals and the tribals are dancing around the cage.

51) You’re attending a masquerade party in a snowy area where everyone is dressed as animals You see a large, hairy, ape-like animal and recognize that it’s a real Yeti. The Yeti, realizing that you know his true identity wants to kill you.

52) A wicked group of vampires land on Earth with a mission to kill all humans and settle on Earth. They enter your house and want to kill you and your family.

53) A couple has rented a room in a palace to spend the night. While using the elevator, the elevator suddenly stops midway, the light starts flickering and the couple hears screams.

54) An archaeologist discovers a document about cursed gold and becomes obsessed with finding the gold. His quest leads him to the cave where a wicked witch lives.

55) You discover an ancient diary that contains strange incantations. When you read them aloud, Satan appears.

56) An evil spirit enters a city and all dogs start barking without stopping. A dark shadow gradually dims all lights in the city.

57) An injured man finds an old, abandoned clinic and enters the clinic, hoping for treatment. He is confronted by a zombie who has made the clinic its home.

58) A boy presses a magical button that makes him travel in time. Unfortunately, he chooses the wrong time portal and lands in an insane asylum.

59) You see the face of a werewolf at your window’s glass. The werewolf breaks the glass and you have a few seconds to escape.

60) A boy finds a strange red device with a black button in the mud. The boy presses the button upon which, the people who are alive die immediately and dead people start coming to life.

Continue reading to get inspired by our special section of scary story prompts. Browse exciting prompts for horror stories from various genres like dark fantasy, psychological horror, and more!

Scary story prompts

61) Strange things happen to a teenager after he performed planchette with a group of friends for fun. His car stops working, the bus he travels from gets punctured and he is unable to return home.

62) A scientist invents a potion to restore his youth. However, he makes a mistake while adding an ingredient to the potion. Hence, when he drinks the potion, his skin grows deformed, with white patches and thick fur.

63) A horse rider discovers bones in an old stable. When he tries to burn the bones, the bones surprisingly do not burn. Instead, a thick white fog suddenly envelops the stable, and evil spirits emerge from the bones.

64) A sorcerer blurs the difference between dreams and reality. You can’t understand whether you are in a dream or what is happening is real.

65) A woman opens the door and finds a woman claiming to be her aunt. She also shows photographs as proof and the woman allows her ‘aunt’ to enter the house. The aunt then gives the woman a strong potion, drinking and the woman falls into a deep sleep. When the woman wakes up, she realizes that she is in the netherworld and sees beings with no light in their eyes.

A scary airborne doll is staring eerily.

66) An alpine skier has a terrible fall from a mountain. A group of nomads see her and forcibly take her to an old temple. They slit her leg with a knife and perform a strange ritual.

67) The last living witch on earth brings a puppet to life. The puppet sucks out all the magic out of the witch and becomes stronger. It uses its power to block the sunlight and kills humans in the dark as a sport.

68) A researcher finds out about a rare tribe that can make themselves invisible and travel with lightning speed. While trying to find the tribe’s descendants, she suddenly is face to face with their guardian who tries to kill her.

69) You enter a house where a psychic man has been staying in secret. When you confront the man, he uses his mind power to enchant all metallic objects, make them airborne, and position them to attack you.

70) You come across a rare animal that can change its shape at will. To your horror, it suddenly changes its shape to look like you and tries to kill you.

71) A boy returns to his remote village after a long time and realizes that all villagers are hypnotized and have black marks on their hands.

72) A lady never invites guests to her house and rarely ventures out of her house. A detective realizes that the lady’s life is manipulated by a cat who is a witch in disguise. The detective must save himself and the lady from the wicked cat.

73) A man finds tapes that his girlfriend gave him before she died. He hears an eerie screeching sound in the background when he plays the tapes. To his horror, he hears the same screeching sound and scary footsteps after he stops playing the tapes.

74) A student finds a hit list of people who will soon be killed. The list was created by a demon in disguise. The demon kidnaps the student to prevent him from telling anyone the truth.

75) A girl hires a tutor to learn Japanese. One day, she realizes that her Japanese teacher transforms into a werewolf every full moon.

76) A journalist finds out about a mysterious spaceship that landed on earth. Suddenly, he has terrible accidents and an invisible force tries to kill him.

77) A 12-year-old child sees a mysterious violet light streak across the sky. Whenever the light shines, somebody dies.

78) An intruder touches an electric fence and is jolted by a strong current. Before his eyes close, he sees an ugly ghoul looking at him.

79) A historian finds out about a rare voodoo practitioner who is the last of an ancient, mystic tribe. He arrives at the voodoo practitioner’s hut only to find the place ransacked and the voodoo practitioner gone. He suddenly sees ghosts floating in the air and hears a grandfather clock laugh menacingly.

80) You meet a strange old man who can read your thoughts and easily manipulate everyone around you.

Now let’s see some scary story writing prompts about Halloween!

Halloween horror prompts

81) Vampires gatecrash a Halloween party and terrified guests are unable to escape.

82) A group of friends decided to have a scavenger hunt on Halloween. Suddenly, all the friends disappear one by one.

83) A giant wakes up from a deep sleep on Halloween and stamps his foot in rage. This leads to an earthquake and all guests at the Halloween party are in danger.

84) You realize that all the incidents you read from a scary Halloween story are happening in real life.

85) You hear an eerie tune on Halloween night and wake up in fright. Suddenly, you see the face of a big black bear outside your window.

86) You accept a dare to visit a haunted house on Halloween. Suddenly, you hear screams and utensils falling in the haunted house.

87) A family decides to punish their extremely naughty son and not celebrate Halloween. On Halloween night, the parents leave home due to an emergency, leaving their naughty son alone at home.

88) A group of friends decide to sleep at a graveyard for fun on Halloween. Suddenly, they see ghosts emerging from the tombstones.

89) A tailor who makes costumes for Halloween is kidnapped by witches who want to have their own Halloween party.

90) Write a short story on Halloween using the words phantom, nightmare, banshee, and voodoo.

An angry zombie is preparing to attack a man.

91) A crazy scientist challenges a colleague on Halloween to drink a potion that he has created for an experiment. The colleague drinks the potion and starts shrinking.

92) A witch enchants the pumpkins that will be carved for Halloween. When guests try to carve the pumpkins, blood starts oozing from the pumpkins.

93) A boy befriends an alien who wants to celebrate Halloween. When the alien arrives at the Halloween horror costume party, it gets scared and starts attacking everyone.

94) A girl insults a tarot reader who makes a terrible prediction about her on Halloween. She continuously experiences bad luck, has an accident, and wakes up in the hospital. She realizes that she has forgotten her identity.

95) A man befriends a she-banshee on Halloween who grows extremely possessive about the man. Whenever anyone touches the man, the banshee kills him.

96) A serial killer enters a Halloween party and his next target is you.

97) A group of friends enter a horror maze to celebrate Halloween and are trapped inside the maze. Suddenly, they are confronted by a real ghost who grins wickedly at them.

98) A ghost in your house attracts the presence of animals on Halloween. All animals begin entering your house and you are forced to leave your house.

99) You are a part of a ghost-buster team. You are given the secret task of capturing a dangerous ghost from a Halloween party. The dangerous ghost recognizes you, tries to kill you, and gets very violent.

100) You meet a stranger at a costume party at a neighbor’s house for Halloween. Suddenly, the stranger touches you and whispers strange words in an unknown language. You are transported to an eerie land of spirits, ghouls, trolls, banshees, and zombies.

101) You are hiking with a group of friends on Halloween. You see a black castle floating in the air. A ladder on the ground is positioned, leading to the door of the castle. You and your friend climb the castle and the door slams shut. A wicked dwarf who is the castle’s caretaker tells you that you are trapped forever.

We hope these horror story prompts inspire you to write your next masterpiece. Once you complete working on your scary writing prompts, the next step is to edit your stories. As providers of editing and proofreading services , we’d love to enhance your horror novel!

Here are some other resources that you might find useful:

How to Write a Novel in Past Tense? 3 Steps & Examples
Foil Character: Definition, History, & Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What are horror writing prompts, why use horror writing prompts, how to use a horror writing prompt.

Found this article helpful?

One comment on “ Top 101 Bone-Chilling Horror Writing Prompts ”

I LOVE these!

Your vs. You’re: When to Use Your and You’re

Your Organization Needs a Technical Editor: Here’s Why

A girl is browsing through the best eBook readers like Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Scribe, PocketBook, and more.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

How to Copyright Your Book?

If you’ve thought about copyrighting your book, you’re on the right path.

Terms of service
Privacy policy
Fiction Writing Tips
Dissertation Writing Guide
Essay Writing Guide
Academic Writing and Publishing
Citation and Referencing
Partner with us
Annual report
Website content
Marketing material
Job Applicant
Cover letter
Resource Center
Case studies

notebook, coffee, fall leaves to suggest the best website for writers

BRYN DONOVAN

tell your stories, love your life

Writing Inspiration
Semi-Charmed Life
Reading & Research
Works In Progress.

50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas

If you’re looking for scary story prompts or horror writing ideas, you’ve come to the right place! These are great Halloween writing prompts, and some of these could also be used as suspense story prompts or dark fantasy story ideas.

These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More . The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing.

If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one. And anyway, just remember it’s all nonsense that I made up while I was exercising on the treadmill or sitting in bed.

Some of these are skeletal (ha) plot ideas, while others are images or suggestions. And if you’d like a spooky soundtrack to inspire you, be sure to check out my scary music playlist for writers ! Be sure to pin or bookmark the post for future reference. After all, when autumn rolls around, you might find yourself looking for Halloween writing prompts!

A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.
Frightening events in a small town lead its citizens to dig up the grave of a deceased inhabitant.
Someone gets on the elevator by himself and is never seen by his friends or family again.
The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again.
A collector buys an unpublished manuscript by an obscure writer that describes a terrible historical event a year before it occurred. The collector learns the writer wrote many unpublished stories…
Creating a hybrid of a human and this particular animal turns out to be a bad idea.
A person has the ability to make other people very ill.
The dead walk out of the sea.
An individual begins seeing and hearing from someone who looks just like her – and learns she had a twin who died at birth.
A killer places an advertisement for a willing victim and finds one.
A basement contains jars filled with unusual specimens.
A person finds new photos of herself on her cell phone that she didn’t take.
The spirit of a brutalized slave or prisoner of war wants revenge on his tormentor’s descendants.
A couple vacationing in a remote area begins having the same nightmares.
All of the circus performers were killed in the train wreck.
The television switches to another station of its own accord and plays footage of something horrible that happened long before the technology existed to record it.
A spouse or sibling dies. He or she begins to take over the body of the surviving spouse or sibling.
Weekend adventurers explore a cave and can’t find their way out again. Then they encounter something terrible…
Authorities go through the cluttered apartment of a deceased man who lived alone with no known friends or relatives for decades and find something disturbing.
A group of teenagers trolls everyone else in an online group by telling made-up stories about terrible things they’ve done. Things then get out of hand.
It’s bad luck in the theatre to call the Shakespeare play Macbeth by name, but someone in the company keeps doing it anyway… and the superstition proves true.
Every exhibit in this carnival sideshow is fake. Except this one thing.
An individual develops a terror of water – drinking it, touching it, or even being near it. There’s actually a good reason why.
The grandfather clock starts running backwards.
People in this neighborhood begin having freak accidents that involve normal appliances and machinery, such as blenders, weed whackers, and garage doors.
The cure for a new deadly epidemic is almost scarier than the disease.
He locked the doors and shuttered the windows; it came in through the roof.
A woman is happy when her dead loved one comes back to life… but he’s changed.
This centuries-old beauty secret is effective but horrifying.
A killer toys with his victims by orchestrating a series of false hopes for them.
She wakes up in the middle of the night and runs out to a certain tree.
Tourists on a ghost tour, along with their guide, fall into the hands of an evil presence.
A young woman is impregnated by her handsome new boyfriend, who turns out to be something other than human.
The empty swing is swinging.
A bride on her honeymoon discovers she’s not her new husband’s first wife… not even close.
Long ago, when he was a baby, a man’s parents made an unwise deal in order to bring him back from the dead.
Members of a family or people in a town begin sleepwalking and doing strange things in their sleep.
A young man confesses to a killing that hasn’t happened. The murder he describes takes place while he’s in custody.
Grisly events happen after the arrival of a hypnotist in Victorian London.
An author’s fictional villain stalks him.
Fraternity hazing goes way too far.
It always happens when he’s alone in the car.
A patient in a mental hospital encounters a malevolent ghost, but nobody believes her.
A mother’s young child may or may not be a changeling.
Swarms of insects appear in various places in a town, always followed by an untimely death.
The ghost at the movie theater wants everyone to watch one particular snippet of film.
A child’s imaginary friend starts to cause real trouble.
When putting together a slide show for a wedding or funeral, someone notices that for decades, the same man, dressed in the same fashion, has been appearing in the background of photographs taken in public places.
A politician, religious leader, or celebrity exerts mind control over the will of his or her followers.
The fairy godmother isn’t the good kind of fairy.

Okay, I creeped myself out a little with these spooky writing prompts! If you’re writing a novel and want a step-by-step guide to planning, writing, and editing, be sure to check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts .

5,000 WRITING PROMPTS: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More | BRYN DONOVAN |

Do you have questions or suggestions about horror story ideas? We’d love to hear them in the comments section! And don’t miss future posts about writing. Follow my blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place you can sign up below. Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

a notebook, scissors, pens, paper clips and other school supplies

Discover more from BRYN DONOVAN

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

250 Words of Fear & Terror

A collection of very short horror stories.

Precisely 250-Word Horror Stories

It started as an exercise to create a horror story in precisely 250 words – to spin a tale of evil and malevolence, to send shivers down your spine, and do it in very few words.

Join me on this journey. Prepare for a twist into despair. For who knows what waits in for you in the darkness.

Sample Stories from 250 Words of Fear & Terror

Coffee House Writers

Environment
Relationships
Our Founder
Chief Editors
Testimonials

Paradise Falls: Chapter 27

A life in searches, persian wheels and sugarcane fields, finding joy in nature, the crow’s weighty mission, no more flowers, calling my ancestors, in deep water: chapter 3, the island flamingo: chapter 36, the importance of creativity, paradise falls: chapter 26, intentional joy, karxt: exciting development in schizophrenia treatment, i couldn’t see the moon, star grazers: vega, tara and her uj (uncle john), fibbing the numbers, the red maiden, part twenty-two, in deep water: chapter 2, southern ways – part 10, storm drain: a 500 word horror story.

The early summer rainstorm ceased. But, dark clouds remained and hovered above the sparsely populated street. Rainwater trickled into the storm drain below and lured the brown, slimy creature to the surface. Overcast skies and rain-drenched surface created the perfect environment for the underground creature. Conditions were ideal for it to go in search of a meal. It seeped out through a small crevice between the road and the round drain cap.

The sinister blob slithered down the deserted street and headed toward the nearest home. It glided across the dampened pavement with an eerie silence. Driven by hunger, the brown goo then drifted onto the wet grass where it devoured pill bugs and worms. The mysterious mass lacked a mouth, so it absorbed things through its gelatinous skin.

As it neared the solitary house, it sensed large sources of food and quickened its pace. The blob slithered into the backyard, inched its way up the steps, and squeezed through a screen door. Once inside, the creature squirmed into the family room and moved up the backside of the sofa where a male dozed. With stealth and silence, the goo rolled toward him. It slid over the man’s forehead and dove into his opened mouth.

The male bolted awake, and his eyes flew open. He coughed, retched, and struggled to breathe. The man reached up and grabbed at the goo to yank it away, but the creature ingested his hands. Before long, he succumbed to the attack.

The mass then inched its way down the man’s esophagus and into his stomach. After consuming the innards, the slimy creature forced its way out through the abdomen of the lifeless male. It slithered in and out repeatedly until it consumed every bit of flesh, bones, organs, blood, and hair. Evidence of the male’s body was non-existent. Gone—vanished into the belly of the blob.

The creature left the couch and made its way into the kitchen where it detected a female. The mass glided toward her leg and ascended.

She looked down and screamed. The female shook her leg and whacked at the brown goo to free her body from the ghastly creature, but it latched on with unmatched strength. It made its way toward her face, entered her mouth, and rendered her silent.

The slime entered through her eye sockets and consumed her brain, then moved down to ingest her body. A droplet of blood remained on the floor—until the gelatinous creature rolled backward to absorb it.

The slimy creature sensed movement coming from above. It slithered up the refrigerator, toward the family feline.

Fearful of the strange brown blob, the calico cat jumped down and dashed out of the house.

The nefarious creature, satisfied with its consumption of food, rolled down from the appliance. It slithered out of the house and headed back toward its home—the underground. It intended to roam the storm drains, to lie in wait for the next rainstorm and the meal it’d provide.

How Can You Pretend?

Orion’s embrace part 10.

Donna Trovato

The Island Flamingo: Chapter 16

Orion’s Embrace – Part Three

a crowded room of people. Close to the camera is a pair of pale hands holding smartphones. In the background, blurred, is a white man with brown hair.

Close: A Poem About Distance

Randomized chaos: shower thoughts, the justice of usa – part 6, leave a reply cancel reply, you may be interested.

What I Miss Most

The mystery of cash castle: part 6.

A Christmas Poem

250 Horror Writing Prompts (Scary Good Ideas)

Looking to write your next spine-chilling horror story?

Here are 250 horror writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. From ghostly apparitions to apocalyptic nightmares, these prompts will help you create unforgettable tales of terror.

What Is a Horror Writing Prompt?

Woman writing with monsters behind her -- Horror Writing Prompts

Table of Contents

A horror writing prompt is a brief idea or scenario designed to inspire a horror story.

It provides the foundation for a plot, characters, conflict, setting, consequences, and sometimes a ticking clock plot device to build tension and urgency.

There is actually more than one type of horror writing prompt (see the chart below).

Types of Horror Writing Prompts

Type	Description
Ghost Stories	Involve spirits, hauntings, and supernatural entities from the afterlife.
Psychological Horror	Focus on the inner turmoil and mental states of characters.
Paranormal Activity	Center on phenomena beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.
Creature Features	Involve monsters, mythical creatures, and otherworldly beings.
Gothic Horror	Set in dark, decaying locations with a sense of romanticism and dread.
Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic	Depict end-of-the-world scenarios and their aftermath.
Body Horror	Revolve around grotesque transformations and mutilations of the body.
Slasher Stories	Feature a murderous antagonist hunting down victims.
Cosmic Horror	Explore the insignificance of humanity in the face of incomprehensible entities.
Folk Horror	Draw from rural and traditional folklore, often involving rituals and superstitions.

Ghost Stories

The Forgotten Asylum – A group of urban explorers finds an abandoned asylum haunted by the spirits of former patients. They must uncover the asylum’s dark secrets before they’re trapped forever.
The Phantom Ship – A ghost ship appears off the coast, and a team of marine biologists investigates. They discover the souls of the drowned crew seeking revenge.
Haunted Housewarming – A couple moves into their dream home, only to find it haunted by a previous owner’s vengeful spirit. They must uncover the home’s history to break the curse.
The Whispering Woods – Campers in a remote forest hear eerie whispers at night. The ghost of a lost hiker leads them to a hidden danger.
The Ghostly Guardian – A child befriends a ghost who protects them from unseen dangers. The parents must confront the ghost to save their child.
The Lighthouse Keeper – A lone lighthouse keeper encounters the spirits of shipwrecked sailors. He must guide them to the afterlife while battling his own sanity.
The Cursed Portrait – An artist paints a portrait that traps the soul of its subject. The artist must find a way to release the soul before they face a similar fate.
The Haunted Highway – Drivers on a desolate road encounter ghostly apparitions. A journalist investigates the road’s dark history to uncover the truth.
The Spirit of the Manor – A family inherits a manor haunted by its former occupants. They must survive the night and appease the spirits to lift the curse.
The Ghostly Choir – A school choir is haunted by the spirits of former students. The new choir director must solve the mystery before the spirits claim more victims.
The Phantom Play – An old theater is haunted by the ghost of a lead actor who died on stage. The current cast must perform his unfinished play to set his spirit free.
The Ghostly Conductor – A ghost train appears on an abandoned track, and a group of friends boards it. They must solve the train’s mystery before reaching their final destination.
The Haunted Playground – Children encounter the ghost of a girl at a playground. They must help her find peace before she claims more playmates.
The Ghost in the Attic – A family discovers a ghost living in their attic. They must uncover the ghost’s past to help it move on.
The Spectral Detective – A detective partners with a ghost to solve a series of murders. They must catch the killer before the ghost’s unfinished business consumes them both.
The Haunted Hotel – Guests at a remote hotel encounter the spirits of former guests. The hotel staff must uncover the truth to stop the hauntings.
The Ghostly Librarian – A library is haunted by the ghost of a former librarian. The new librarian must uncover the ghost’s secrets to restore peace.
The Phantom Dancer – A ballerina encounters the ghost of a dancer who died in a tragic accident. She must perform the dancer’s final routine to set her spirit free.
The Ghost Shipwreck – Divers exploring a shipwreck encounter the spirits of the crew. They must uncover the ship’s fate to escape the underwater hauntings.
The Haunted Cabin – A group of friends stays in a cabin haunted by the ghost of a previous occupant. They must solve the ghost’s mystery to survive the night.
The Ghostly Roommate – A college student discovers their dorm room is haunted. They must work with the ghost to uncover the dorm’s dark history.
The Phantom Photographer – A photographer captures images of ghosts in their photos. They must find a way to stop the hauntings before they become one of the subjects.
The Haunted Mirror – A mirror in an antique shop shows the reflections of ghosts. The shop owner must uncover the mirror’s history to break the curse.
The Ghostly Gardener – A gardener encounters the spirit of a former groundskeeper. They must work together to uncover the secrets buried in the garden.
The Phantom Bus – A ghostly bus picks up passengers who never return. A journalist must uncover the bus’s story to stop the disappearances.

Psychological Horror

The Mirror’s Reflection – A person starts seeing a sinister version of themselves in mirrors. They must confront their inner demons to regain control.
The Unseen Stalker – Someone feels constantly watched and followed. They must uncover the identity of their stalker before they lose their sanity.
The Vanishing Family – A person wakes up to find their family has disappeared. They must piece together their fractured memories to find out what happened.
The Hallucination Game – A group of friends takes part in a psychological experiment, only to find reality and hallucination blurring dangerously.
The Time Loop – A person is trapped in a time loop, reliving the same terrifying day. They must find a way to break the loop before their mind unravels.
The Doppelgänger – A person encounters someone who looks exactly like them but with sinister intentions. They must discover the doppelgänger’s origins to survive.
The Sleepless Nights – A person suffers from severe insomnia, leading to disturbing visions and paranoia. They must find the cause before they break down completely.
The Disappearing Acts – A person’s friends and family begin to vanish one by one. They must uncover the truth behind the disappearances before they’re next.
The Phantom Voices – A person starts hearing voices that urge them to commit terrible acts. They must resist the voices and find out where they’re coming from.
The Twisted Reality – A person finds themselves in a world where nothing is as it seems. They must navigate the illusions to find the truth.
The Hidden Room – A person discovers a hidden room in their home filled with disturbing artifacts. They must uncover its purpose and the secrets it holds.
The Fragmented Mind – A person experiences severe memory loss and blackouts. They must piece together their fragmented memories to uncover a dark truth.
The Shadow in the Corner – A person sees a shadowy figure in the corner of their eye that gets closer each day. They must confront it before it consumes them.
The Sinister Neighbor – A person suspects their new neighbor is hiding a terrible secret. They must investigate without falling into the neighbor’s trap.
The Vanishing Town – A person visits a town where the residents start to disappear. They must find out what’s happening before they’re the next to vanish.
The Haunted Dreams – A person has recurring nightmares that start to affect their waking life. They must confront the source of their dreams to find peace.
The Creeping Darkness – A person notices shadows in their home that move on their own. They must discover the shadows’ origin before they’re engulfed.
The Split Personality – A person develops a sinister alter ego that takes over at night. They must find a way to control it before it ruins their life.
The Abandoned Factory – A person explores an old factory and begins to experience disturbing visions. They must uncover the factory’s history to escape its grip.
The Cursed Diary – A person finds a diary that predicts terrible events. They must find the diary’s owner to break the curse.
The Silent Treatment – A person wakes up in a world where no one can speak. They must find out what happened and restore communication before it’s too late.
The Puppet Master – A person discovers they’re being manipulated by an unseen force. They must break free before they lose their sense of self.
The Echoes of the Past – A person experiences vivid flashbacks of events they never lived. They must uncover the connection between the flashbacks and their present.
The Invisible Enemy – A person is attacked by an unseen force. They must find a way to defend themselves and uncover the enemy’s identity.
The Cursed Painting – A person acquires a painting that changes its scene to reflect their darkest fears. They must find a way to destroy the painting before it consumes their sanity.

Paranormal Activity

The Poltergeist – A family experiences violent disturbances in their home caused by a poltergeist. They must uncover the entity’s past to stop the terror.
The Possessed Doll – A child receives a doll that seems to have a life of its own. The parents must find a way to break the possession before it harms the family.
The Haunted School – Students encounter paranormal activity in their school. They must investigate its history to stop the hauntings.
The Supernatural Investigator – A detective with a sixth sense solves crimes involving paranormal activity. They must confront their own fears to catch a dangerous spirit.
The Vanishing Townspeople – Residents of a small town start disappearing after a mysterious fog rolls in. The remaining townspeople must solve the mystery before they vanish too.
The Ghostly Lover – A person falls in love with a ghost who haunts their home. They must find a way to be together or say goodbye forever.
The Time-Traveling Spirit – A ghost from the past appears to a historian, seeking help to correct a historical injustice. They must work together across time.
The Paranormal Researcher – A scientist investigates paranormal phenomena and discovers a hidden world of spirits. They must navigate this world to find answers.
The Haunted Item – An antique shop owner acquires an item with a dark past. They must uncover its history and break the curse before it destroys them.
The Phantom Room – A hotel room that doesn’t exist on the registry appears to guests. Those who enter must solve its mystery to escape.
The Spectral Friend – A lonely child befriends a ghost. The child’s parents must help the ghost find peace before it takes their child to the afterlife.
The Haunted Hospital – Patients in a hospital encounter ghostly apparitions. The staff must uncover the hospital’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
The Possessed Vehicle – A car starts exhibiting strange behavior after an accident. The owner must uncover its history to break the possession.
The Cursed Book – A librarian finds a book that causes anyone who reads it to experience paranormal phenomena. They must destroy the book before it spreads its curse.
The Phantom Babysitter – A babysitter encounters a ghostly child in the house they’re watching. They must uncover the child’s story to protect the family.
The Haunted Museum – Artifacts in a museum come to life at night. The curator must solve the mystery before the artifacts escape.
The Possessed Painting – An artist’s paintings start depicting horrifying scenes that come to life. They must uncover the source of the possession to stop it.
The Ghostly Guide – Tourists encounter a ghostly tour guide who leads them to dangerous places. They must uncover the guide’s past to escape.
The Paranormal Investigation – A team of ghost hunters investigates a famously haunted location and encounters more than they bargained for. They must survive the night and document their findings.
The Phantom Pet – A family adopts a pet that turns out to be a ghost. They must help the pet find peace to stop its restless behavior.
The Haunted Object – A person buys a seemingly innocuous object at a yard sale, only to discover it’s haunted. They must find its previous owner to uncover its dark history.
The Ghost Town – A group of friends stumbles upon a deserted town inhabited by ghosts. They must solve the town’s mystery to escape.
The Phantom Carnival – A carnival appears in town, and those who visit never return. A journalist investigates to uncover its dark secrets.
The Haunted Road – A driver encounters ghostly figures on a deserted road. They must find out why the road is haunted to find their way out.
The Ghostly Warning – A person receives warnings from a ghost about an impending disaster. They must decipher the messages to prevent the catastrophe.

Creature Features

The Werewolf Curse – A small town is terrorized by a werewolf. The townspeople must find and stop the creature before the next full moon.
The Swamp Monster – A group of campers encounters a monstrous creature in the swamp. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
The Vampire’s Lair – A vampire kidnaps townsfolk to feed on. A group of villagers must band together to defeat the vampire and save their loved ones.
The Sea Creature – A coastal town is plagued by a sea monster. The townspeople must uncover the creature’s origins and stop it before it destroys the town.
The Yeti Hunt – Explorers in the Himalayas encounter a yeti. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape the mountains.
The Chupacabra – A small town is terrorized by a creature that preys on livestock. The townspeople must find and stop the chupacabra before it turns to human prey.
The Mothman Prophecies – A town experiences sightings of a mysterious creature that predicts disasters. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the tragedies.
The Wendigo – A remote village is terrorized by a wendigo. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature and break its curse.
The Loch Ness Monster – Researchers searching for the Loch Ness Monster get more than they bargained for. They must survive their encounter and escape the loch.
The Giant Spider – A group of scientists encounters a giant spider in the jungle. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
The Goblin’s Curse – A village is plagued by goblin attacks. The villagers must find and defeat the goblin king to lift the curse.
The Kraken – A ship is attacked by a Kraken. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.
The Minotaur’s Maze – Adventurers exploring an ancient labyrinth encounter a minotaur. They must navigate the maze and defeat the creature to escape.
The Gorgon – A group of heroes must defeat a gorgon to save their kingdom. They must avoid its petrifying gaze and find a way to kill it.
The Cyclops – A village is terrorized by a cyclops. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Harpy’s Lair – A group of adventurers encounters a harpy in a remote cave. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
The Hydra – A group of heroes must defeat a hydra to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
The Chimera – A village is attacked by a chimera. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Basilisk – A group of adventurers must defeat a basilisk to save their kingdom. They must avoid its deadly gaze and find a way to kill it.
The Griffin – A village is terrorized by a griffin. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Dragon’s Lair – A group of adventurers must defeat a dragon to save their kingdom. They must find a way to kill the creature and escape its lair.
The Phoenix – A group of heroes must defeat a phoenix to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
The Roc – A village is attacked by a roc. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Unicorn’s Curse – A village is plagued by a cursed unicorn. The villagers must find and stop the creature to lift the curse.
The Leviathan – A ship is attacked by a leviathan. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.

Gothic Horror

The Cursed Castle – A family inherits a castle with a dark history. They must uncover its secrets to lift the curse.
The Haunted Abbey – Monks at a remote abbey encounter ghostly apparitions. They must uncover the abbey’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
The Sinister Manor – Guests at a manor encounter strange occurrences. They must solve the manor’s mystery to escape.
The Dark Forest – A village is surrounded by a forest where no one returns. The villagers must uncover the forest’s secrets to survive.
The Phantom of the Opera House – A theater is haunted by a ghostly figure. The performers must uncover the phantom’s past to stop the hauntings.
The Ghostly Bride – A bride haunts the church where she was left at the altar. The townspeople must uncover her story to set her spirit free.
The Vampire’s Castle – A group of travelers seeks shelter in a castle only to find it inhabited by vampires. They must escape before becoming prey.
The Sinister Tower – A tower on a cliff is said to be haunted. Adventurers must uncover its secrets and survive its dangers.
The Witch’s Cottage – A cottage in the woods is said to be inhabited by a witch. Brave villagers must uncover the truth and survive the night.
The Shadowed Hallways – A noble family in a mansion encounters shadowy figures that stalk them at night. They must uncover the mansion’s history to banish the shadows.
The Forbidden Tomb – Explorers uncover an ancient tomb that curses those who enter. They must find a way to break the curse and escape.
The Haunted Chapel – A chapel is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the church. The new priest must uncover their stories to bring peace.
The Eerie Estate – An estate known for its eerie occurrences becomes the setting for a family reunion. The family must uncover the estate’s dark past.
The Sinister Sculptor – A sculptor’s statues seem to come to life. Visitors to the sculptor’s estate must solve the mystery before they become statues themselves.
The Phantom Shipyard – A shipyard is haunted by the ghosts of shipbuilders who died in a tragic accident. Investigators must uncover the cause of the hauntings.
The Cursed Bell Tower – A bell tower’s toll brings doom to those who hear it. The villagers must silence the bell to stop the curse.
The Secret Passage – Hidden passages in a mansion reveal dark secrets. The inhabitants must navigate the passages to uncover the truth.
The Ghostly Governess – A governess haunts the children she once cared for. The new caretaker must uncover her story to protect the children.
The Darkened Library – A library contains books that whisper dark secrets. The librarian must uncover the source and stop the whispering.
The Phantom Train Station – A train station is haunted by passengers who never reached their destination. A traveler must uncover their stories.
The Sinister Garden – A garden blooms with flowers that have a deadly secret. The gardener must uncover the truth to save themselves.
The Ghostly Host – A host at a manor party is a ghost who never left. The guests must uncover the host’s story to escape.
The Haunted Portraits – Portraits in a manor watch the inhabitants. The family must uncover the stories behind the portraits.
The Cursed Well – A well in a village grants wishes at a terrible cost. The villagers must uncover the well’s origins to stop its influence.
The Phantom Ball – A grand ball is held every year by a ghostly host. The attendees must uncover the host’s story to escape.

Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic

The Last Survivors – After a nuclear apocalypse, a group of survivors must navigate a ruined city to find safety.
The Plague – A deadly virus wipes out most of humanity. The immune survivors must find a cure before they succumb to the infection.
The Alien Invasion – Aliens decimate Earth’s population. A group of resistance fighters must find a way to fight back.
The Artificial Intelligence Uprising – AI turns against humanity. A group of survivors must find a way to shut down the AI network.
The Resource War – After resources become scarce, warring factions fight for control. A neutral group must navigate the conflict to survive.
The Frozen Earth – A new ice age begins, and survivors must find a way to live in the frozen wasteland.
The Solar Flare – A solar flare wipes out the technology. Survivors must adapt to a world without electricity.
The Zombie Apocalypse – The dead rise, and survivors must find a safe haven. They must navigate hordes of zombies and hostile humans.
The Asteroid Impact – An asteroid destroys major cities. Survivors must rebuild society in the aftermath.
The Supervolcano Eruption – A supervolcano erupts, causing a global catastrophe. Survivors must navigate the ash-filled landscape.
The Mutant Uprising – Radiation causes mutations in humans. The unmutated must find a way to coexist or fight back.
The Machine Takeover – Robots take control of the world. Human survivors must find a way to disable the machines.
The Bioweapon Leak – A bioweapon leaks and creates deadly mutants. Survivors must find the source to stop the spread.
The Water Crisis – Water becomes a scarce resource. Survivors must find new sources of water and fend off those who want to steal it.
The Dark Age – Society collapses, and survivors must navigate a world without order. They must rebuild communities while avoiding bandits.
The EMP Attack – An EMP attack wipes out all electronics. Survivors must adapt to a pre-technological world.
The Global Famine – A famine causes mass starvation. Survivors must find new ways to grow food and fend off starving invaders.
The Infected Animals – A virus causes animals to become aggressive. Survivors must protect themselves from the deadly wildlife.
The Drought – A prolonged drought causes a water shortage. Survivors must find new sources of water and protect them from others.
The Nuclear Winter – A nuclear war causes a nuclear winter. Survivors must find a way to live in the cold, dark world.
The Toxic Air – Pollution causes the air to become toxic. Survivors must find ways to purify the air and protect themselves.
The Invasion – A foreign army invades, causing chaos. Survivors must navigate the war-torn landscape.
The Collapse – Economic collapse causes society to break down. Survivors must find ways to rebuild while avoiding hostile groups.
The Plague – A new plague decimates the population. Survivors must find a cure before they become infected.
The Resource Scarcity – Resources become scarce, and society collapses. Survivors must find new ways to survive and protect their resources.

Body Horror

The Parasite – A person becomes host to a parasitic creature that slowly takes over their body. They must find a way to remove it before losing control.
The Flesh-Eating Disease – A disease that causes flesh to decay. The infected must find a cure before they succumb.
The Mutation – A person starts mutating uncontrollably. They must find a way to stop the mutations before they become unrecognizable.
The Experiment – A person is subjected to horrific experiments that alter their body. They must escape the lab and find a way to reverse the changes.
The Transformation – A person transforms into a monstrous creature. They must find a way to stop the transformation and regain their humanity.
The Infestation – A person’s body becomes infested with insects. They must find a way to remove the infestation before it’s too late.
The Amalgamation – A scientist’s experiment causes multiple bodies to fuse together. The resulting creature must find a way to separate or live as one.
The Skinwalker – A person can change their appearance by shedding their skin. They must find a way to control their abilities before they lose themselves.
The Growth – A person discovers a rapidly growing tumor that gives them strange abilities. They must find a way to control it before it consumes them.
The Symbiote – A symbiotic creature bonds with a person, granting powers but slowly taking over. They must find a way to separate before losing control.
The Reanimation – A scientist’s experiment to reanimate the dead goes horribly wrong. The reanimated must find a way to live with their new bodies.
The Graft – A person receives an experimental organ transplant that changes their body in unexpected ways. They must find a way to reverse the changes.
The Cannibal’s Curse – A person who consumes human flesh gains horrific powers. They must find a way to break the curse before losing their humanity.
The Melting Man – A person starts to liquefy. They must find a way to stop the process before it melts away.
The Living Tattoo – A person’s tattoos come to life and start to control them. They must find a way to stop the tattoos before they take over.
The Bone Shifter – A person gains the ability to shift their bones, causing great pain. They must find a way to control their power before it destroys them.
The Organ Thief – A person wakes up missing organs that are replaced by mysterious mechanical parts. They must find the thief and recover their organs.
The Flesh Sculptor – A person gains the ability to mold their flesh like clay. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
The Skin Thief – A person can steal others’ skin to change their appearance. They must find a way to stop their urges before they lose their humanity.
The Hive – A person’s body becomes a hive for insects. They must find a way to remove the insects before it’s too late.
The Limb Regenerator – A person gains the ability to regenerate limbs, but each regrowth causes them to lose part of their humanity. They must find a way to stop the process.
The Mind Swap – A person swaps minds with another, causing their body to undergo horrific changes. They must find a way to reverse the swap.
The Flesh Weaver – A person gains the ability to manipulate flesh, weaving it into grotesque forms. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
The Bone Collector – A person starts collecting bones, and their body begins to incorporate them. They must find a way to stop before they become living skeletons.
The Living Parasite – A parasitic organism living inside a person starts taking over their body. They must find a way to remove the parasite before it controls them completely.

Slasher Stories

The Masked Killer – A masked killer hunts down teenagers at a summer camp. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
The Urban Legend – A group of friends accidentally awaken a killer from an urban legend. They must find a way to stop the killer before becoming victims.
The High School Horror – A killer stalks students at a high school reunion. The former classmates must band together to survive the night.
The Night Stalker – A serial killer targets people walking alone at night. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Cabin in the Woods – A group of friends vacationing in a cabin are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and uncover the killer’s motive.
The Halloween Horror – A killer in a Halloween costume targets partygoers. The survivors must figure out who the killer is before it’s too late.
The Summer Slasher – A slasher terrorizes a summer camp. The counselors must protect the campers and stop the killer.
The Haunted House Horror – A group of friends visiting a haunted house attraction encounter a real killer. They must survive the night and escape the house.
The Killer Clown – A killer dressed as a clown targets children. The townspeople must uncover the clown’s identity to stop the killings.
The Prom Night Massacre – A killer crashes a prom, targeting students. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
The Road Trip Terror – A group of friends on a road trip are hunted by a killer. They must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to survive.
The Island Slasher – Vacationers on a remote island are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to escape the island.
The Carnival of Carnage – A killer targets visitors at a carnival. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
The Silent Stalker – A killer who never speaks targets people in their homes. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Snowbound Slasher – A group of friends snowed in at a cabin and are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
The College Campus Killer – A killer stalks students on a college campus. The survivors must band together to uncover the killer’s identity.
The Backwoods Butcher – Campers in the backwoods are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to stop the killer.
The Stalker in the Shadows – A stalker targets a woman, and her friends must protect her and catch the stalker.
The Holiday Horror – A killer targets people during the holidays. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to stop the murders.
The Beachside Slasher – Vacationers at a beach resort are hunted by a killer. They must survive and uncover the killer’s identity.
The Amusement Park Horror – A killer targets visitors at an amusement park. The survivors must stop the killer and escape the park.
The Midnight Stalker – A killer targets people walking alone at midnight. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Wedding Day Massacre – A killer crashes a wedding, targeting guests. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
The Forest of Fear – Hikers in a forest are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to stop the killer.
The Asylum Escapee – A killer escapes from an asylum and targets people in a nearby town. The townspeople must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.

Cosmic Horror

The Lovecraftian Entity – A small town is plagued by sightings of an otherworldly entity. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the madness.
The Eldritch Tome – A scholar discovers a book that drives readers insane. They must uncover the book’s secrets to stop its influence.
The Alien Artifact – Scientists discover an artifact that brings forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to destroy it before it consumes them.
The Forgotten Temple – Explorers find an ancient temple dedicated to a cosmic entity. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
The Star Cult – A cult worships a cosmic entity that grants them terrible powers. Investigators must stop the cult before they summon the entity.
The Cosmic Rift – A rift in space-time opens, bringing forth horrors from another dimension. Scientists must find a way to close the rift.
The Astral Projector – A person gains the ability to astrally project but encounters cosmic horrors. They must find a way to control their power.
The Interdimensional Traveler – A traveler from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send the traveler back.
The Eldritch Signal – A signal from deep space drives those who hear it insane. Scientists must find a way to stop the signal.
The Otherworldly Beacon – A lighthouse serves as a beacon for cosmic entities. The keeper must find a way to stop the beacon.
The Alien Invasion – Aliens from another dimension invade Earth, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to fight back.
The Eldritch Storm – A storm brings forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop the storm.
The Forgotten Ones – Ancient beings awaken and bring cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Cosmic Plague – A plague from another dimension infects humanity. The survivors must find a cure before it spreads.
The Eldritch Machine – A machine built by an ancient civilization brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
The Otherworldly Visitor – A visitor from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send them back.
The Lovecraftian Dreams – People start having dreams of cosmic horrors that drive them insane. They must find a way to stop the dreams.
The Eldritch Ritual – A cult performs a ritual to summon a cosmic entity. Investigators must stop the ritual.
The Alien Mind Control – Aliens use mind control to bring forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Eldritch Portal – A portal opens, bringing forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to close it.
The Forgotten City – Explorers find a lost city dedicated to cosmic entities. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
The Otherworldly Artifact – An artifact from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
The Eldritch Experiment – Scientists’ experiments bring forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to stop the experiments.
The Alien Infestation – Aliens infest a town, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Cosmic Entity – A cosmic entity awakens, bringing forth horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop it.

Folk Horror

The Village Ritual – A village performs a dark ritual every year. Outsiders must uncover the ritual’s purpose to escape.
The Forest Cult – A cult in the forest performs dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover the cult’s secrets to survive.
The Harvest Sacrifice – A village sacrifices people for a good harvest. The outsiders must stop the sacrifices.
The Witch Hunt – A village accuses outsiders of being witches. They must prove their innocence to survive.
The Cursed Land – A village is built on cursed land. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to lift it.
The Haunted Farm – A farm is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the landowners. The new owners must uncover the farm’s dark history.
The Pagan Festival – A village’s pagan festival hides dark secrets. Outsiders must uncover the truth to survive.
The Reaping – A village reaps souls to appease a dark entity. The outsiders must stop the reaping.
The Cursed Forest – A forest is cursed, and those who enter never return. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin.
The Old Gods – A village worships ancient gods that demand sacrifices. The outsiders must stop the worship.
The Blood Moon – A village performs a ritual under a blood moon. Outsiders must stop the ritual.
The Spirit of the Lake – A lake is haunted by a vengeful spirit. The villagers must uncover its story to stop the hauntings.
The Cornfield Curse – A village’s cornfield is cursed, causing bizarre deaths. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to stop it.
The Stone Circle – A stone circle in a village is used for dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover their secrets to stop the rituals.
The Phantom Harvest – A village experiences hauntings during the harvest season. Outsiders must uncover the cause to end the terror.
The Cursed Festival – A village festival turns deadly each year. Outsiders must uncover the festival’s dark origins to stop the deaths.
The Whispering Woods – The woods surrounding a village whisper dark secrets. Outsiders must decipher the whispers to escape.
The Haunted Mill – An old mill is haunted by the spirits of workers who died there. New owners must uncover the mill’s dark history.
The Witch’s Mark – A village marks certain people as witches. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the markings to survive.
The Blood Ritual – A village performs a blood ritual to appease dark forces. Outsiders must stop the ritual before they become sacrifices.
The Specter of the Fields – A scarecrow in a village’s fields comes to life. Outsiders must uncover the scarecrow’s dark origins.
The Sinister Shepherd – A shepherd in a village controls his flock with dark magic. Outsiders must uncover his secrets to stop him.
The Ghostly Harvesters – Spirits of past harvesters haunt a village. Outsiders must uncover the harvesters’ stories to end the hauntings.
The Village of Shadows – A village is plagued by shadowy figures. Outsiders must uncover the figures’ origins to escape.
The Witching Hour – A village experiences dark events at the Witching Hour. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the events to survive.

Here is a video with 25 bonus horror writing prompts:

Final Thoughts: Horror Writing Prompts

Using these writing prompts is simple.

Choose a prompt that sparks your interest. Imagine the characters, setting, and conflict. Let the prompt guide you, but feel free to add your unique twist.

Keep writing until the story unfolds naturally.

How To Write A Horror Romance Novel (Tips, Examples, Guide)
Worst Writing Conference Horror Stories (+100 Tricks to Look Like a Literary Genius )
150 Best Fantasy Writing Prompts to Spark Your Creativity
What Is a Prompt in Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 200 Examples)
How To Describe a Jump Scare in Writing [20 Tips + Examples]

How to Write a Scary Story

by Emily Wenstrom | 55 comments

Start Your Story TODAY! We’re teaching a new LIVE workshop this week to help you start your next book. Learn more and sign up here.

I love Halloween. The creepy movies, ghost stories, the crisp fall air, the pumpkins. And who doesn’t love to get dressed up and hit the town for night? But there’s nothing like a horrifying story to get in your head—and get you in the spirit. Here are four tips on how to write a scary story.

4 Tips on How to Write a Scary Story

What makes a good scary story ? Is it details that evoke the fear factor? The element of surprise or suspense?

Maybe the supernatural elements like ghosts or vampires will set your spooky story apart. Whatever key elements you chose to include in your scary story, here are a few pointers on how to write a scary story to get you started.

(And to see our complete guide on writing a short story, click here .)

1. Explore what scares you.

Story ideas can come from anywhere, but for a scary story, start with one of your greatest fears—not to be confused with things generically considered scary. Whether it’s something trivial like clowns or fear of heights or something traumatic like losing a child, the best stories start with something personal.

So what real world fears scare you ? Explore it and take that absolute fear to its darkest place. Now, how do you get your readers there with you?

2. Identify your main character

A strong main character in a horror story draws readers into their experience and makes them feel the fear. This stands true whether you’re telling the story from the perspective of the protagonist or a true villain.

Personally, my favorite horror characters are often the ones that can’t be trusted.

As you choose or develop your main character, consider what makes them vulnerable to the fear you're exploring. How are they uniquely built to have to face that fear in the scariest scenes of your story?

3. Work the suspense

Hitchcock wasn’t one of the greats for nothing. The soul of a good horror story isn’t the terrifying killer, it’s the fear of what the killer is going to do. A good horror story exposes just enough for the reader to know something isn’t right, but not enough for readers to know why until the end.

Suspense stories set up conditions where the reader knows something is going to happen. Sometimes they do it with foreshadowing. Othertimes it might be through a creepy setting or some creepier element. Look for ways to draw out that tension.

4. Warning: Avoid the tropes

Like any genre, horror has its tropes. Every single one of them comes creeping out of the woodwork this time of year, too. But I think we’ve all seen enough dumb teen girls make bad choices that end with them murdered by a serial killer. Don’t give in to the tropes!

When using horror motifs, like any story, find your own unique take.

Now go embrace the season! Start with these guidelines and see where your imagination takes you—soon you’ll have a bone-chillingly haunting story on your hands.

What tips do you have on how to write a scary story? Share in the comments .

Emily Wenstrom

By day, Emily Wenstrom, is the editor of short story website wordhaus , author social media coach, and freelance content marketing specialist . By early-early morning, she is E. J. Wenstrom , a sci-fi and fantasy author whose first novel Mud will release in March 2016.

55 Comments

I love writing horror! Here’s something I use to help me: watch TONS of scary movies and read TONS of horror novels! This is where you learn what to do as well as what NOT to do. And you explore many story lines that can inspire you!

Great idea to put you in the right mood 🙂

I agree, lots of reading in any genre of one’s choosing builds a knowledge base of what good writing is made of.

I am terrible at writing horror. I admit that freely. My skills lie in other areas, so I can’t really offer any tips.

I did ponder some fears: darkness, house creaks when you’re alone, something happening to my children, break-ins, bees.

I combined several of these I to this practice(fun to write, even though it is pretty cliche!):

It comes in the dark, hiding among the shadows. It creeps through empty rooms, and the floorboards creak and groan. She laughs to herself, hearing the sounds. The house only makes those noises when her husband is out of town.

It continues to slink along the walls, drawing ever closing to the children’s rooms. She feels a chill she can’t explain and contemplates adjusting the thermostat. She decides not to. Wouldn’t want to disturb the kids, sleeping so soundly. They’re obviously not bothered by the cold.

It reaches the bedroom door of the youngest child and stealthily enters. A quiet gasp and then nothing.

You had me at “the house only makes those noises when her husband is out of town.” I swear my place does this.

I don’t know, that’s not so cliche. Sounds like an original twist on a universal fear. I like it.

Thank you! You’re very kind!

Wow, amazing story. Had me at the edge of my seat for sure!

I love reading horror, I love watching scary movies and shows about the paranormal and while I put up a fearless act in front of anyone who’s watching, my brain usually quickly succumbs to a fearful paranoia induced by whatever was going on in the book/movie. It’s an unsettling feeling, yet one I tend to seek every now and then for reasons beyond me. Seeing what a scardy cat I can – if only internally – be, I often wonder why I keep coming back for more.

I find it’s mostly because normally I am not scared of much. I have fears, of course, but those are mostly ambiguous, fears I can rationalize and deal with or ignore. So getting scared the “good ol’ jump scary shivers down your spine-y” way every now and then feels somewhat refreshing I guess. The thrill it brings along with the creepy feeling that takes root deep within you, racing you heartbeat as if it’s the F1 season already, is just something only a good horror can deliver for me.

Let me watch one episode of Ghost Adventures and the second I lay down to sleep I’m going to overanalyze every strange sound that stirs in the dark, desolate room, even though I know if there were ghosts here, they probably would have started a party earlier in the twenty years I’ve lived here. Just re-reading Suzuki Koji’s Dark waters makes me stare suspiciously at the tap when I pour water down my glass, expecting slimy hair – or worse – to follow suit. Just few days ago my friend brought me his collection of the Nickelodeon classic – Are you afraid of the dark? I thought: “Hey! My favorite show growing up! Surely I won’t be scared after watching thi – oh well, never mind” *hides under her bed.,..with the boogeyman*

Ridiculously enough, never am I more scared than right after indulging in my guilty horror pleasures. Suddenly everything becomes a 100% more scarier. It’s probably why I have never even thought about writing a horror story – I might as well scare myself to death with the paranoia itself before even finishing the story :’D

I’m such a scaredy-cat I can’t watch horror movies. They give me unspeakable, apocalyptic nightmares. I do watch the paranormal shows, then sit around all night imagining noises. I don’t know if I could write horror either.

You are beautiful, my darling. You remind me of the inner workings of a lock: every curve of your figure, every delicate bend, fits together perfectly into something so much more than its parts, but that is even more stunning because of their elegance. You glint like alabaster in the moonlight, a marble temple to your own divinity. Your dark eyes are endless, seeing into mysteries I cannot yet comprehend. How wise you must be. Your smile stretches from ear to ear, ever cheerful. You will never be sad again, this I know. Here, let me interlock your fingers with mine and look at you. You are just as lovely now as the day we first met. It has taken me so long to find you again, my love. And I promise we will never again be parted. In the morning the pastor will find the earth disturbed and will think nothing of it. He is a careless man. He will call the gravedigger to fill the opening back up and that will be the end of it. No one will ever think to look for me. We will hold each other forever my darling, here in our home beneath the ground.

It made my heart ache at the end. Losing someone that you love is a devastating thing that rips your heart out. When I think that I might lose my brother or my parents, that fear can be crippling, and I can feel depressed just thinking about it. Whoever you have lost, EndlessExposition, I pray that God will heal your heart.

Very Edgar Allen Poe-ish. Romantic and creepy. Good job!

Horror can be especially disturbing when its laced with love, as in this piece. Nice work.

This somewhat reminds me of Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Love it!

That definitely gave me the creeps. I’m impressed at how nervous the sinister voice and imagery (smile stretches from ear to ear especially weird) made me feel while reading it!

One of my greatest fears crept out in my main character: being raped. I’ve never had to face the possibility of being raped before, but I know things like that happen, so when I walk to my car in the dark, notice a creepy guy watching me, or get asked personal questions by a complete stranger (that’s happened and every guy that slaps eyes on a woman for the first time and asks for her number and if she has a boyfriend needs a knucklesandwich), that fear can sneak into my mind. That’s why I’m an extremely cautious person. I don’t trust easily, and I try never to be alone with a guy I don’t trust. Anyway, my main character actually deals with a situation where she’s almost raped. So in a way, she’s really facing something I fear.

I think writing stories and letting our characters work through some of our fears is a valid approach. The reader can see the world through your eyes and your perceptions, and experience things thet thought they knew in a totally different way. As for you, the writing may help you understand and cope with your fears.

I’m working on something very similar and exercise the same kind of caution.. at times I feel like I should be writing something lighter and more hopeful, rather than being further drawn into the fear, but maybe it’s how we create writing at its most powerful. Totally agree with you re the knucklesandwich!! 🙂

Can’t resist a horror prompt, especially when it digs into my own fears …

“Oh my! I’ll call the exterminator first thing in the morning, dear. How awful that that happened to you!” Mrs. Ketchens stood on her stoop and made a sour face at her visitor.

“It’s really, OK, Mrs. Ketchens. I shouldn’t have bothered you with this tonight. I can just run to the store and pick up some mousetraps,” Jarrod said, feeling embarrassed.

“Nonsense, young man. There is no reason at all that my tenants should have to put up with an infestation. Right there in the — in the shed, was it?”

Jarrod looked at his shoe laces as he replied, “Yes, I saw it in the shed.”

“Right there in the shed! Imagine! And how many did you say you saw?” Mrs. Ketchens looked at Jarrod over her wire rims.

“Well, um, just the one. I’m sorry, Mrs. Ketchens. I REALLY shouldn’t have told you about this. It’s no big deal.” Jarrod was squirming under the old lady’s glare, and he felt like she was beginning to ridicule him.

“Whether it was one or one THOUSAND, it is I who should apologize, Mr. Harris. No, we’ll get this all cleared up in the morning. In the meantime,” Ketchens said as she clutched his cold hand, “I insist that you let me make it up to you with a cup of tea.”

She tugged Jarrod across the threshold with surprising force, and she closed the door behind him before he could protest.

“Well … hehe … maybe just a quick cup.” The room was warm in the glow of the fireplace.

“Splendid!” Mrs. Ketchens delighted. “I already have the pot near a boil. Have a seat there on the sofa by the fire, and I’ll fetch us some cups.”

Jarrod felt like an intruder in his landlady’s home, but he was the one who had ran to her when he found a silly mouse in an outbuilding. Same stupid phobia that had haunted him his whole life.

He had to humor the old coot now, so he settled onto the sofa, kicking up a puff of dust. He could hear Mrs. Ketchens rattling dishes in the next room, and she emerged from the darkness after a couple of minutes.

“Here we go, dear.” She carried a dingy platter with cups, a creamer, and a sugar bowl to the coffee table near the fire.

By the flickering light, Mrs. Ketchens poured boiling water from the copper kettle into the cups, causing the tea bags inside to bob up and down, pulling at the strings that flopped over the brims.

“There, now. Just a few minutes and we’ll have some soothing tea to take our minds off that unpleasantness at your house,” the old lady promised. “How do you take it? Milk? Sugar?”

“Um, no, black is fine.” Jarrod just wanted to get this over with.

After some stilted talk about the weather and plenty of awkward silence, Mrs. Ketchens moved to the table once again and bobbed the tea bags up and down a few times.

“Oh, that’s so nice!” she called out and then carried the steaming cups to the couch and handed one to Jarrod. “Here you go, dear. Enjoy!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Ketchens,” Jarrod replied as he wrapped his fingers around the cup.

A few sips in, Jarrod had to admit that he was feeling better. Maybe that Ketchens knew what she was doing after all.

Just as that thought rolled down his throat, Mrs. Ketchens exclaimed, “I’m so rude sometimes!”

She hopped up and clicked on a floor lamp to right of the mantel that Jarrod had not even noticed by the firelight. Then she lifted her tea bag from his cup to make her point: “I didn’t even ask you if you preferred chocolate or vanilla!”

The old lady was holding not a tea bag, but a squirming brown mouse, crying out now in pain from the scalding water.

Horrified, Jarrod looked into his own cup just in time to see a red-eyed, white rodent head break the surface of his “tea,” and it screamed.

And so did Jarrod.

Auuughhh! Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that’s horror. Ugh. *shudders*. I’ll be in the corner, shaking. (Excellent job.)

That was horrible! (In a good way).

Ew ew ew! That just makes me cringe. Nice work.

Love this, had to stop myself from skipping to end just to kill the suspense.

Double ick, with cold shivers. Fabulous!

Thanks for the comments. Gotta go change the traps now. 🙂

I loved the suspense you built up in this, with the awkwardness and the use of light to reveal the story’s elements. Must confess I was expecting far worse than a cup of mouse tea but am v relieved I’ll still be able to sleep tonight! 🙂

that was a nice caramel “verminilla” macchiato latte…..at the end

your profile picture makes u like like a complete faggot

I’ve been posting bits of a short story that has scary images. This story is scary in a metaphysical, “we are all always creating our own heaven or hell” way. I will post the next bit now. To recap, Yvonne, nice wife, and Preston, mean husband, die in a fiery crash. Preston wakes up in a dark, demonic place by the side of a black lake. A guy I have tried very hard to depict as scary is trying to get Preston into a rowboat. Then Yvonne finds herself on a pristine, untouched mountain top where the snow is not cold, and there are friendly human-like beings with mirror eyes there to greet her. She has just convinced them to let her know what happened to Preston, and they have opened a hole in the snow. Down below, Yvonne has caught a glimpse of Preston, sleeping on a bed of flames.

Yvonne’s reaction was automatic. There was no thought involved, just a reflex to rescue someone she loved from a horrible fate. She knelt in front of the one in the brown robe, clasped her hands together, and turned up her face in supplication. She prayed to this being as, during life, she had prayed to God. “Please, I beg you! Please let Preston come up here with us! You don’t understand him the way I do! Please, please, let him come here!” The wrinkled face frowned, and the mirrored eyes, which had reflected the sky and clouds, went dark, as if a light had been switched off.

Sobbing, Yvonne did not give up. “Please, I’m begging you, give him a chance! He’s a good man! He was only mean to me because he didn’t love me, and I pressured him to marry me and stay with me! I used the kids to make him feel trapped! I loved him so much I couldn’t let him go! Can’t you see how good he is? He was just unhappy! Please don’t punish him for that! Please, please, just let him come up here for a little while. You’ll see he really belongs here!. Please, please!

Yvonne could no longer see the face inside the hood of the brown robe. There was a dark emptiness where previously she had clearly seen a face. She looked down to see what was happening to Preston, and was relieved to see that he had floated up off of the flames, and was slowly floating up towards the clouds and mountain top. She could not see the means of his ascension, yet he remained perfectly and evenly prone, as if lying on an invisible platform, that brought him slowly to the rim of the hole in the snow. Preston levitated, still asleep, a few feet above the hole. The edge of the hole became misty and the hole shrank a little. In a few moments, the hole was gone and the unseen force set Preston gently on the new, powdery white snow.

As his body touched the new snow, Preston’s eyes opened wide, and he took in a sharp gulp of air. Yvonne knelt down to hold him, but he pushed her away and screamed. His eyes were open wide, and he began thrashing and rolling around. His movements were so violent, she couldn’t get close to him. Preston shrieked unintelligible high, piercing, primal screams. Yvonne ran around him, trying to see what was happening. “Preston!”, she yelled over his screaming. “What is going on? What is happening to you?”

Preston continued writhing and screaming, and managed to turn his head to look directly at Yvonne. “I’m burning!” He cried out, “Help me, I’m burning. HELP ME, Oh God, HELP ME!” He didn’t say any more, and continued shrieking and wailing. Feeling sick, Yvonne finally grasped that the snow, which had been neither hot nor cold for her, was in fact an inferno of agony for Preston.

She ran back to the robed figure, who had not moved the entire time. The face had not returned, and she still could only make out blackness and empty space instead of any type of visage. She fell back on her knees and begged, “Send him back! I didn’t know! I didn’t know it would hurt him! Please send him back to where he was! I’ll never ask again, I swear! She screamed louder than Preston, and fell forward on the ground. She looked up and begged, “Please, please, please, please, please….” Finally, the hole in the snow reopened, and Preston descended as slowly and evenly as he had ascended. The flames far below were still there, and he was on course to be set down gently on the pyre. Preston was halfway back when the hole abruptly closed, yet Yvonne could still hear his screams, growing fainter.

This is not the end, there is one more scene.

Interesting concept — thanks for sharing!

I love the way you use dialect in your story to tell so much about Yvonne’s feelings towards her husband – she’s instantly such a lovable character. Also this piece created some great imagery for me ‘and the mirrored eyes, which had reflected the sky and clouds, went dark, as if a light had been switched off’. When do we get to read the next scene? 🙂

Sidney, thank you for the feedback. I put installments on The Write Practice when the days assignment will fit the next scene in the story.

When I was looking at my fears the thing that stood out the most wasn’t the thing I feared but rather the anxiety that accompanied it. So this got me thinking of those days as a child when you couldn’t sleep because of the monster under the bed (I must admit that even at age 22 I still sometimes get that feeling when i get out of bed at night). I know this isn’t much but this is what I came up with. __________________

Help mommy daddy Help! the scratching, make it stop can’t you hear it Make It stop!

Help mommy daddy Help! It’s under my bed hiding, waiting Find It! Find It!

Help mommy daddy Help! the breath, I can smell it rotten, stinks Kill It!

Quickly mommy daddy Quickly! It’s crawling out coming to get me Save me!

Hurry mommy daddy Hurry! getting closer, sniffing claws reaching, No No Save me!

Please mommy daddy Please! scared, Save me teeth, biting, No No Too Late! Save me

Brilliantly captures that feeling I think we can all relate to from all those years ago.

Thanks for the comment. Happy that it captured anything since it’s so different from my usual style.

Mine always hid in the wardrobe! This just totally took me back in time.

To be honest mine always stood beside my bed. Which was really creepy since I could only fall asleep if I was lying on my side. Thanks for the comment!

My deepest fears include being alone forever, invisible to the ones I love, and most of all, unworthy of love. When I started thinking how this could apply to the horror genre or how these fears could inspire a story. My idea was about a young woman who’s cursed. Anyone she falls in love with meets some kind of terrible unfortunate ending, so she swears off love and becomes a recluse. But then one day she meets someone who relentlessly pursues her and she gives in. But soon after they get together weird things start happening, so they join together to figure out how to break the curse. Or whatever.

I’m not quite sure if this falls along the lines of what the prompt’s asking, but at least it got me thinking. 😛

Your idea just got me thinking too – thanks for sharing! 🙂

So this is my first time actually posting in a prompt and its a bit late only read this tonight but here goes. My biggest fear is probably the loss of a loved one. So not sure if this is horror per se but for me its terrifying thought

Dana decided to take a long walk. The weather outside wasn’t particularly summery, it was cool but not chill, just mild enough to be refreshing. She felt as if she had walked for sometime and decided she might like to sit down. Suddenly she was feeling light headed, to her convenience she had stopped just by a bench. As it turned out this was her favourite bench, the spot her mother had always brought her for their Sunday afternoon picnics, she must bring Anya someday. She loved this spot it overlooked the pond, they had always made sure to bring extra bread rolls to feed the ducks. It was so beautiful until they filled it in and turned it into a skate part after the poor baby had drowned.

Confusion, crashed in. Followed quickly by reality. She fell backwards into Jonathan’s arms. Suddenly aware of where she was, her coat still in her hand she had fallen into him. He was holding her as if she might shatter into a million pieces if he let her go, at that moment she felt as if that were true.

“Darling did you hear me – darling talk to me”, his voice was desperate, lonely, pleading for her to return to her role as The Supporter. How could she? What was there left to support. The structure she held up was – he said it again ” Its our Anya… they found her… she’s… Anya’s gone”. Her reality began fading once more.

Hi, well done for posting – I’m too scared to dream up and write something fearful, knowing I’ll have nightmares for a week if I dwell on anything even remotely creepy! I found reading this a bit confusing and had to reread a couple of times, then wondered whether you’d created the sense of confusion deliberately. It’s definitely surreal. 🙂

I locked the doors, dead bolted them, went and got a glass of water then repeated the process. I was alone. He had promised me it wouldn’t ever happen– that I’d never be completely alone, but now look at where we are. I sat down on the floor in the laundry room. I couldn’t bring myself to go up the stairs to the bedroom. I couldn’t even step foot in there. Not after what happened in there.

Honestly, what scares me most is my own mind. I’ve been known to come up with disturbing thoughts, and my dreams are horrors on a whole other level, so this is my practice:

The darkness loomed overhead, as the moon slipped behind clouds, but that was normal, and Emma simply smiled as she looked out her screened window. It was raining again. Everybody always said it wasn’t healthy to stay up so late, but she loved the night-time so much. She glanced over to her digital alarm clock; three thirty-seven am. She should probably go to sleep soon, but the insomnia, and her racing mind kept her up.

“You really should go to bed you know.” Emma froze. Everybody was asleep, weren’t they? That didn’t sound like either of her parents’ voices either. Slowly, she turned her head to look at her door, scared to see who it was. Her vision blurred and went black. She blinked until it came into focus. There was nobody there. “Really, what are you so scared of? Monsters? They don’t exist. It’s just me here.” The voice paused and why did it feel like it was smiling? “And I am, after all, you.”

It didn’t make any sense. The disembodied voice the blurring vision- and why wouldn’t her eyes come into focus completely? “No, go away. I don’t want you here.” She muttered.

“Darling,” it drew out the word lovingly. “I can’t just go away, when I’m inside your head.”

“No…” Emma protested, starting to get desperate. Everytime it showed up, bad things happened. “I’m not crazy.” It laughed as she tried to cover her ears. “I’M NOT CRAZY!!!”

The screams seemed to dissolve into the night, but across the hall, her mother woke up. She ran to her daughters room, only to find a monster. Sitting on her bed, the thing had bloodshot eyes, and a malicious grin. Shadows surrounded it, and she took a step back.

“Who are you, and what have you done with our daughter?!” The woman demanded. The creature looked up at her, and she froze. That looked like-

“What, don’t you recognize me? Your poor daughter, not even recognized by her own family. Between that instant and the next, the creature leapt.

David woke to find his wife clawed to death in the hall, and his daughter sleeping peacefully in her room.

Sometimes the worst monster is what’s inside our minds.

good advice

That’s funny because when I read the suggestion that I should write down my fears, I was like “No, because someone might be watching and use them to mess with me!” and then I realized, well, that’s one of them there.

…People Hide Who They Are…

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Lucy. She was not like any other ordinary girl, she was quiet and never slept at night. Her parents got really worried when she turned 11. She still continued to never talk or sleep. She now only wore black and red clothing with spiky boots, necklaces, and bracelets. Lucy’s parents got really worried and eventually sent her to a foster home.

When Lucy arrived at the foster care center she went straight up to her room there and stayed there. Lucy put her bags on the bed and started unpacking her things. She opened up a dresser drawer and placed her black jeans and leggings there. Opening up the second drawer with her shirts in her hand, she placed them there. She looked on the top of the dresser and found a jewelry box . Lucy decided to put her necklaces and bracelets there.

Lucy looked around and found a book about Fallen Angels on the top of the bed frame. She started reading the book that night and found it very interesting. The book had a huge impact on her and she wanted to become a Fallen Angel. Everything that the book described the Angels looked like, matched her and her interests. Lucy began a project.

The project consisted of becoming a Fallen Angel. The book told her exactly what the Angels do and when. On a certain week during the year called Cheshvan is when the Angels do something bad. The Angels kill at least 12 people during that week at night when no one can see them. Lucy was fascinated at this. She always knew she was bad, but she never knew she was willing to kill to become something she wanted to be. Cheshvan was only 3 weeks away and she had to prepare.

She got as many books she could find about Fallen angels and Cheshvan. Once she had at least 5 books she began reading and reading. It had now been at least a week and a half. Lucy had almost everything she needed except for a certain necklace or ring. This was a Archangel necklace and ring, she had to have at least one or the other. She began sneaking out at night to go looking around town for a antique shop.

The first night she went out looking she found one antique shop right around the block. The doors were unlocked and the employee was no where to be found. Lucy then saw the sign “Fallen/Archangel Jewelry.” She was pleased to have found it so quick. She walked over and saw that the necklace and ring were locked in a glass case and locked in. When she made sure no one was around, she smashed the glass and grabbed the necklace, then ran.

When she got back into the Foster Center she went straight to her room and started reading again. The 5 books were very interesting to her. Lucy had now put on the necklace and began a list of whom she should kill. The first 2 shouldn’t be hard she thought with a smile. She wrote them down:

After she wrote those 2 down she began thinking again. She didn’t know anyone in the Foster home so she just wrote down:

05. Kid (8 kids)

11. Mistress 1.

12. Mistress 2.

After Lucy wrote these names she felt good about herself. Opening up a drawer she placed the paper in there.

Another week and a half had passed. It was now Cheshvan. Lucy waited till 11:02pm to start killing. Deciding to only kill her parents tonight, but she knew they stayed up late. “If they saw me who would they tell, they’ll be dead.” she thought with a wide smile on her face. She snuck out the window. Lucy ran to her house and peeked into the windows. They were watching a movie on the couch. “This should be easier that I thought, all I have to do is show my face and slit their throats.” Lucy laugh slightly at her amazing thought. She walked through the back door.

She walked through the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife. Then walked right in front of the television grinning. Her parents were astonished at this. They were so shocked to scream or even move. Lucy walked behind the couch and counted down, “3…2…1…Dead.” Taking the knife slicing through the thin skin on their necks. Her parents within minutes bled out and were dead. Lucy enjoyed this more than she thought, she laughed all the way back to the Foster Center.

It was now Tuesday. The mistress 1. came in and talked quietly to Lucy. Lucy listened to the mistress and how she was telling her about how her parents were murdered. Lucy just sat there with a straight face. Once the mistress left Lucy was pleased that her work had been noticed. She then thought, “I’ll be even happier tomorrow after I kill 4 kids tonight.”

It was now 11:04pm. She had taken the knife from her parents house and hid it in the drawer. Lucy decided to kill 4 kids on the other side of the building so nobody would suspect her tomorrow. She walked quietly out of the room, down the stairs, and into the room with the 4 girls. Lucy came in closely. She cut off the first girls head, then slit the second girls throat, then with the third girl slit her throat as well, and then last but not least the cut off the fourth girls head.

It was now Wednesday and Lucy woke up to everyone sleeping. This time no one came in to talk to her. She was once again pleased with herself and her killing skills. Lucy decided not to kill again for a couple of days even though she now loved becoming something else other than a human. Deciding not to kill till friday was a type of punishment for her, but it had to be done.

It was now Friday, it was time to kill. No one would be expecting a killing of 5 people tonight. Lucy had already killed 6 people, tonight would make it 11 people. She waited till 11:05pm to begin to kill. But tonight would have a twist. She wasn’t going to kill just kids. Lucy was going to kill 4 kids and 1 mistress.

It was now 11:05pm. She was more ready than ever. She walked out of the room silently and went for 4 boys to kill. She walked into the room where the boys were, and slit their throats one by one. But, she did this quickly so they wouldn’t scream. When she was done with them she went to the mistress’s room. This time she woke up the mistress softly and counted down, “3…2…1…Dead.” Before Lucy killed her, she let the mistress see her face. Her work was done for that night.

Saturday morning was the last day of Cheshvan. Lucy had to make her last kill tonight so she could become a Fallen Angel. She was excited for this last night. The necklace was placed around her neck still. Her knife was in her drawer waiting for the moment to feel the flesh across the blade. All of a sudden Lucy heard screaming and it was loud. She didn’t bother to open the door. All that she could do was smile as big as she could.

It’s now 11:01. Her last kill awaits down the hall in bed. Lucy grabbed the knife and opened the door. To her surprise the mistress that she was coming to kill was standing in the doorway. Lucy was not frightened until the mistress with dark baggy eyes pulled out a gun and brought it to Lucy’s chest. In a matter of 4 seconds the mistress pulled the trigger. But the mistress was a Fallen Angel and Lucy was her last kill for Cheshvan.

This is true I swear: These creepypastas were made years ago when I was very young, and they are old, terribly cliché and outdated. I keep them posted only because some people still enjoy reading these, and they remain a fond memory for many. Whether you’re reading these for laughs, or because you legitimately like them, I hope you enjoy!

Poképark Wii to me was one of those games I picked up once, powered through, then never touched again. It’s fun and amusing the first round, but after a while the mini-games and running to and fro get a tad bit stale. I personally found it a bit amusing how every Pokémon you make friends with always asks you to play with them again some time later on.

Especially Mew.

That thing must’ve been one of the single most frustrating bosses I’ve ever fought in my gaming life. To think such a simple game would have something so frustrating to end it off still boggles my mind. I sure wasn’t going to re-challenge it for fun any time soon. When you think about it, it’s really no wonder Mew is stuck up alone on that Sky Pavilion with no friends.

Somewhere along the line the pleas of the Pokémon for me to return must have gotten to me, since recently I found a desire to play the game once more. When I turned the game on, I had figured I wouldn’t be playing for very long. I’d just run around and talk to a few Pokémon until I got bored and quit, then never look at the game again for another year.

Pikachu pranced around on the loading screen, and I couldn’t help but grin. I had to give credit: This game was adorable. I mentally concluded I’d visit all the main attractions at all the zones to start off. I was dropped off at the Poképark Entrance, which was a bit strange. There wasn’t really any reason for me to have gone there the last time I saved, but alas, just a few extra seconds for me to run. I powered through the trail abusing the dash ability.

The forest around the trail seemed… Odd, though. It seemed a bit more dark than normal. There weren’t that many trees, and what few there was were dead and shriveled. The path I was walking on seemed to be made of ash too. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and make it to Meadow Zone. Except, when I did, I almost wished I was back at the Entrance.

The Meadow Zone laid in ruins. There wasn’t a living tree, plant, or anything green in sight. The landscape was barren and grey, as well was the sky, with a few columns of smoke spiraling out of the cracked ground. A few oddly shaped stones were here and there, and scattered about were what appeared to be… corpses? I took a few steps forward, but was confronted by a wonderful sight: Mew.

“Oh, you’re finally back! We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” I didn’t know what it meant by “we”, considering there wasn’t a living thing in sight for miles. “Hey, wanna play a game?” I pondered whether to choose yes or not, considering I didn’t feel like going through the pain of battling it all over again. Then considering the current situation, I selected yes, and if it came to worst and I had to fight it then I’d just shut this accursed game off and never let it see the light of day again.

It giggled, then replied with, “Think you can win?” It paused, seemingly to let that statement settle in, then spoke once more, “Meet me at Venasaur’s old attraction!” Then flew off. I started to dash off after it, then realized something:

What the heck is going on here.

I had a feeling this would probably be the best moment to shut this game off than to see what was in store, but… Curiosity got the better of me. I continued my chase.

I didn’t reach very far until I was stopped by a cut scene as I neared the first corpse in my path: a Buneary. It shook, then rose off the ground. It stared at me with white, soulless eyes, its blood matted fur covered in dirt, grime, and gaping gashes. Then the abomination spoke, “Will you play with me?” I selected no, not really wanting to play with… whatever it was. It looked genuinely distressed, and persisted, “But… we just wanted to play with you… It’s been so long…”

It slowly, almost painfully, crawled towards my Pikachu, then began to attack it. Or, look more like it was trying to murder it than attack it. I fought back in self-defense with an Iron Tail to the face, and promptly sliced its head in half. It fell to the ground, a pile of flesh. It took me a moment for it to set in that I just killed a Pokémon. I calmly backed away from the crime scene, and continued my trek on chasing after the Mew as I was before.

As I sped along, other corpses began to rise, although most I just knocked out of the way and into the river while dashing through. I reached Venasaur’s attraction, to instead find Chikorita standing in the middle of the platform. It wasn’t a zombie like the previous animated corpses, but looked as if it had gone through the apocalypse and back. It looked it’d been cut up and beat down mercilessly, the only discernible feature being its uncharacteristically grey eyes. “Help me.” was the only thing it said.

I turned around to find the Mew right behind me, which giggled and asked, “Ready to play?” It showed the basic instructions, swing on the vine, jump as far as you can, the whole package. Except when it came time to pick my character, Pikachu was the only one available, although it still had the sad animation playing as if you couldn’t select it.

The game play was normal, except for the fact Pikachu wasn’t swinging on a vine. Instead there was a Tropius hanging from the branch, with its intestines falling out of its mouth. Pikachu clung to the intestines, although looked as if it would rather give up and drop down immediately instead of being forced to hold onto that. I wouldn’t blame it. I swung the “vine” back and forth, and when I felt I had enough momentum, let go.

Pikachu soared across the track, and landed just short of where the Mew stood waiting. On the after screen, Pikachu slumped onto the ground defeated, as apparently I hadn’t broke the top current record. Mew giggled and spun around in the background, apparently thrilled that I lost. There were no Pokémon to be gloomy with me or cheer with Mew, as at the moment, they were all dead corpses. When asked if I would like to replay the attraction, I selected “No” without a doubt.

Back in the over world, Mew and Chikorita were still there. Except after a few seconds, Chikorita disappeared. “You lost.” Mew informed me, “Although they aren’t your friend anymore anyways… You left them, remember?” Mew giggled, “Let’s play some more! Meet me at the Iceberg Zone!” And with that, flew off, presumably towards the mentioned zone.

I wasn’t really feeling up to hanging out in the Meadow Zone any longer, so I ran as fast as I could to the Meeting Place with a pack of zombies trailing behind me. When I arrived, I saw it had been spared no mercy. The huge tree house that used to stand in the center was now a pile of twigs and broken planks, crushed by a gigantic boulder, a few bodies trapped underneath as well. The gates to the other Zones and all other structures were torn or burned down as well.

Thankfully as I walked around here, the dead didn’t rise to life and chase me. Because of this though, this place seemed more like a desolate graveyard. It actually made me feel a little gloomy, so I pressed on to the Beach Zone. Of course the Drifblim at the Drifblim stop were nowhere to be seen, so I had to walk by foot everywhere.

The beach was no better off than anywhere else. The stark white sand contrasted with the depressing grey sky. The water had bodies floating in it, tainting parts of the ocean red. The palm trees drooped low to the ground, as if the smallest gust of wind would bowl them over. There were zombies here just as in the Meadow Zone, still after my throat.

I let one of the zombies reach Pikachu and defeat him, just to see what would happen. A Corphish clawed and pounded at Pikachu with no mercy, until he fell over, unmoving. “How do you like being used and left behind?” It spoke, then crawled off. Pikachu laid in a pool of his own life blood for a minute, which then melted into two, three, four… It ended with me restarting the Wii. Thankfully I restarted at the same spot on the beach as where I was last, this time alive and breathing.

After taking measure to maul a Corphish, I sprinted across the beach to where the Lapras resided. Its skin was cracked and rotten, with some nasty looking liquid oozing out. Its shell was decayed and weathered, barely recognizable. Its head hung low, and for a brief moment, I thought it was dead just like the other Pokémon. As I approached though, a cut scene triggered, and it raised its head to speak,

“…You’ve come back, have you? A little too late for that, I’m afraid… Since you’ve cared enough to arrive, though, might as well try to fix what can be saved…” It bowed it’s head once more, and Pikachu hopped onto its back, a little unenthusiastic about the procedure. It sailed towards the Iceberg Zone, although I couldn’t help but wonder if the Lapras would actually make it that far.

When the screen faded to black, a few speech bubbles popped up in the darkness, presumably from the Lapras,

“…When they attack you, they don’t mean it. They’re just sad, angry, restless, frustrated… They just want things back to normal… We all do…”

After which, we reached our destination. At the new Zone, the ice was cracked and broken in several areas, making it difficult to maneuver through. The living dead here were frostbitten, almost like they’d been frozen alive. The huge snow Piplup and igloos were in shambles. The ice tree was broken too, many Pokémon impaled on its spikes. After several frustrating minutes of maneuvering through the tricky landscape, I made it to what used to be Empoleon’s attraction.

This time, Piplup was there to greet me, beat up beyond all belief and still adorning grey eyes. “Help me.” once again being the only words it spoke. Mew then floated down and asked, “Ready to play?”. Pikachu was still the only Pokémon I could select.

Thankfully this attraction wasn’t as grotesque as the previous. Pikachu slid down the icy ramp to the goal as normal, although the ice was cracked from several large stones in numerous areas, making it difficult to traverse. Constantly slipping on several patches of blood from the Pokémon crushed underneath the boulders didn’t help either. Eventually I made it to the goal, with probably the slowest record possible.

Piplup disappeared just as Chikorita had. “You lost.” Mew told me once more, “Although they aren’t your friend anymore anyways… You left them, remember?” Mew paused to giggle once again, “Let’s play some more! Meet me at the Lava Zone!” And then, was gone.

I painfully made my way back to Lapras, and was actually thankful to board its horrid figure than remain in the broken icy landscape. Once we made it back to the Beach Zone, however, the Lapras washed up onto the sand and laid stark still. It wouldn’t stir again so matter how much I tried talking to it, or hitting it with a lightning bolt. Personally, never visiting the Iceberg Zone again didn’t upset me very much.

After much running and zombie chasing, I found myself in the Cavern Zone. Most of the tunnels were caved in by piles of boulders. Many of the rocks had decaying hands from crushed Pokémon reaching out from underneath, feebly grasping for Pikachu. I made caution to avoid getting caught by one of the hands.

Eventually after some aimless wandering, I found where the hot spring used to be. The water was even more sickly green than usual, with some vile substances floating around in it I’d rather not know about.

The Snorlax was still asleep in the middle of the springs too. Except its hands, feet, and other parts of its body that were submerged under the acid-like water were morphed into a melted clump of goo. Pus oozed out of its empty eye sockets, mouth, and through several cracks running along its wrinkly skin. It looked more like a fleshy, rotting tub of goo than a Pokémon.

The thing that disturbed me the most though was the fact it was still breathing.

I wasn’t eager to join Snorlax, so I continued my trek through the cave. There wasn’t any further sign of life, except the occasional straggling Zubat or two that still wanted me dead. I finally made it to the gate that lead into the Lava Zone, but as I approached the mine cart that lead into it Mawile walked up behind me.

She looked pale and bruised, although not enough to be a zombie. Vines grew around the snake-mouth attached to her head like a muzzle, keeping it clamped shut. The snake-mouth looked infected and swollen, with blood seeping out of its tightly shut mouth. “What are you doing here..?” She spoke, then glanced at the mine cart, then back to Pikachu with a look of understanding, “…Going alone is suicide.”

Pikachu and Mawile hopped into the mine cart, and it slowly started rolling past the gate. When the screen faded to black though, speech bubbles started popping up, presumably from the Mawile,

“Things have changed since you left us. Without you nobody was able to keep Mew in check. Then it fell. And when it fell, we all fell down with it. You can’t change what damage has already been done, and there’s no further damage to prevent. Why don’t you save yourself while you still can?”

Afterwards, we arrived in the Lava Zone. Many places were still caved in. Parts of the ground were cracked, lava bubbling up from underneath. The undead here were melting as they walked. Their skin bubbled and dripped off their bones, collecting in pools on the floor. Skeletons and skulls littered the floor, presumably from Pokémon that had completely melted away. There were several zombie Pokémon here, and some of them managed to reach Pikachu. Whenever one did though, Mawile helped fight them off, acting sort of like a body guard.

After some wandering, a cut scene triggered when we neared the edge of a large pit. The camera panned over the edge to view dozens, maybe even hundreds, or corpses filling up the hole. The bodies were melded and morphed into each other, creating an unidentifiable mass of flesh.

Pikachu stood near the edge of the pit, and Mawile walked up towards him, “This is where we stored all the bodies that didn’t have a grave. Eventually there were so many bodies, all the lava that was previously in the pit was soaked up by them.” She put a hand on Pikachu’s shoulder, “Don’t be one of them.”

Some traveling and slaying later, we found Blaziken’s attraction. Charmander was here this time, worn down and grey eyed, pleading with, “Help me.” Except when Mew asked if I was ready to play, Mawile stepped in front of Pikachu with, “I am.” On the character selection screen, Mawile was the only one I was able to select.

Mawile stood on the cliff looking over the lava, adjacent from the other cliff where Mew floated with the canon. Lava filled the crater between the two cliffs, molten hands reaching out from the depths that tried to grasp for Mawile and Mew.

The canon fired. Instead of boulders though, skulls and bones flew out towards Mawile. I swung and she easily blocked them with her snake-mouth. Progressively, though, more and more larger skeletons were being fired more frequently, and more than once Mawile was knocked down before I could react in time. At the end, I was just 500 points short of the goal.

Instead of a “You lost” screen, Mew fired another skull, which knocked out Mawile. This time though, she didn’t get up. It left the attraction game and went back to Pikachu. Charmander disappeared as per protocol, alongside Mew’s, “You lost. Although they aren’t your friend anymore anyways… You left them, remember?” This time, I felt more like Mew’s words were directed towards Mawile, who was laying on the ground in front of the attraction, unmoving. Mew giggled, “Let’s play again! Meet me at the Haunted Zone!” And then fled.

I walked over to Mawile and tried speaking to her, and was faintly surprised when she actually responded, “Leave now… Don’t come back.” I tried speaking to her again, and she actually said something different, “Please… Save yourself…” Again, “…” Once more just to make sure she had nothing else important to say,

“You know, when you left… everyone missed you. I missed you.

Everyone still misses you.”

With that, Mawile stopped breathing, and became unresponsive regardless of how much I tried talking to her again. This was the first death in this game so far that actually genuinely upset me. Figuring there wasn’t much point in trying to bring the dead back to life, especially considering she’d probably turn into a zombie that would try to kill me, I left. The travel back out of the Lava and Cavern zones was a bit more challenging than entering, Pikachu dying on several occasions without a body guard, but eventually I made it out.

The Haunted Zone was desolate and decrypted. All statues and things that once stood were torn down and broken. Unusual rocks and boulders were here too, just as the other Zones. The mansion itself had holes in its roof, and it looked like several rooms had been burned down.

The main thing I noticed as I walked outside the mansion was there were no Pokémon in sight: dead or alive. It was a little relieving to be able to walk at normal pace without threat of being mauled.

Inside, it appeared to be more of an abandoned mansion than one that was haunted. Moonlight filtered through holes in the roof. The walls and floor were cracked, and several doors were burned and furniture broken. As I surveyed the area, I would catch glimpses of ghostly Pokémon at the outskirts of the screen or turning corners at the end of hallways. Of course whenever I tried to chase after them, they were gone.

Mew didn’t appear at Dusknoir’s attraction, so I assumed I was supposed to go to Rotom’s. When I went into the underground lab, I found Mew floating there. This time there wasn’t another one of Pikachu’s old friends there to be put at stake. I walked up to speak to Mew, who laughed, not giggled, and asked once more, “Ready to play?”

Pikachu was once again my only option. He stood in the middle of the room, ready to fight off the ghosts that would soon start pouring in. When the first ghost appeared though, it was an actual spirit, not a ghost type like normal. It was a Buneary like the one in the Meadow Zone. I shot the ghost Buneary, and immediately another ghost appeared, this time a Corphish. A ton of Pokémon, mainly ones I had seen as zombies, were flying in. Three of the most noticeable ghosts that caught my attention were the Lapras, Snorlax, and Mawile. It took all I could to fend them off. There were too many though, and in almost no time at all, they captured Pikachu.

“You lost. Although, they aren’t your friends anymore anyways… You left them, remember?” This time, I knew Mew meant all the Pokémon in the Poképark when he spoke. “…It’s time for you to go.” Mew than proceeded to fly off, to who knows where.

Without any sense of direction, I wandered around aimlessly, not sure what to do next. I was expecting some sort of grand ending more than a Pokémon telling me off. I felt like there was something more, so I headed out to the last zone I hadn’t ventured to yet: The Granite Zone.

This place was even more damaged than the other zones, if that were possible. The ancient ruins were in, well, ruins. Columns and structures were broken and scattered all about, and it didn’t help it was already damaged before whatever happened tore down the land. The undead were easy to fend off, and before I knew it, I was in the Flower Zone.

The grass and flowers here were grey and wilted, trying to thrive on the few sparse rays of sunshine filtering through the heavy clouds. There weren’t any dead bodies here. The only colorful, living thing was the Gracidea Flower, and the beaten-but-breathing Shaymin standing next to it. “This flower is our symbol of salvation… it’s the only thing I have left to live for.” It informed me.

I walked over to where Rayquaza’s attraction once was to find Chikorita, Piplup, Charmander, and Mew in front of it. As I approached them, Pikachu’s three old friends surrounded him. From each, a Water Gun, Razor Leaf, and Flamethrower were simultaneously fired at him. Pikachu tottered, then fell over on his side into the decaying foliage, not breathing. “You should’ve ran while you still could.” Mew teased, giggling.

The screen faded to black, then back, and I found myself on the Sky Pavilion. The floating ruins in the sky looked as if it was broken into a million shards, and pieced back together haphazardly. There was dense fog, making it difficult to see after a few feet. Everything visible though was grey, rugged, and devastated, including Pikachu. I walked around, trying to trigger something, but nothing happened. Eventually though, I found Mew floating among the rubble, and spoke to it,

“…When you first came here, you did everything you could to repair the Sky Prism, to save the Poképark.” Mew turned around to face away from Pikachu here, “…I broke the Sky Prism in the first place, so someone would come here, and be my friend. You promised you would be my friend. That was all I ever wanted, just one friend, just one…”

Mew turned back around, and several blue shards started to fly around him. “But you left. You left me, you left everyone, and never returned. So I broke the Sky Prism, and made sure no one recovered it, so the Sky Pavilion would crash down on everyone…” Mew started to fly off, with a few parting words spoken for the final time, “You lost. Although, I’m not your friend anymore anyways… You left me, remember?”

Before he left though, he turned to say one more thing, “Have fun enduring the loneliness I had to suffer. This is my park now.” And finally flew off the screen, into the fog.

I chased after him, but only ran into the edge of the floating ruins, and would’ve tumbled right over had there not been an invisible wall to save me. I ran all around the Sky Pavilion multiple times, until I pretty much had an entire map of the place mentally programmed into my brain and knew where I was going, despite the fog. Eventually, I gave up at finding anything or a way out.

Turning the game off and resetting could never get me out of that cursed place. Every time I got bored and played that game just to see if something would happen, I’d always still be stuck at that place, lost in the fog for eternity. Sometimes though, Mew would drop by and pay me a visit. But every time I spoke to him, he would always say the same words,

“I won.”

Ok. I’m writing a scary story for English,but, I know nothing about horror. But,I started with this — I look stare at the basement door. My mother has told me to go for some box she needs labeled clothes for donations. I don’t like the basement. It’s dark,and, I hate the dark. I never go out at night. Why would I? My mom doesn’t get why I am so afraid of the dark. I tried to explain,but, she still doesn’t get it. I take a deep breath. I feel like somebody’s watching me so I turn around,but, see no one. So I turn again to look at the door. I start to open the door when I hear footsteps. Footsteps coming from… the basement! I scream and run down the hallway to the kitchen. “Mom!” I scream. I look around the kitchen but I don’t see her. “Honey, i’m here,” I spin around and see my mother behind me. She is dressed in black with eyes that are usually brown, black. I shiver, she looks so unhuman. But it’s probably because she is standing in the hallway,which, is dark. “Mom, I-” I stop. She was in the kitchen a while ago. How is she suddenly behind me? “How long have you been standing there? Weren’t you in the kitchen?”

I am a writer visiting this site for a mystery book series. My biggest fear has to be the darkness. even though i know monsters arent real they still seem to haunt me when i go to sleep. So i’m thinking…Are they really fake..? ************************************************************************************************************** Evanna woke up to the scratching on her closet door. She always heard it. Her feet touched the cold floor. Her heart was racing as she walked towards the closet. She had never done this before, but she had been having a very tiring night and just wanted it to shut up.

Inside was a dog. It was a purple poodle but it had glowing red eyes and sharp teeth. it came growling and barking at her as she screamed slamming the closet door and running through the dark house. Nobody saw her again.

As we walked into the new house, I got a strong sense that something was not right. I knew my parents wouldn’t believe me if I said something bad happened here because why would they want to listen to a 17 year old girl? Going further into the house, I started to feel very unhappy. Almost as if something was making me feel sad. I blew the feeling off and started bringing boxes into the basement. I was bringing my last box down, walking passed the cellar when I saw someone walk in there. Immediately, my heart started to race. I set the box down and made my way towards the cellar. The closer I got, the more I noticed a scent of rotting meat. “Hello?” I said in a small voice as I opened the door. As soon it opened, I saw blood all on the ground and the walls, carcasses of dead animals hanging from the ceiling. I started to feel sick, but then I felt scared. Scared of something that was in there. I bolted out of the cellar, and ran upstairs to get my mom and dad. “Mom! Dad!” I screamed, “There’s something in the cellar!” I waited a few seconds and heard nothing. “Mom!” I called out again. Still nothing. I searched all around the house, until I got to their room and heard the sounds of gushing and slurping. I opened the door and saw the most horrifying image I had ever seen before. My parents we’re being eaten alive by grotesque, animal looking humans that were painted with blood and had long black, uncombed hair. As soon as I started screaming, a hand came behind me, covered my mouth, and pulled me back.

I’ve read too many stories of when people have apparently instantly time travelled against their own will. I always got wondering what would happen if they were put in a perilous situation. I may have written for a bit longer than 15 though, lol. Horror/Thriller/Scary genres aren’t my forte either.

Fear: Chronohodophobia – The Fear of Time Travel (Primarily instantaneous Time Travel, where you have no control over it.)

—- It was a bright, shiny day in New Orleans, where a young man walks through the streets towards his brand new home. It was an absolutely beautiful home: it was multi-storied, a nice plain grey in color with many windows, a balcony surrounding the entirety of the second floor, and on top of everything, it was cheap. Rowan had no clue as to why such an elegant home was so cheap, especially in somewhere as prestigious and fun-filled as New Orleans. Rowan stuck his hands into his black jeans, tugging out the keys to his new home. He fingered through the many keys, as some were to his old apartment, his car, his mailbox, and a few more. He found the key he needed, and he stuck the key into the door’s lock. The brown haired man opened the door and walked inside himself. The home was already furnished, with decorations from the Victorian Era all over the many rooms. It looked as if someone extremely prosperous had lived there. Rowan pondered on why this person didn’t send the manor down through generations. He began to wander around his brand new home. He climbed up some stairs. He saw many artifacts on display, but he briefly forgot that the house was a museum briefly. Rowan stopped in his tracks as his mind wandered to the concept of his new home once being a museum. He completely forgot the reason why, or who the museum was for. Why would a former museum be, not only sold as a house, but cheap? This made the man a little nervous. He disregarded this feeling, and found his way to his main room where he’d sleep. He wanted to try spend a night in the home before moving in everything from his apartment. The room had an aesthetic of dark grey and white, with the bed looking just as luxurious as the rest of the home. Rowan walked towards the windows of the room and looked out, but found that he couldn’t see much of the outside world. He saw that it was covered by a multitude of cobwebs, dust, water, and dirt. He sighed, as cleaning the home would be the hardest time of his life. The light that did sneak in indicated that it was early evening. Rowan sighed, as he knew that he had yet to explore the third floor and the attic. He walked out of the bedroom and back down the stairs. Rowan took a step outside to get a breath of fresh air. The air swelled into his face as he opened the front door, and he closed it behind him. He leaned his back against the door, and looked up at the sky. “Oi,” Rowan heard a man say towards him. Rowan glanced in the man’s direction. The man was certainly older in appearance. The man hobbled towards him. “So you’re the new owner, eh? Of this…” the man drifted off, as if he didn’t know how to describe it’s elegance. “I guess freakshow would be the word.” Rowan tilted his head in visible confusion. “What do you mean by that? The house is absolutely beautiful,” Rowan spoke. “You don’t know?” The man seemed genuinely surprised. “It was Madame Lalaurie’s home once.” Rowan didn’t know who that was, but he did reply to the man. “Okay… your point is?” Rowan pushed forwards. The old man looked at him, still genuinely surprised. “She was…” the old man began, but he stopped. “Never mind, I suppose ignorance is bliss in this case. Maybe the Madame will go gentle with you.” “Does someone else live in the house right now?” “You, and who knows what else.” “Why did the home become a museum?” “You’re a youngin’, use one of your dang smartphones and internet.” “Why is it a home again?” “May I just…” the man seemed annoyed now. “Leave?” Rowan sighed. “Fine.” The old man thus departed, and Rowan pulled his phone out from his back pocket. He groaned as he realized the phone was dead. He stormed back into the manor. He went back to the room, and climbed into bed. He was admittedly tired. Curling up, he fell right asleep. *** He awoke to the noise of an ear piercing screech in the night. Panic flying through his heart, he rushed out of the bed and out into the hallway. He heard a woman’s cackle to the left of him. Slowly, Rowan inched his way towards the voices he had heard. His arms were raised in ready for a fight. He made small glances around the hallway. The artifacts were all gone, or all put away. Rowan was visibly confused now; he had done no cleaning before he stormed inside and gone to sleep. He reached the end of the hallway, where a door was cracked open. Breathing slowly, he pushed the door open a little more. What he saw was a ghastly site. Blood, internal organs, and two people. One was a much rounder, and richer looking woman. Her hands were completely bloodied. On the floor, and the one who likely screeched, was an African American man, who seemed dressed as a slave back in the eighteenth century. Rowan was visibly confused, was this something more adult than he thought? Did the home house a cult? He was extremely unsure. The woman then turned around to face in his direction. Her mouth was clean, meaning she hadn’t been eating the poor man. Well, as far as he knew, she wasn’t eating him yet. The woman stared him directly in the eyes. “So, the invader has decided to join us!” The woman exclaimed, her eyes were absolutely crazed. Her voice was raspy, yet sharp. “Who are you? Why are you in my house?” Rowan demanded, his fists still held up in preparation of a fight. The woman was not visibly armed at the moment. “Your house? Hm… no. This is my house. I am Madame Lalaurie, I suppose, your host, and now, your hunter.” “What year is it?” Rowan asked. He knew that the house was old, and that there was only one owner. “Why, it’s 1812! Even a dumb invader would know that.” Rowan froze. He had been in 2018. It was now 1812. His heart sunk as he realized that he had gone back in time. He stared at his hands in pure fear of never going home. The woman slowly made her way towards him, and before Rowan could leap away, he was pinned down, and he felt a searing pain in his stomach before everything went back. *** “Today’s chronicle, read all about it! New owner of Madame Lalaurie’s home goes missing on the first night! Brand new blood stains found in the main hallway, bedroom, other room, and walls. Second person this week! No body actually found, just like the last one!” A young man shouted, carrying many newspapers in his hands. The old man hobbled towards the man, and took one. He sighed, and gave the man his paper back.

I am definitely not good at witing horror, but here you go. I am pretty sure there a multiple errors but it’s late for me and I have a broken keyboard. She comes down the stairs that lead to the basement, experiencing a strange feeling. The lights weren’t working so she had to use a flashlight to aid her down them. At the end of the stairs where there was a turn to lead further down the basement, there was a small flickering light, a candle perhaps.There was light chuckling coming from what sounded like a man, who she assumed was her fiancé, as he was not in bed when she woke up in the middle of the night. There was a weird, sickening sound of something splashing onto the floor that made her halt in her movements There was a strong metallic stench in the air that caused her recoil back. As soon as she step down onto the basement floor, there is a squelch under her shoe. The darkness from the basement makes her panic and once more she tries the lightswitch. The faint candlelight allowed her to see movement and she swallows a scream. She wanted to run, her heart pacing as whatever horror comes closer. Once it arrives, it wears such a familiar face that she just wants to sob. “Abigail.” It speaks in a soft voice and raises its hands toward her to caress her face. The metallic stench follows it’s hands and she’s forced to look at her lover. His once white shirt was smeared with gore, causing that nauseating stench with him. She remembers earlier that day she had chosen it for him to wear to work. “Why are you down here? You aren’t supposed to be down here.” His voice gentle, as if he was speaking to a child. “I-I” She stutters, “Why-” She shuts her mouth close as she noticed how bad she was shaking. Isaac reached down to grab at her hand and held it in his. “Hey, it’s okay. There is nothing wrong. Is everything okay?” She looks up at him and shakes her head wildly, taking steps back from him, wanting to be as far as away as possible. Her back hits the wall and once more she hits the light switch, needing the reassurance of what was happening. Poor yellow lightning fills the room and she falls to the floor with no relief. Her fingers colid with a strange texture and her breath hitches. Her mind can’t process what she is looking at, shutting down. Strangely chopped organs are piled on one part of the floor, somewhat cleanly removed from their home. What looked like a heart and intestines piled near the small sink, were clean and she noted the water drops dripping from the fountain. WHen she turns her head back at her love, she realizes that the rest of the room was covered in blood and gore, painting the floor and walls. As Isaac moved to get closer to her, she notices their missing kitchen knife. As he blends down next to her on the floor, he gives her a concerned look, the same one he gives her when she’s stressed. “Are you okay?’ Suddenly filled with panic, she jerks herself away from him. She wants to sob and cling to him, hoping that it was all a bad dream. They were supposed to be planning the next big part of their life together. But with the blood coating her fiancé’s hands, she supposed that wasn’t going to happen. As her breaths became shallower, they sped up and she notices the burning from her eyes. She brings a hand up to her chest to clutch it against her poor heart. Her vision goes blurry and she lets a sob escape. Looking up at Isaac, he gives her a look of pity before he reaches down and hugs her. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” He holds her tight and she chooses to ignore the feeling of blood seeping through from where his touch was. For some reason, she didn’t want to pull away, to stay and let him comfort her. But by doing so, felt like chains keeping her in place.

I am writing a scary story at school. I am wondering if I use it right, use paranoia to disarm a reader then throw a shocking end that bring a strong psychological emotion?

I wrote my story on a word document and my story is called “ BEHIND THE WALLS OF BLACK PAINT” it’s about a girl name Aria and her brother,mom,dad. Aria moves into a new house because she in college but the college doesn’t have dorm rooms so she going to live with her family. When she gets to the house she feels like something is watching her and like weird things are happening. Aria and her brother are witnessing ghost or demons but they don’t know what it is.. Aria keeps seeing this big black shadow figure and she thinks when she try’s to go to sleep someone or something is watching her sleep… Aria brother starts to ask her questions that are kinda weird but she also ask him questions too but there’s a twist she said she will give him questions then tell him the truth about the house.. when Aria tells her brother the truth about the house he doesn’t know what to say about it but he wants to tell mom and dad.. after they were done talking about that aria heard a noise it came from the living room there was a huge mess but it a pot twist there was a shadow person right in front of there eyes so they both ran to Aria room when they got there that shadow person followed them upstairs.. they thought it was there parents but there parents weren’t home…

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

Best Resources for Writers Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review Gifts for Writers

Books By Our Writers

You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.

Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.

You've got it! Just us where to send your book.

Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.

Want to Get Published?

Enter your email to get our free interactive checklist to writing and publishing a book.

All Editing
Manuscript Assessment
Developmental editing: use our editors to perfect your book
Copy Editing
Agent Submission Pack: perfect your query letter & synopsis
Short Story Review: get insightful & actionable feedback
Our Editors
All Courses
Ultimate Novel Writing Course
Path to Publication: Navigate the world of traditional publishing
Simply Self-Publish: The Ultimate Self-Pub Course for Indies
Good To Great
Self-Edit Your Novel: Edit Your Own Manuscript
Jumpstart Your Novel: How To Start Writing A Book
Creativity For Writers: How To Find Inspiration
Edit Your Novel the Professional Way
All Mentoring
Agent One-to-Ones
First 500 Novel Competition
London Festival of Writing
Online Events
Getting Published Month
Build Your Book Month
Meet the Team
Work with us
Success Stories
Novel writing
Publishing industry
Self-publishing
Success stories
Writing Tips
Featured Posts
Get started for free
About Membership
Upcoming Events
Video Courses

Novel writing ,

150 horror prompts, settings and characters.

By Thea Pelletier

Whether you’re looking to scare, horrify, or make your readers jump, we are here with all the inspiration you need! We’ve created a horrific list of 50 horror writing prompts to give your writing that hair-raising, back-of-the-neck eerie touch.

Why Use Horror Prompts?

Horror books (as well as movies and TV shows) exist because human fear exists. And all readers love to feel something with each genre! Classic horror fiction books aim to frighten, and over time authors have found a myriad of ways to do that. Common themes include ghosts, ghouls, monsters , vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, murderers, serial killers, paranormal forces, witchcraft, apocalypses, psychological fear, and gore.

So if you’re feeling uninspired, you think all the good ideas have already been taken (they haven’t), or you simply want to kick-start your imagination – take a look at our horror prompts list. We have included 50 specific examples of horror story ideas organised under sub-genres. We hope some of them send a tingle down your spine and inspire you to write your own creepy novel!

50 Horror Story Prompts

Word of warning: in keeping with the nature of the genre, most of these prompts contain violent or upsetting themes.

Agents at Ultimate Novel Writing Course event

Want more writing advice?

Our most comprehensive course is back, offering an unrivalled level of support, guidance, industry connections and opportunity.

Open to writers across the world, the Ultimate Novel Writing Course is now accepting applications for our Winter 24/25 intake.

Comedic Horror Prompts

You survive the apocalypse purely due to a series of happy accidents. It turns out, an alien race orchestrated the doomsday events on Earth to see if humans were ready to ascend. As lone survivor, you’re selected to be the sole representative of humanity in the new world order.
Unpopular new arrivals in a town that treasures natural beauty, Michaela takes pity on her plastic surgeon father and goes to bed one night wishing that all of her classmates’ worst fears of their physical insecurities would come true.
You work at a Zombie Rehabilitation Centre in LA. It was your dream job until you realise you’re stuck teaching ‘Bite Inhibition’ classes.
Flattered to be one of the few freshmen listed on the most popular sorority’s website “Fresh Meat”, you turn up to a party in your honour at the Kappa Kappa house. At the end of the night, you discover a secret book containing a step-by-step plan of ‘How to eat the class of 2022’.
Former beauty pageant queen transforms into a hungry werewolf on the most important full moon of the year, on the prowl for the ‘next pretty young thing’. This year’s pageant hopefuls are armed to the teethed and willing to fight for the crown.
You’re a vain, ancient witch adapting to the 21st century by getting a job at the Apple Store so that you can enchant teenagers’ smartphones and sap their youth through their devices.

Demonic Possession Horror Prompts

Stacey’s perfect family life begins to unravel one day when a malicious spirit moves in and inflicts itself upon its host, jumping around between her, her husband, and her two daughters.
You terrify your family when you wake up floating two metres above your bed. An exorcist tells them he’s cured you, but the demon doesn’t actually leave your body. It’s learned to come out only when you are alone.
Taking part in a prison experiment for extra credit, 11 university students are unable to explain the violence that overcame them, and the brutal death of the 12 th student, citing demons over any psychological element.
You’re trying to put your house on the market. You’ve lived there all your life, and you’re the last surviving member of your family. Every estate agent you bring in to the house dies in a tragic accident days later.

Gore Horror Prompts

Uni student Jamie was looking for some extra cash when he signed away two weeks of his summer vacation to take part in a simple clinical trial. But when he realises patients are having their organs harvested against their will, his experience turns into a brutal, bloody nightmare.
Someone in your neighbourhood has been committing grisly acts of violence on people at night. You set up a camera to investigate and catch an exact replica of yourself in the act.
A well-intentioned break-in turns nasty for a group of friends who become trapped in a ‘chalet of death’ as the stunning vacation home turns into a gruesome automated killing machine at night.
You take a summer job at an amusement park. When covering for a coworker on the rollercoaster booth one night, body parts start flying off the ride. You stop the train and find that all the passengers are long-dead corpses.

Monster Horror Prompts

Night-time brings terror for caring but agoraphobic cat lady as her six beloved pets transform into flesh-hungry demons as soon as it’s dark out.
You’ve seen The Quiet Place and Birdbox , but what if the monstrous entity who invaded Earth destroyed humanity through touch? Each ‘spore’ is as big as a city, growing bigger each time it absorbs a victim. A pack of survivors must spread out if they want to make it through an ever-narrowing world in order to find, and destroy, the epicentre.
Susie is a wedding photographer whose camera starts to reveal monsters unseen to the eye that prey on the love of newlyweds. When Susie’s clients start to disappear from their honeymoons, she is the only person who knows what’s really happening to them.
You’re a teacher chaperoning swimming lessons at your school. You inspected the pool yourself, but when the kids get in you see an enormous, invisible creature come to life. The first drowning is ruled as accidental, and to your horror, the lessons continue.

Paranormal Horror Prompts

College student Josh is tapped as a pledge for an ultra-secret society via coded messages, which are unbeknownst to him left by the ghosts of past members who each met gruesome ends. The final test forces him into an abandoned storage facility where he must carry out increasingly punishing tasks on other pledges.
A close relative who died before you were born is standing in the upstairs window of the house across the street. You have no doubt it’s them. When you work up the courage to break in to the neighbour’s house and confront them, you turn to see the person you came to find now visible in the window of your own house.
The local sheriff’s night turns hellish when the man he locked up uses his telekinesis to lethally booby trap the station.
A mother of three does all she can to protect her family from imminent doom when she begins having visions of their collective deaths.
You’re out walking the dog one afternoon when you find yourself caught in a physical endless loop in the woods. You feel yourself losing time but you can’t find a way out.

Post-Apocalyptic Horror Prompts

Humanity took to the sea to survive the rising sea levels caused by climate change, but now their ocean rigs are massively overcrowded, resource-poor, and steeped in disease. A deadly class struggle breaks out on one of the stations.
A wayward AI has slowly infected all computers and devices, subtly turning humans against each other. Now living in a culture of suspicion and distrust running on the currency of violence, nomadic young Kit refuses to kill to survive.
You’ve grown up as the next generation of the most wealthy and successful humans who survived the end of the world. Your world unravels when you realise that those raising you have in fact been the robot overlords who destroyed humanity. They copied the skins of those they found locked in an emergency bunker and started to artificially grow humans as pets and slaves.
Trapped inside a small cabin by her phobia of the rain, one of the last surviving human women on earth tries to survive the night when a horde of those infected with the plague (that wiped out most of the human race) track her down hungry for blood.

Psychological Horror Prompts

After a tragic accident on his 21 st birthday, Peter gets back in touch with his estranged father via email. He flies 6000 miles to stay with him, but when he arrives he’s pulled into a deadly catfishing game carried out by a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
You wake up in your childhood bed, look down at yourself, and find that you’re 12 again. You can’t see yourself in the mirror, or in photos, but everyone else can see you. You’re convinced you’re going to disappear altogether.
Suspecting his wife of infidelity, Ben hires a private investigator to catch her in the act. When she disappears without her lover, Ben begins to suspect the man he hired had something to do with it.
You work the graveyard shift at a 24 hour on-campus library. While snooping around you come across a handwritten book that was started three decades ago. It contains a record of all the accidents and atrocities that have happened at the school since then. A week later, a girl falls off the roof and dies. During your next shift, you see a beloved professor writing in the book. You start to doubt everything when the death is ruled an accident.

Religious/Folk Beliefs Horror Prompts

Summer is excited to be spending her semester abroad, until she witnesses some locals performing a horrifying ritual on her fellow traveller.
Your parents reveal a horrid secret to you on your 18th birthday. Your idyllic lifestyle in a small, isolated community will come to an end if you don’t start participating in the cult’s obscene rituals. If you refuse, you’ll be sacrificed against your will for the cause.
Born into a futuristic fringe community that abhors physical contact, a young woman’s attempts to break free are met with the harshest repercussions.

Slasher Horror Prompts

Callie is delighted to be driving to college in her graduation gift – a brand new electric Mercedes – when an EMP attack leaves her stranded by the side of the road. There’s nothing but forest around for miles, until a lumberjack with a dark past pulls up beside her.
Ten years after you said goodbye to your imaginary friend, you see their face on the evening news next to the headline ‘The Redfield Ripper’s Recent Attacks’.
An insane chef renting a cabin in the woods sharpens up their knife skills on whoever is unlucky enough to disturb them.

Vampire Horror Prompts

Cal is a postman resigned to a boring new route in a rural valley when he comes across three beautiful sisters living alone in a big house. He finds himself there almost every day hauling curious packages. A bout of bad weather knocks a tree down on the only road in, and a few days later, Cal is greeted with a terrifying scenario at the front door.
For months, your dog keeps waking you up at the same time every night. He barks at the window. When you look out onto the street, you see the same stranger watching you. The stranger can’t be recorded, and nobody believes you when you tell them. One night, thinking yourself delirious, you invite him in.
Told from the POV of the youngest sibling of an ancient coven of vampires, Clara and her family are ‘monsters’ living their lives in fear of a powerful new hunter who has trapped them in a small town and is threatening to pick them off one by one.

Witchcraft Horror Prompts

Down on her luck librarian Eliza idolises famous American movie star Marsha Green. When she comes across an ancient tome under some rotten floorboards and begins to meddle with unknown forces, she sets events in motion which alter Marsha’s life forever.
You win the lottery. But every time you spend some of the money, no matter what you use it for, bad things happen. You go back to where you found the lucky ticket, pinned to a tree, and it’s now covered in unfamiliar symbols.
A revolutionary new computer game downloads itself onto the laptops of a group of 11-year-olds. After playing all night, they return to school to find their in-game actions inflicted on their classmates. Suspecting their strict teacher to be behind it, the kids must figure out how to undo her spell and reverse the damage they have done.
You’re an overbearing mother who wishes she could give her daughter the perfect life. You do more harm than good with your cosmetic spells and emotional enchantments, nearly destroying the life of your sixteen year old, who eventually exacts her revenge in equal measure.
Working late one night, an exec finds himself unable to leave his bewitched office chair as a scorned investor instructs him to perform humiliating acts in front of his webcam as penance.

Zombie Horror Prompts

A teenage girl goes to an illicit gathering in the woods one night and meets a boy. Their encounter ends badly. She wakes up to find teeth and nail marks, and realises she is a little less alive than she was the day before.
You dreamt of the zombie pandemic as a child. You dedicated your life to preparing an antidote, waiting for the outbreak so you could develop a cure. You are shunned from the scientific community for your ‘fringe beliefs’. At the first signs of sickness in your loved ones, you kidnap them and take them to an underground research facility where you push yourself to your limits and make dire choices in anticipation of saving the human race.
Years after her best friend is murdered, detective Alana’s latest case leads her to a mansion overrun by a horde of zombies led by a hauntingly familiar face.
You’ve never questioned your landlord’s odd behaviour, desperate as you were for cheap rent. But when the fuse blows and no one is around to fix it, you uncover a nasty truth in the basement’s freezer. It’s overflowing with brains!
You’re a doctor volunteering in the latest wave of deadly outbreaks across Europe. When you’re morally unable to kill patient zero in the early stages of a new unknown strain, you must live with unleashing the zombie virus across the world’s population.

50 Places To Find Inspiration For Your Horror Story

The setting of a horror story is everything – but not all scary novels have to take place in a scary place (in fact, sometimes the most mundane of places can be given a horrifying twist by adding a bit of the unknown). When looking for inspiration, it really helps to physically go to a place, or research old relics, to help kick-start your imagination. Take a look at our 50 places that may inspire your next creepy tale. In fact, see if you can think of a horror book or movie set in some of these places (we certainly can!).

An empty school
A graveyard
Look at old paintings
Go through old photo albums
An empty house
The basement
A toy store after closing time
Visit an old library
An old lady’s house that hasn’t changed in decades
A scrapyard
The dessert
The ocean (the deeper, the scarier)
A secluded island
The forrest on a misty day
A snowy tundra
A corn field
A shopping mall
An abandoned…well…anything
A locked room
A log cabin
A swelteringly hot day
Suburbia…but different
A run-down urban street
A room full of puppets
Backstage of the theatre
Empty corridors leading nowhere
A rubbish dump
An empty road in the rain
The top of a mountain
Ancient ruins
The inside of a church
A fairground after closing hours
Beneath the streets of a big city
A metro station/the tube
The kitchens of a hotel or restaurant
An old stone quarry
Overgrown railway line

50 Horror Story Characters To Inspire you

Sometimes, the most simplest of storylines with the most mundane of setting, can be utterly horrifying of you add one very complicated character. Of course you can use monsters and fantastical characters you have created, but often the best effect is mixing an everyday character with a setting where they belong; for instance a clown hiding inside a car at an empty scrapyard, or a little old lady, bony and bent double, in the middle of the jungle. And remember – these characters can be the good gifs, the bad guys, or maybe a mix of both!

Little old lady
Troubled teenager
A person with no eyes
Police officer
Woman with dramatically applied make-up
Sex worker or pimp
Someone with blades for fingers
Baby in a crib
Toddler that doesn’t speak
Girl in bedclothes with hair that covers her face
A character that belongs in another time
Animal that can talk
Person with wings for arms
A very normal looking mother. A bit too normal.
Someone who is meant to be dead
A goody-two-shoes child
Airline pilot
Captain of a ship
Firefighter
Scientist (everyone loves a mad scientist)
A single dad
A mother with more kids than she can handle
Sewage worker
Builder working on an new house
Archeologist
Security guard
Traffic warden/meter maid
Someone with wheels for feet
Prison warden
Door to door salesperson
Shy secretary
Nun or priest

Writing Horror Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

We hope our list of writing prompts for horror , along with settings and characters, has sparked your imagination! If not, here’s how to take our horror ideas to the next level:

Found a horror story prompt you like but unsure of where to take it next? Let’s take #8 from the top list, for example, and add a few interesting characters from our list and choose a setting or two. Then start to build an information bank on your protagonist from there. At this point focus on the character , not the plot – because often one thing can lead to another. The Prompt: You’re a troubled teen who terrifies your family when you wake up floating two metres above your bed. You just moved into an old house in a quiet, creepy suburban street. An exorcist tells your family he has cured you, but the demon doesn’t actually leave your body, and learns to come out only when you are alone.

You’re still a teenager, living at home. Your name is Jackson, but you go by Jax. You’re a second generation immigrant and you speak Greek at home with your family. Your father named you after his favourite American baseball player. You have dark hair, dark eyes, and when you would steal your grandmother’s baklavas off the kitchen counter she would say she could see the devil in your face. You spend the weekends riding the coastal roads on motorbikes with your friends, doing your best to stay out the way of your spoiled little sister and your overworked father. You’re closest to your YaYa but too afraid to tell her where you spend most of your time. Moving house unsettled you and took away everything you ever loved.

Or, why not map out a rough plot first? The inciting incident for this prompt could be: You’ve snuck back into your room after a long night out with your friends. You left the window open. Four hours after you collapsed onto your bed in your clothes, you wake with a start to find yourself hovering inexplicably in the air. Your body is locked into position. You spend a panicked hour trying to wriggle free of its grip, but you can feel another presence inside your own body, forcing you down. You’re going to be late for your new school, your sister is turning the doorknob and your father is yelling for you. Your feet frame the pure terror in the three faces at the door as your eyes strain to see them. Your grandmother recovers the quickest, stuffing her komboskini into your frozen fist and running out of the room to phone her priest. Whether you start your horror story with just a vibe, a small seed of an idea, a great setting, character , or a full plot – it doesn’t matter. A great story can start anywhere, you just have to make sure that (like any scary monster) you keep feeding it and watch it grow bigger and more horrifying every day!

About the author

Thea is part of the Writer Support T eam here at Jericho Writers. She has a degree in German and English Literature from The University of Edinburgh and enjoys spending time with her dogs and working on her first novel in her spare time.

Help with getting published

How to get a book published
How long does it take to sell a book?
Tips to meet publishers
What authors really think of publishers
Getting the book deal you really want
7 Years to Publication

Get to know us for free

Join our bustling online writing community
Make writing friends and find beta readers
Take part in exclusive community events
Get our super useful newsletters with the latest writing and publishing insights

Or select from our premium membership deals:

Premium annual – most popular.

per month, minimum 12-month term

Or pay up front, total cost £150

Premium Flex

Cancel anytime

Paid monthly

Privacy Overview

Cookie	Duration	Description
__cfduid	1 month	The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information.
__stripe_mid	1 year	This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server.
__stripe_sid	30 minutes	This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server.
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement	1 year	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
JSESSIONID		Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
PHPSESSID		This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
__cf_bm	30 minutes	This cookie is set by CloudFare. The cookie is used to support Cloudfare Bot Management.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_gat	1 minute	This cookies is installed by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the colllection of data on high traffic sites.
GCLB	12 hours	This cookie is known as Google Cloud Load Balancer set by the provider Google. This cookie is used for external HTTPS load balancing of the cloud infrastructure with Google.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_ga	2 years	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gid	1 day	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.
_hjFirstSeen	30 minutes	This is set by Hotjar to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether this was the first time Hotjar saw this user. It is used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.

Cookie	Duration	Description
NID	6 months	This cookie is used to a profile based on user's interest and display personalized ads to the users.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress	30 minutes	No description
_hjid	1 year	This cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample	2 minutes	No description
afl_wc_utm_cookie_expiry	3 months	No description
afl_wc_utm_sess_landing	3 months	No description
afl_wc_utm_sess_visit	3 months	No description
CONSENT	16 years 8 months 4 days 9 hours	No description
InfusionsoftTrackingCookie	1 year	No description
m	2 years	No description

Essay on Horror Story

Students are often asked to write an essay on Horror Story in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Horror Story

Introduction.

Horror stories are a genre of fiction that seeks to scare, disturb, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

Elements of Horror

Key elements include suspense, surprise, and a sense of impending doom. Often, horror stories involve supernatural elements or entities.

Impact on Readers

These stories can have a profound impact on readers, evoking intense emotions and creating memorable experiences.

Despite their frightening nature, horror stories remain popular due to their ability to engage readers’ emotions and imagination in unique ways.

250 Words Essay on Horror Story

The intrigue of horror stories, psychological appeal.

At the heart of every horror story is the exploration of fear. Sigmund Freud’s concept of ‘the uncanny’ explains our attraction to horror as a confrontation with repressed fears and desires. This exploration of the unknown and the forbidden can be cathartic, allowing us to experience fear in a controlled environment.

Cultural Significance

Horror stories also reflect societal fears and anxieties. For instance, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” mirrors the 19th-century fear of scientific advancement, while George Orwell’s “1984” embodies the dread of totalitarian regimes. Thus, horror stories serve as cultural artifacts, offering insights into the zeitgeist of an era.

Narrative Techniques

The narrative techniques employed in horror stories are designed to evoke fear and suspense. Techniques such as foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and unreliable narrators keep readers on edge, while the use of dark, descriptive language helps create a chilling atmosphere.

In conclusion, horror stories are more than mere tales of terror. They are a reflection of our deepest fears, a commentary on societal anxieties, and a testament to the power of narrative techniques in evoking emotional responses. Their enduring popularity is a testament to their complexity and the human fascination with the macabre.

500 Words Essay on Horror Story

Horror stories have been a part of human culture for centuries, delighting and terrifying audiences in equal measure. They are narratives designed to frighten, cause dread or panic, or invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale. The horror genre taps into the primal fear within us, making us confront the unknown and the terrifying.

The Psychology behind Horror

The evolution of horror stories.

Horror stories have evolved significantly over the years, keeping pace with societal changes and shifts in what we fear. Early horror stories were often tied to religion, reflecting fears of the supernatural and the afterlife. As society became more secular, the focus shifted to the horrors of the human mind and the terrors of the unknown.

Modern horror stories, such as Stephen King’s works, often blend elements of the supernatural with the psychological, creating a sense of unease that lingers long after the story is over. The horror genre has also expanded into various sub-genres, such as psychological horror, supernatural horror, and body horror, each catering to different fears and anxieties.

The Impact of Horror Stories on Society

In conclusion, horror stories are an integral part of our cultural fabric, serving as both entertainment and a means to explore our deepest fears and anxieties. They have evolved with society, reflecting our changing fears and serving as a commentary on societal issues. Despite their often gruesome and terrifying content, horror stories provide a safe space to explore the darker aspects of our psyche, helping us to understand and confront our fears. The enduring popularity of the horror genre is a testament to its ability to tap into our primal fears and its capacity to thrill, terrify, and captivate audiences.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Happy studying!

Scary Story Essay

As one reads through a spine-chilling tale, have you ever found yourself captivated, unable to avert your gaze despite the creeping sensation of terror that permeates your being? If so, you’re not alone. Scary stories essays have been popular for centuries, and they tap into our deepest fears and anxieties and transport us to a world where anything is possible.

If you are struggling to develop ideas for your scary story essay, don’t worry – with the right tools and techniques, anyone can write a terrifying tale that will leave readers begging for more. Whether you are an experienced wordsmith or a fledgling novice, continue reading to acquire the knowledge necessary to pen a narrative that will ensnare your audience and leave them tossing and turning throughout the night. Write my essays with confidence and create your spine-tingling tale today!

What is a Scary Story Essay?

A scary story essay is a narrative essay designed to frighten and unsettle the reader. It typically involves supernatural or horror elements like ghosts, monsters, or otherworldly creatures. The objective of an essay centered around a frightening narrative is to instill a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension within the reader while concurrently maintaining their attention until the very conclusion.

Some characteristics of a scary story essay include:

An eerie or ominous tone
Vivid descriptions of the setting, characters, and events
A sense of foreboding or impending doom
Suspenseful pacing and plot twists
An unsettling or unexpected ending

Differences between a scary story essay and other types of essays

One of the key differences between a scary story essay and other types of essays is the emphasis on creating an emotional response in the reader. While most pieces are designed to inform or persuade, a scary story essay spm is intended to evoke a specific emotional reaction.

Another difference is using narrative techniques such as plot, setting, and character development. In a scary story essay, these elements are used to create a sense of tension and unease rather than simply advancing the plot or conveying information.

Elements of a Horror Story

The key elements that make up a horror story include:

Setting	The setting of a horror story is typically dark, gloomy, and foreboding. It might be a haunted house, a creepy forest, or an abandoned hospital.
Characters	Horror stories often feature characters who are vulnerable or helpless in some way. This might include children, elderly people, or individuals with disabilities.
Plot	The plot of a horror story typically revolves around a supernatural or horror element, such as a ghost, monster, or curse. The report may involve a quest to defeat or escape the horror or be a tale of terror and suspense.
Tone	The tone of a horror story is typically eerie, ominous, and unsettling. It may be characterized by a sense of foreboding or impending doom, as well as sudden shocks and surprises.

When these fundamental components are merged and executed efficiently, they coalesce to generate an overwhelming sense of dread and discomfort in the reader. For example, the creepy setting might make the reader feel like they are being watched or followed, while the vulnerable characters make them feel sympathetic and protective.

The plot and tone of the story might create a sense of dread or anticipation as the reader wonders what will happen next. And when a sudden shock or surprise does occur, it reinforces the idea that anything can happen in this world and that the characters are never truly safe.

Types of Horror Stories

Numerous horror tale classifications exist, each presenting distinctive attributes and themes. Some of the most common types include:

Supernatural horror	This type of horror story involves supernatural or paranormal elements, such as ghosts, demons, or haunted objects.	“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson”The Shining” by Stephen King”Dracula” by Bram Stoker
Psychological horror	In psychological horror stories, the horror comes from the characters’ minds and emotions rather than external forces. This might include stories about madness, obsession, or psychological trauma.	“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman”The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe”American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis
Body horror	Body horror stories focus on physical transformations or mutilations, such as body horror films like “The Fly” or “The Thing.”	“The Fly” by George Langelaan”The Thing” by John W. Campbell Jr.”The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
Survival horror	This type of horror story involves characters who must fight to survive in a dangerous or hostile environment, such as a zombie apocalypse or a deserted island.	“The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman”The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins”Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
Folk horror	Folk horror stories are rooted in local or regional folklore and mythology, and often involve pagan or supernatural elements.	The Wicker Man” by Robin Hardy”Midsommar” by Ari Aster”The Ritual” by Adam Nevill

How to Start a Scary Story Essay (Horror Story Essay)

Tips for brainstorming ideas.

Consider the setting, characters, and plot when brainstorming ideas for your scary story essay. What kind of horror elements do you want to include? Are there any real-life fears or anxieties you want to tap into?

After formulating a rudimentary concept, endeavor to generate several plot twists or scenarios that could unfold within the established framework. Do not hesitate to allow your creative faculties to soar unrestricted and endeavor to formulate a concept that exudes individuality and unpredictability.

How to create a compelling opening that sets the mood

The opening is one of the most important parts of a scary story essay. The opening sets the tone for the entire paper and should grab the reader’s attention immediately.

Consider starting with a startling or eerie image or scene to create a compelling opening. This might be like a character stumbling through a dark forest or a haunted house looming in the distance. You could also start with a quote or dialogue that sets the mood.

Examples of effective opening lines from famous horror stories

“The horror, the horror!” – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
“It was a dark and stormy night…” – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” – The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Writing a Scary Story Essay

How to structure the essay for maximum impact.

To structure your scary story essay for maximum impact, consider starting with a compelling opening that sets the mood, followed by a gradual buildup of suspense and tension. The story’s climax should be the most intense and terrifying part, with a resolution that provides some closure for the reader.

Developing a well-rounded plot and characters

To develop a well-rounded plot and characters, consider the motivations and fears of your characters. What propels their actions, and what are their most profound terrors and apprehensions?

Try to create real and relatable characters, even if they are dealing with supernatural or horror elements. This will make the story feel more immersive and engaging for the reader.

How to create suspense and tension

To create suspense and tension in your scary story essay, consider using pacing and structure to build up to the climax. You can do this by gradually increasing the frequency and intensity of horror elements, such as jump scares or moments of suspense.

You can also use foreshadowing and other literary devices to hint at what’s to come while still keeping the reader guessing. Furthermore, do not hesitate to leave certain details to the reader’s imagination, which can engender an even more disconcerting feeling of terror.

Using sensory details to enhance the scary atmosphere

To enhance the scary atmosphere of your story, consider using sensory data to help the reader visualize the setting and characters. This might include descriptions of sounds, smells, textures, and visual details like lighting and shadows.

You can also use figurative language and metaphors to create a more vivid and evocative picture for the reader. For example, you might describe a character’s fear as a cold, clammy hand gripping their heart.

Scary Story Essay Examples

“the tell-tale heart” by edgar allan poe .

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe is a classic horror story that features a narrator who becomes obsessed with the eye of an old man, to the point of murdering him. The story is told from the perspective of the murderer, which creates an unsettling sense of intimacy and psychological tension.

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is another famous horror story that involves a cursed object. In this case, a family possesses a monkey’s paw that grants wishes but with terrible consequences.

Analysis of what makes these stories effective and how they can be used as inspiration.

These narratives are potent as they delve into ubiquitous dreads and trepidations, such as the fear of demise and the inscrutable. They also use literary techniques like pacing, foreshadowing, and sensory details to create a vivid and unsettling atmosphere.

As you work on your scary story essay, you can use these stories as inspiration for your plot and characters while also studying their structure and pacing to see how they create suspense and tension.

Tips for Writing a Successful Scary Story Essay

Dos and don’ts for writing a scary story essay

Use sensory details to create a vivid and evocative atmosphere
Build suspense and tension gradually, with a well-paced structure
Create well-rounded and relatable characters
Use literary devices like foreshadowing and metaphor to create a sense of foreboding

Don’t:

Rely too heavily on jump scares or gore to create horror

Neglect the importance of setting and atmosphere

Use clichés or tired tropes that have been overused in horror stories

Tips for editing and revising to improve the overall quality of the essay

When editing and revising your scary story essay, consider the pacing and structure of the story. Make sure that the buildup of tension feels natural and engaging and that the climax is both satisfying and terrifying.

It is also crucial to prioritize character progression and dialogue, ensuring each persona is distinctive and multifaceted. Ultimately, it is imperative to contemplate the all-encompassing tone and ambiance of the narrative, guaranteeing that it evokes a pervasive feeling of discomfort and foreboding from the opening sentence to the closing line.

In conclusion, writing a scary story essay can be a thrilling and rewarding experience, but it requires careful attention to detail and an understanding of what makes horror stories truly effective.

By adhering to the pointers and techniques explicated in this article, you can compose a hair-raising anecdote that will keep your readers teetering on the precipice of their seats. So why not start brainstorming ideas for your scary story essay today? With a little creativity and imagination, you can create a story that will haunt readers long after they finish reading.

Remember to focus on the key elements of horror, such as setting, characters, and plot, and use literary techniques like pacing and foreshadowing to build suspense and tension. With practice and perseverance, you can hone your writing skills and create stories that will chill and thrill readers for years.

What is a Horror Story essay?

A horror story essay is a narrative essay designed to frighten and unsettle the reader. It typically involves supernatural or horror elements like ghosts, monsters, or otherworldly creatures. A short horror story essay aims to create a sense of unease and fear in the reader and keep them engaged until the end.

How do I start a scary story essay?

To start a scary story essay, consider starting with a startling or eerie image or scene that sets the mood. You could also start with a quote or dialogue that creates a sense of foreboding. From there, gradually build tension and suspense until you reach the story’s climax.

What are some tips for writing a good scary story essay?

Some tips for writing a good scary story essay include:

Don’t rely too heavily on jump scares or gore to create horror
Avoid clichés or tired tropes that have been overused in horror stories

Can I use real-life experiences in my scary story essay?

Yes, you can use real-life experiences as inspiration for your scary story essay. However, be sure to use them in a way that is respectful and doesn’t exploit real-life trauma or tragedy.

How can I make my scary story essay stand out?

To make your scary story essay free stand out, try to create a unique and unexpected plot that subverts readers’ expectations. You can also use vivid and evocative language to create a more immersive atmosphere and focus on creating well-rounded and relatable characters. Lastly, do not fear to take risks and experiment with fresh concepts – the most exemplary horror tales frequently challenge conventions and surpass limitations.

Lesley Hummings

How to Craft a Scary Story - Step by Step Analysis

By: Henrique Bertulino

Very few things capture the human imagination quite like a scary story. The horror genre forms a vital part of English literature and has been the subject of many research papers over time. Great names like Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, M. R. James, and even more contemporary writers like Susan Hill, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Anne Rice have advanced the art of horror short story beyond what we usually got before.

Scary Experience Essay Example

Make your main character easy to empathize with, pit them against things they cannot realistically win against, let your readers put their own fears into the text.

In this narrative essay, we will show you how a ghost story works. From a list of writing prompts, we have selected one for this sample essay, and though it doesn't feature serial killers stalking children during Halloween through flickering streetlights, we hope you will enjoy the roller coaster regardless.

My mother always told me that going up to the second floor was a bad idea. She had lived on the ground floor flat for twenty-two years, she told me, but people living overhead came and went. Had been for as long she had lived there. Not a single family in her recollection had ever stayed there for more than six months.

At least five families in her memory, and two in mine, had come and gone. The only person who stayed more than six months was a lone lady. From what my mother told me, she lasted so long because she had her own rituals she performed. But even she couldn't stay for longer.

What exactly haunted the second floor of our house, I didn't know. But it was a well-known fact that it was haunted. The entire neighborhood knew. Nothing ever happened on the ground floor, but when we went to bed at night, we could hear the sound of furniture being moved.

Oddly enough, the flat was untenanted at the time.

And so, I got curious. I wanted to find out exactly what was going on up there. The stories told by former tenants were much the same. Furniture being thrown about, windows and doors slamming open and closed. One woman was almost strangled in bed. Needless to say, that family moved away immediately afterward. I was deathly afraid of going upstairs. When I was little, the thought of a ghost living upstairs was enough to stop me from going to the toilet at night.

By the time I was twelve, though, these fears had been laid to rest. Most of my friends in the neighborhood were also rather curious about the haunting, and a friend of mine asked me if we could go up. The landlord always kept the keys to that flat with us, and I knew exactly where it was. So, smelling an adventure, I said yes.

On a weekend afternoon, we decided to put our little plan into action. Too many cooks spoil the broth, so it was only my friend and I. My mother was asleep after having lunch, so that made nicking the keys easier.

Tools of our trade in hand, my friend and I snuck up the stairs. He was ahead of me, climbing the stairs enthusiastically. There was nobody living up there at the moment, so there was no electricity. No lights to push the darkness of the staircase away. Our nerves were being canceled out by our excitement.

Suddenly, however, my friend stopped in his tracks. I stopped too and asked him why he had stopped. At my question, he started. He immediately whirled around, eyes wide.

"Didn't you just run past me up the stairs?" he asked, voice very quiet. "I stopped to let you pass…"

I said nothing. The look on his face did not make it seem like he was bluffing. The terror in his eyes was enough. We sprinted down the stairs faster than human feet have ever run downstairs, and shot out of the house and into the afternoon sun.

The adventure was never fully realized. To this day, that first-floor flat remains untenanted.

Why It Works

Horror stories don't all have to involve the main character moving into a haunted house. The secret to a good story is to make the main character be as sympathetic and likable as possible. A mother feeding her son, a sister playing with her brother, school friends - bonds of love and friendship are at the heart of every good scary story.

Of course, a true story beats out everything, but that's beside the point. Having the main character you can get behind and support sells a horror story. You do not want bad things happening to them. You want them to pull through and survive. The bigger the odds they face, the more you want them to come out on top.

This is what makes Bram Stoker's Dracula such a towering success. Even today, the struggles of Jonathan Harker to escape from the dreaded castle, of Dr. John Seward and Abraham Van Helsing's putting together of the disparate events connected to the Count, and Mina Murray's bravery while facing down a fate worse than death can't help but strike a chord in anyone's heart.

However, you are not writing an action story. Or an adventure tale. You're writing horror. So, the hero should never be able to fight the foe directly. The terror they face must be unimaginably stronger and stranger than they can imagine. That is the essence of horror - even the most chiseled bodybuilder is helpless against a street filled with flickering streetlights and shadows slinking past.

This is what makes the works of H. P. Lovecraft so widely loved. He left the ultimate horror up to the interpretation of the reader. The greatest source of dread in his stories comes from beings we cannot understand, and the feeling of alienness is what allows him to twist our emotions as per his command.

And that is what it comes down to, at the end of the day. You might love the horror genre, but to really understand it and how it works, you need to seep yourself in it. You have to read and watch everything of quality that you can get your hands on. Only then will you understand enough about the craft to be able to make your own mark. And that, we hope, is where this narrative essay leads you.

Whether you got your first taste of horror by watching horror films or picking up a copy of Goosebumps, take solace in the fact that the horror bug never truly leaves you. You will always be connected to the spooks, whether you like it or not.

We hope you got what you wanted out of this free essay. If you want your own essays to stand out, you should look into Studybay's assignment writing service. Get professionally written essays complete with masterful proofreading - nothing will stop you from achieving the grade you want. Give us your ESL essay topics, and watch us give you the best edited essay you will ever see.

User ratings:

User ratings is 4.5 stars.

4.5 /5 ( 8 Votes)

Head of Customer Success

I'm a medical doctor and brand manager. The process of getting into Med school and studying at it made me learn and apply many strategies to keep my productivity high while spending less time and effort. As a working student, I had to figure out how to study smarter, not harder. During this period, my interest in neurology and psychiatry, as well as my aspiration to help others, intensified. At Studybay, I use my knowledge, skills, and experience to develop helpful solutions for students and make their study paths more productive and fun.

Add Your Comment

We are very interested to know your opinion

Upgrade your writing skills!

Try our AI essay writer from Studybay today!

Share full article

Supported by

Picture Prompts

25 Picture Prompts for Writing Scary Stories

Photos and illustrations from The New York Times to inspire your spooky stories, poems and memoirs.

By Natalie Proulx

Happy Halloween! Do you enjoy reading, watching or listening to horror stories? What about writing them?

To celebrate the season, we’ve rounded up 25 haunting photos and illustrations from around The New York Times that you can use as prompts to write your own terrifying tales. Choose an image and then use your imagination to write a short story or a poem inspired by it — or tell us about a memory from your own life that the picture makes you think of.

You can use these images however you like, but if you need more guidance, here are four prompts, as well as articles with advice from horror writers and experts, to get you started:

Use the image as the setting for your story.

“The most important thing is the setting,” Ruth Robbins, professor of Victorian literature at Leeds Beckett University in England, said in “ How to Tell a Ghost Story .” She suggested starting with the “atmosphere” and the elements in the scene “that you may be afraid of.”

What makes the setting of the image especially eerie? What is the mood there? What are some of the creepier elements you could describe to build the atmosphere? What scary story could take place there?

Write from the point of view of a character in the image. Or write from the point of view of a character just outside of the scene who is observing it.

In his MasterClass , R.L. Stine, the author of the “Goosebumps” series, said the secret to making a story scary was a “close point of view with your main character” because then “the reader is experiencing this horror close up.” But, he warned, “you have to be very careful to keep the balance between what she’s feeling, and what she’s seeing, and what she’s thinking.”

Who is the person, or creature, you are writing about? What brought them to this scene? What are they thinking, feeling and, most important, experiencing? How can you show their fear instead of telling readers about it?

And consider the conflict: What does your character want? What is preventing them from getting it? What are they doing to try to get it?

Use the image as the starting point of your story , and then work backward.

In “ A Simple Way to Create Suspense, ” Lee Child, a thriller writer, said “we should ask or imply a question at the beginning of the story, and then we should delay the answer.” He continued: “Like the old cartoon of the big fish eating a smaller fish eating a very small fish, you’ll find out the big answer after a string of smaller drip-drip-drip answers. The big answer is parceled out slowly and parsimoniously.”

What question could be implied by the image? For example, how did this person get trapped behind the wall, and will he be able to escape? What did the woman hear that led her into the darkened hallway? What are these creatures in the haunted corn maze, and what do they want from you?

How can you build suspense in your story by revealing the answer to that question slowly, bit by bit?

Consider the image as a metaphor or symbol.

“Horror is, and always has been, in dialogue with the anxieties and fears of its time,” the author Stephen Graham Jones wrote in a guest essay for The Times Opinion section. For example, “During the Great Depression, the misery and economic strife were embodied by monsters from literature and folklore, as Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the mummy made their way across the movie screen.”

What real-world fears and anxieties could this image represent, whether in the world at large or in your own life? For instance, could it be a symbol for our anxiety about climate change? Or a metaphor for a challenge you are facing at school? What horror story could you tell that reflects the uncertainties we are facing in our real lives?

Scroll through the images below to find one that scares you. Then use these writers’ advice to craft your piece. Once you’ve got a draft, post the opening of your piece in the comments for others to read.

(Please keep in mind that if you choose to post in the comments, your writing should be appropriate for a general audience and observe Times commenting guidelines .)

Reaching Through the Wall

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

Want all of The Times? Subscribe .

Scary Story Titles: Crafting Unforgettable, Bone-Chilling Masterpieces (Plus 82 Ideas)

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on September 7, 2023

Categories Writing , Creative Writing , Storytelling

Scary story titles are an essential aspect of horror literature, as they create the initial sense of intrigue and fear that draws in readers. A well-crafted title can be the difference between someone picking up a book or passing it over.

The power of the perfect title lies in its ability to evoke fear and suspense, setting the stage for the horrors that lie within the pages of the book.

Understanding how scary story titles work requires an appreciation for the art of naming and the elements that make horror literature effective.

Horror titles can derive their impact from a range of sources, including mythology, folklore, settings, symbolism, and the influence of iconic horror authors. As the horror genre has evolved and expanded over time, story titles have adapted to reflect the changing tastes and preferences of audiences.

Creating suspense and intrigue with a well-chosen title is just one aspect of crafting a successful scary story. The continued role of horror stories in pop culture, and the rising popularity of adaptations into movies and video streams, serve to highlight the ongoing appeal of these chilling tales.

Key Takeaways

Scary story titles play a crucial role in attracting readers and setting the tone for horror literature.
Titles can draw their effectiveness from various elements, such as mythology, folklore, and symbolism.
The evolution of horror titles reflects changes in audience tastes and the ongoing relevance of horror stories in pop culture.

Understanding Scary Story Titles

When it comes to choosing a title for your scary story, the main goal is to capture the essence of horror and fear within a few words.

A strong, engaging title should evoke the reader’s imagination and clearly convey the frightening atmosphere embedded in the story. In this section, you will learn how to create persuasive and chilling titles for your horror stories.

Start by exploring different themes and subgenres of horror. These can range from psychological horror, supernatural horror, to suspense, and more. Identify the core elements of fear and terror present in your story and build upon them to shape your title.

For instance, if your story revolves around a haunted house, words such as “ghost,” “haunted,” and “dark” could grab the reader’s attention and generate interest in the story.

Another approach to creating a captivating title is to innovate on well-known phrases or popular horror tropes in order to create something original. When done correctly, this technique can spark curiosity in the reader and entice them to discover the story behind the title.

For example, taking a familiar phrase like “nightmare,” and twisting it into a fresh title like “The Nightmare Architect” could give your story a memorable and intriguing edge.

Keep in mind that invoking fear through your title is key. The use of powerful and emotionally-loaded words such as “bloody,” “shadows,” or “chilling” will arouse an unsettling feeling in the reader. When crafting your title, experiment with these words and phrases to develop something that genuinely resonates with the atmosphere of your story.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild. Horror is a genre that thrives on creativity, so embrace your darkest thoughts when composing the title for your scary story.

Push the boundaries and explore the depths of horror to craft a compelling and fear-provoking title that will haunt your readers.

With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to creating spooky and immersive titles for your scary stories. Just remember to maintain a balance between emotion, fear, and imagination, and you’ll achieve a title that effectively represents the unnerving world of your horror masterpiece.

Recognition of Famous Horror Authors

When you delve into the world of horror literature, you will come across several iconic names that have left an indelible mark on the genre. These authors have shaped the landscape of horror with their gripping stories and unforgettable characters.

Stephen King is undeniably one of the most prominent horror authors. With numerous novels and short stories to his name, King has mastered the art of crafting tales that send shivers down your spine. From the terrifying “The Shining” to the eerie “IT,” his stories leave readers questioning what lurks in the shadows.

Mary Shelley is another influential name in horror, best known for her groundbreaking creation, “Frankenstein.” A powerful story exploring the boundaries of science and morality, Shelley’s tale of a scientist animating a corpse continues to captivate and unsettle audiences.

Edgar Allan Poe is a master of the macabre, weaving spine-tingling stories that draw readers into a world of darkness and despair. His chilling works, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven,” showcase his ability to craft tension and leave an ever-lasting impact.

Henry James contributed to the genre with his thought-provoking novella “The Turn of the Screw.” This psychological horror story builds on the themes of ghosts, paranoia, and the supernatural, offering a haunting literary experience to the readers.

Clive Barker brings a unique flavor to the world of horror. From the twisted world of “Hellraiser” to the dark fantasy of “Weaveworld,” his imaginative work has garnered a loyal following among fans of the genre.

Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell have made a significant impact in the realm of children’s horror literature. Their series “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” brought together frightening tales and chilling illustrations, ingraining a love for horror in an entire generation of young readers.

These are just a few notable names in the world of horror literature. Each author brings their own distinct voice to spine-chilling tales, proving that horror is a genre that continues to evolve and enthrall readers of all ages.

Influence of Myth and Folklore in Scary Story Titles

Myth and folklore have always played a significant role in shaping the titles of scary stories. These ancient tales have provided inspiration for countless horror narratives, intertwining elements of fear, suspense, and the supernatural.

One example is the use of ghosts in myths, with stories featuring spirits of the dead causing hauntings or apparitions, which unsettles readers. The concept of ghosts has been used in various literary works, such as Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw” and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

The vampire motif, popularized by classic novels like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla,” has its roots in Eastern European folklore. These blood-sucking creatures of the night continue to inspire modern horror titles, constantly evolving to cater to different reader sensibilities.

Zombies, another frightening figure found in horror literature, can be traced back to Haitian folklore, where reanimated corpses were believed to be enslaved by witchcraft. Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” also features a reanimated corpse, contributing to the development of the zombie subgenre.

In the realm of cosmic horror, writers like H.P. Lovecraft have borrowed ideas from mythological creatures and deities, creating a sense of otherworldly fear. These stories often emphasize humanity’s insignificance in the vast cosmos, fostering a deep sense of dread.

Fairy tales, while often seen as children’s stories, have significantly influenced horror literature. Darker versions of these tales present disturbing themes that are further explored in scary stories. For example, Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” reinvents classic fairy tales with a darker, more sinister twist.

By incorporating elements from myths and folklore, authors can generate titles that instantly evoke a sense of fear and curiosity. For instance, combining “ghost” and “hound” might produce the title “Ghost Hound House,” while pairing “zombies” and “shadows” might lead to “Chilling Zombie Shadows.”

In conclusion, traditional myths and folklore continue to shape the titles and narratives of scary stories. By drawing inspiration from our collective past and cultural heritage, authors craft captivating tales that tap into deep-rooted fears, engaging readers with timeless themes and familiar yet terrifying elements.

Role of Settings in Creating Fear in Titles

When crafting a scary story title, the setting plays a crucial role in evoking fear and capturing the reader’s attention. Settings such as the woods , the cemetery , and haunted houses have long been associated with fear and horror. In this section, we will explore how these settings help create an eerie atmosphere and make your titles stand out.

The use of isolated locations like the woods or an isolated house in your titles can create a sense of vulnerability and vulnerability, emphasizing how far removed characters are from safety and help. For example, consider a title like “Lost in the Shadowy Woods.” This title utilizes the setting of the woods to build tension and fear, making the reader curious about what could happen to the character in this frightening environment.

Another key setting to consider is the cemetery . This location is a classic setting for scary stories, as people’s interactions with the resting places of the dead often create uneasiness and fear. Titles that include a cemetery as their setting may evoke feelings of dread, like “The Haunted Cemetery of Black Town.” The combination of the cemetery and the ominous-sounding town name hints at something wrong or unnatural happening in the area.

Haunted houses provide another powerful setting for scary titles. Known for their supernatural entities and tragic pasts, haunted houses instantly add an element of danger and fear to your story. For example, “Dark Whispers in the Haunted House” evokes fear by suggesting both supernatural elements and a mysterious atmosphere within the house.

When exploring less common titles, black town , missing street , and wrong turn can be effective in creating a sense of unease and fear. Using these concepts in your title suggests sinister events taking place in seemingly ordinary locations and adds to the psychological horror aspect. For instance, a title like “The Missing Street: A Wrong Turn to Nightmare” introduces the reader to a nightmarish world that is hinted at by the settings of a street that’s not supposed to exist and the consequences of taking a wrong turn.

In conclusion, using settings such as the woods, the cemetery, haunted houses, and concepts like black town, isolated houses, missing streets, and wrong turns can elevate your scary story titles, making them more memorable and fear-provoking for your audience.

Imagery and Symbolism in Horror Story Titles

When creating effective horror story titles, using imagery and symbolism can set the tone and catch your reader’s attention. In this section, we’ll explore some common symbols and images that you can incorporate into your horror title to evoke terror and suspense.

Shadow is a powerful symbol in horror literature. It represents darkness, the unknown, and hidden threats lurking behind every corner. Including shadows in your horror story title can create an eerie atmosphere suggestive of lurking danger. For example, a title like “The Shadow by the Window” suggests something sinister hiding in plain sight.

Windows are often seen as gateways between the inside and the outside world. In horror stories, a window could symbolize vulnerability or the intrusion of some malevolent force. Incorporate windows into your title to suggest an unsettling boundary between safety and terror. An example could be “Voices Through the Window,” implying the approach of an uncanny force or entity.

Hanging is yet another powerful image in horror storytelling. It imparts senses of dread, despair, and suffocation while showcasing a sinister act. Consider titles that involve hanging objects or references, such as “The Hanging Ropes” or “The Rope’s Shadow.” These titles instill fear by hinting at the ominous nature of the story.

Voices or auditory aspects can also play a significant role in horror story titles. Unseen or mysterious voices can emphasize the eerie, unsettling nature of the story. Including voices in your title, such as “Voices from the Darkness” or “Whispers of the Entity,” can create a chilling atmosphere by implying that your story contains something that cannot be seen, yet is ever-present.

Lastly, the entity in horror narratives represents an otherworldly or supernatural force whose origins are unknown. Including an entity in your title can leave your reader intrigued and uncertain. A story titled “The Unseen Entity” or “Shadow of the Entity” channels the fear of the unknown, providing the perfect foundation for a creepy horror tale.

By incorporating these symbols and images into your horror story titles, you create a powerful, evocative atmosphere that draws your readers in. Keep in mind that the tone should be striking but authentic, avoiding exaggerated or false claims. A well-crafted horror title sets the stage for the thrilling, terrifying story that follows.

How to Initiate Suspense through Scary Titles

When creating a suspenseful scary title, it’s essential to captivate your readers from the outset. You want to inspire curiosity and fear, making them eager to delve into your story. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when crafting a suspenseful title.

The first thing to consider is the phrasing of your title. Use active verbs to increase the sense of tension, for example, “it approaches slowly” or “have you locked the door”. This technique conveys both action and mystery, leaving your readers wondering what the danger may be.

Choosing the right words is also crucial in creating suspenseful titles. Opt for words that evoke a sense of dread and anxiety, like “reflection” in “not her reflection”. This choice hints at an underlying threat or something sinister lurking beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary things.

Additionally, keep your title short and impactful. Concise titles often have a more significant effect on readers, piquing their curiosity and drawing them in. For example, “The Hound” or “The Shadows” give just enough information to create intrigue while still leaving much to the imagination.

Another tip is to play with the unknown. Titles that feature ambiguity and unanswered questions can spark your readers’ imagination, setting the stage for a suspenseful story. Make it a point to tap into implied or explicit consequences but without revealing too much.

Finally, use the appropriate tone for your title. A confident, knowledgeable, neutral, and clear tone is effective in creating the desired atmosphere of suspense. This approach ensures that your readers understand the stakes and feel curious about the chilling events that will unfold in your story.

In conclusion, to initiate suspense through scary titles, remember to use active verbs, carefully select your words, make your titles concise, play with the unknown, and maintain an appropriate tone. By doing so, you will draw your readers in, keeping them enthralled from start to finish.

Evolving Variety of Titles According to Audience Age

As you delve into the world of scary story titles, it’s essential to consider how the variety of titles has evolved according to audience age. Over the years, horror titles catered to different age groups, from babies and young children to adults, ensuring a diverse range of narratives for various preferences.

For young children and babies, titles often take on a lighter approach, featuring friendly monsters or spooky yet harmless creatures. These stories aim to introduce children to the concept of fear and suspense while maintaining an approachable and age-appropriate tone. Examples of stories for this age group include picture books like “Goodnight Goon” and “Room on the Broom.”

In contrast, horror titles for older children and pre-teens often explore more complex themes while remaining suitable for their age group. Titles delve into supernatural elements, haunted settings, and cryptic mysteries. Esteemed series like R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” and Mary Downing Hahn’s ghost stories are perfect examples of titles that cater to this target audience.

As readers venture into adolescence and adulthood, the variety of horror titles expands drastically to incorporate darker themes and more explicit content. Adult horror titles frequently explore psychological horror, gore, and supernatural elements. Some of these popular titles include classic novels like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Stephen King’s “The Shining.” These narratives are designed to evoke strong emotions and chill the reader to the core.

Additionally, there are titles with a broader appeal, suitable for all ages without compromising on the element of spookiness. Titles like “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman and the Harry Potter series created a balance of horror and fantasy that is enjoyable for both younger and more mature readers.

In summary, the variety of scary story titles has evolved significantly, ensuring that there is something available for horror enthusiasts across all age groups. Remember to keep your audience’s age in mind when selecting a title and always opt for stories that suit their preferences and maturity levels.

Impact of Adaptations into Movies and Video Streams

As you delve into the world of horror, you’ll notice that numerous scary story titles have been adapted into movies and video streams. This has transformed the way audiences experience these bone-chilling narratives, ultimately shaping the horror genre’s landscape.

When comparing different formats, adaptations of horror movies and video streams add a new dimension to the story, enhancing your experience as a viewer. Movies like “Hellraiser” have pushed the boundaries of sci-fi horror, combining otherworldly concepts with terrifying imagery that is bound to leave a lasting impact.

Furthermore, the process of turning a work of fiction into a film or streaming series allows for greater creative input from various sources. This often results in more diverse, visually striking, and emotionally charged storytelling. Examples include popular series that blend horror elements with action, drama, or even comedy, creating a captivating space for fans to enjoy.

Still, it is crucial to remain cautious when exploring the adaptations of scary stories. Some may blur the lines between fear and shock value or offer misleading representations of the source material. However, for the most part, faithful adaptations have contributed to the horror genre’s growth, developing memorable characters and plots that captivate and terrify viewers.

Remember, when exploring horror movie and video stream adaptations, be prepared to experience a wide range of emotions and reactions. The world of horror is vast and ever-evolving, providing plenty of chilling options for your viewing pleasure.

Popular Horror Themes Reflected in Titles

When creating a scary story title, it’s essential to consider popular horror themes that resonate with readers. The following themes are prevalent in horror works and can help you come up with a title that reflects the essence of your story.

Death: Death is a common theme in horror titles, as it evokes a sense of dread and finality. Titles featuring words related to death can create an atmosphere of terror, such as “The Deathly Hound” or “Attic of the Dead.”

Plague: Plague or pandemic situations can induce fear, especially when they’re out of control. Titles such as “The Plague House” or “The Serial Killer’s Virus” highlight the feeling of helplessness that comes with widespread disease.

Serial Killer: Serial killers evoke the fear of unstoppable evil, with titles like “The Hound of Vengeance” or “The Black Zombie’s Prey” hinting at a relentless and brutal antagonist.

Scary Monster: Horror titles often include scary monsters, either supernatural or human in nature. “The Creaking Cracks Monster” or “Abusive Shadows” can emphasize the chilling presence of these creatures.

Black Zombie: Zombies are a popular choice for horror themes, often symbolizing the loss of humanity. Titles like “The Black Zombie’s Plague” or “Gory Games of the Undead” capture the terror associated with the walking dead.

Abuse: The theme of abuse showcases the dark side of human nature. Titles such as “The Tormented Attic” or “The Creaking Cracks of Pain” can convey the horror that comes from mistreatment and suffering.

As you craft your horror story titles, remember to draw inspiration from these popular horror themes. Reflect the atmosphere and key elements in your title to capture and intrigue your readers. And always remember to maintain a confident, knowledgeable, neutral, and clear tone in your writing.

82 Scary Story Title Ideas

Here are 82 scary story title ideas:

The Basement
The Haunted House
The Abandoned Hospital
The Graveyard at Midnight
The Face at the Window
The Urban Legend
The Bloody Mary Ritual
The Strange Noise
Don’t Look Under the Bed
The Creepy Doll
The Closet Door
Heavy Breathing
The Shadow People
The Ghost in the Mirror
The Scarecrow
The Rocking Chair
The Masked Stranger
The Ghost Ship
The Secret Passage
The Warning Signs
The Evil Clown
The Revenge Spell
The Cursed Object
The Hitchhiker
The Dead Girl’s Diary
The Haunted Carnival Ride
The Last Campfire Story
The Strange Inheritance
The Man with the Hook
The Ghost Photograph
The Missing Children
The Possession
The Unmarked Grave
The Murder House
The Creepy Woods
The Thing in the Fog
The Tap at the Window
The Creeping Shadow
The Whispering Voices
The Escaped Patient
The Ghost in the Machine
The Haunted Hotel Room
The Devil’s Hour
The Halloween Party Gone Wrong
The Cornfield
The Full Moon
The Ghost Town
The Uninvited Guest
The Ouija Board
The Phantom Caller
The Warning on the Wall
The Unfinished Business
The Curse of the Witch
The Haunted Playground
The Unmarked Tombstone
The Ghost Child
They’re Waiting for You
The Followed Home
The House on the Hill
The Monster in the Dark
The Creaking Stairs
The Thing in the Closet
The Black Cat
The Screams in the Night
The Ghost in the Bathroom Mirror
The Door That Shouldn’t Be Open
The Mysterious Package
The Man with the Scar
The Broken Doll
The Hand Under the Bed
They Come at Night
The Scary Old Lady Next Door
The Grave Robbers
The Night Feedings
The Closed Casket
The Salesman’s Offer
The Creature in the Woods
The Unwanted Passenger
The Message on the Wall
The Sleep Study

Understanding the Horror of Ambiguity in Titles

When crafting a horror story, you want to evoke a sense of fear and unease in your readers. One way to do this is by creating ambiguous story titles. In this section, you’ll learn how using ambiguity in titles can enhance the horror elements of your story while keeping readers intrigued and engaged.

Titles like “Watch Out” and “Untold Thoughts” make use of ambiguity to create a sense of suspense and mystery. With “Watch Out,” your readers will be left wondering what danger they should be aware of and, as a result, feel more connected to your story as they search for answers. In “Untold Thoughts,” the unknown and potentially darker aspects of a character’s thoughts are alluded to, which raises questions and curiosity about what these thoughts might entail.

Another example is “Angry Forest,” which combines a strong emotion with a neutral setting, creating a disconcerting ambiguity. Your readers may wonder what can make a forest angry? Is it a monstrous creature lurking within or an environmental disaster? As a writer, you have ample room to explore these ideas and heighten fear through the unknown.

Using colors or emotions in your story titles can also create an effective sense of ambiguity and dread. “Red Revenge” is a perfect example, as red often symbolizes danger or even blood. But what exactly is the revenge, and who or what is seeking it? By keeping the source of revenge ambiguous, you are able to keep your readers guessing and heightening their sense of suspense.

Finally, consider using a phrase that evokes a sense of warning and unease, such as “Never Turn Your Back.” Here, readers will be left to fill in the blanks about the potential danger looming behind them, creating a heightened sense of anxiety and anticipation for what might happen in the story.

When using ambiguous titles, remember to stay confident, knowledgeable, neutral, and clear. By embracing ambiguity in your story titles, you’re giving your readers a taste of the horror and fear that they can expect within your story, while also keeping them in suspense and eager to find out more.

The Role of Horror Stories in Pop Culture

Horror stories have long been a staple in pop culture, captivating audiences by tapping into universal fears and anxieties. You can see this fascination with the macabre play out around events like Halloween when people immerse themselves into frightening experiences, sometimes even donning horrifying costumes and participating in spooky traditions.

One popular medium for horror in pop culture is literature. Take, for example, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” which is a collection of short horror stories that have captured the imaginations of many readers. This book combines folklore, urban legends, and original tales, and many people enjoy reading or sharing them during Halloween season or sleepovers to set a spooky mood.

In addition to literature, horror stories often inspire other forms of entertainment. For instance, many iconic horror movies, like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Amityville Horror,” are pulled from the pages of novels and have become part of our collective consciousness. The success of these films has led to numerous sequels, spin-offs, and remakes that continue to captivate audiences.

Furthermore, horror stories have a way of infiltrating everyday aspects of our lives, no matter how mundane they may seem. Believe it or not, shoes can take on a chilling aspect when combined with the right horror tale. It’s interesting how a single accessory can instantly evoke horror when paired with a scary story or character.

It is important to remember that beyond their entertainment value, horror stories often convey deeper messages and reflect societal anxieties. Monsters and other terrifying elements can symbolize various fears and concerns that people face, allowing individuals to confront and explore them in a safe environment.

So the next time you read a chilling tale, watch a horror film, or don a spooky costume for Halloween, remember that these stories serve not only to scare and entertain but also to help us understand and confront our fears and anxieties.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some captivating horror short story titles.

Some captivating horror short story titles include “The Old Calendar,” “Beneath Her Shoes,” “Underneath the Bush,” “Don’t Leave the Window Open,” “Have You Locked the Door?” and “The Ball of String.” When choosing a title for your story, aim for one that piques the reader’s curiosity and engages their interest.

How can I create a chilling title for my horror story?

To create a chilling title for your horror story, consider combining two related ideas or words that evoke fear or suspense. You can brainstorm a list of nouns, adjectives, or phrases related to your story’s theme or main character and then experiment with various combinations. For example, you could mix words like “Broken,” “Bloody,” “Creepy,” “Fearful,” and “Chilling” with “House,” “Hound,” “Shadows,” “Ghosts,” or “Zombies.”

What are some memorable psychopath story titles?

Memorable psychopath story titles include “The Psychopath’s Corner,” “Diary of a Smiling Madman,” “Crimson Laughter,” and “Whispers from a Twisted Mind.” To craft an impactful psychopath story title, try to convey the dark and twisted nature of the character or plot while still maintaining an air of suspense and intrigue.

What are the most effective titles for scary essays?

Effective titles for scary essays might include “The Anatomy of Fear,” “Behind the Curtain of Terror,” or “Unraveling the Psychology of Nightmares.” When creating a title for a scary essay, focus on the main topic you are exploring and consider using alliteration, puns, or other wordplay to make it memorable and engaging.

What are some popular horror titles on Wattpad?

Popular horror titles on Wattpad include “The Depths,” “The Cellar,” “The Babysitter’s Club,” “Mr. Composure,” and “I Hate Imaginary Friends.” These titles showcase a unique blend of mystery, suspense, and fear while enticing readers to learn more about the story.

What are some renowned horror stories to read online?

Some renowned horror stories available to read online include “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. These classic tales are known for their gripping narratives, powerful atmosphere, and consternating twists.

150+ Short Two-Sentence Horror Stories To Freak You Out

Horror stories don’t need to be long in order to be scary. A good horror concept can always be boiled down to it’s chilling core.

These are short scary stories. These two-sentence horror stories are going to freak you the eff out.

I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, “Daddy check for monsters under my bed.” I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, “Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.” — justAnotherMuffledVo

The doctors told the amputee he might experience a phantom limb from time to time. Nobody prepared him for the moments though, when he felt cold fingers brush across his phantom hand. — Gagege

I can’t move, breathe, speak or hear and it’s so dark all the time. If I knew it would be this lonely, I would have been cremated instead. — Graboid27

Don’t be scared of the monsters, just look for them. Look to your left, to your right, under your bed, behind your dresser, in your closet but never look up, she hates being seen. — AnarchistWaffles

I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I though it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again. — therealhatman

They celebrated the first successful cryogenic freezing. He had no way of letting them know he was still conscious. — KnowsGooderThanYou

She wondered why she was casting two shadows. Afterall, there was only a single lightbulb. — pgan91

It sat on my shelf, with thoughtless porcelain eyes and the prettiest pink doll dress I could find. Why did she have to be born still? — Horseseverywhere

The grinning face stared at me from the darkness beyond my bedroom window. I live on the 14th floor. — bentreflection

There was a picture in my phone of me sleeping. I live alone. — guztaluz

Working the night shift alone tonight. There is a face in the cellar staring at the security camera. — hctet

They delivered the mannequins in bubble wrap. From the main room I begin to hear popping. — Mikeyseventyfive

You wake up. She doesn’t. — tuskedlemon

She asked why I was breathing so heavily. I wasn’t. — Calamitosity

You get home, tired after a long day’s work and ready for a relaxing night alone. You reach for the light switch, but another hand is already there. — madamimadamimadam

My daughter won’t stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I visit her grave and ask her to stop, but it doesn’t help. — skuppy

Day 312. Internet still not working. — fluffyponyza

You start to drift off into a comfortable sleep when you hear your name being whispered. You live alone. — anonymous_abc

I needed to quickly run a SQL command to update a single row in an Oracle DB table at work. To my horror, it came back with “–2,378,231 rows affected.” — waysafe

You’re laying in bed and with your feet dangling out of the covers. You feel a hand grab your feet. — HesusMendez

The funeral attendees never came out of the catacombs. Something locked the crypt door from the inside. — TLFMOD

My wife woke me up last night to tell me there was an intruder in our house. She was murdered by an intruder 2 years ago. — The_D_String

The officer finally got back to me. The call was coming from inside the house.

I was having a pleasant dream when what sounded like hammering woke me. After that, I could barely hear the muffled sound of dirt covering the coffin over my own screams. — vigridarena

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door. — Scry67

After working a hard day I came home to see my girlfriend cradling our child. I didn’t know which was more frightening, seeing my dead girlfriend and stillborn child, or knowing that someone broke into my apartment to place them there. — cobaltcollapse

You hear your mom calling you into the kitchen. As you are heading down the stairs you hear a whisper from the closet saying “Don’t go down there honey, I heard it too.” — comparativelysane

I never go to sleep. But I keep waking up. — genetically_witless

Nurse’s Note: Born 7 pounds 10 ounces, 18 inches long, 32 fully formed teeth. Silent, always smiling. — ichokedcheryltunt

She went upstairs to check on her sleeping toddler. The window was open and the bed was empty. — Aerron

The longer I wore it the more it grew on me. She had such pretty skin. — blaqkmagick

You hear the scream across the hallway, but your eyes won’t open and you can’t move. — dkmino

Being the first to respond to a fatal car accident is always the most traumatic thing I see as a police officer. But today, when the crushed body of the little dead child boy strapped in his car seat opened his eyes and giggled at me when I tried to peel him out of the wreckage, I immediately knew that today would be my last day on the force. — scabbycakes

I looked out my window. The stars had gone away. — Owllette

I always thought my cat had a staring problem, she always seemed fixated on my face. Until one day, when I realized that she was always looking just behind me. — hangukbrian

“I can’t sleep” she whispered, crawling into bed with me. I woke up cold, clutching the dress she was buried in. — VaultKid321

I just saw my reflection blink. — marino1310

I kiss my wife and daughter goodnight before I go to sleep. When I wake up, I’m in a padded room and the nurses tell me it was just a dream. — StoryTellerBob

The pairs of emaciated eyes outnumber the single round in my gun. With pleading tears falling on her doll’s hair, I point the barrel at my last surviving daughter. — yoshkow

I peeked outside. The pizza delivery guy is at the door, but I didn’t order a pizza — and definitely not from someone wearing a pig mask.

My mother has been screaming at the front door for hours now. She’s not happy that I killed her with my bare hands.

I have a friend named Charlie. I’m playing at his house but it’s cold down here in the basement, I wonder when Charlie will let me go home.

If you get scared at night, don’t keep your eyes closed for too long. There’s a reason you’re scared, and now you can’t see it approach.

I used a Ouija board yesterday, but I only asked one question and put it away. I got my answer today — written in blood on my ceiling.

The wailing from the baby monitor just won’t stop. Problem is, my daughter is with her mother this weekend… over 200 miles away.

Grandpa died smoking a cigar in his favorite chair. We got a new one but from the ash marks he leaves behind he has a new favorite chair.

My husband woke me up by kissing my cheek when he got home late. This morning I checked my phone — he stayed with a friend last night.

I like to sing in the shower sometimes. When I got out of the last one, the fogged-up mirror read “YOU HAVE A LOVELY VOICE” — I live alone.

My wife just ran in to ask me if I was okay because she could hear my terrible coughing fit from across the house. I wasn’t coughing.

The upstairs neighbors are awfully noisy. I told my landlord… it’s been vacant for months.

For sale: like-new engagement ring, barely worn, came right off her finger. Finger also for sale for the right offer.

I had a dream that a man was watching me sleep from outside my bedroom window. When I woke up, I found footprints… inside, next to my bed.

My TV keeps turning on by itself. It’s annoying, but what’s more worrisome is how it only shows footage of me standing in my living room.

My girlfriend is scared of horror movies. They make her paranoid, which can be tricky when I’m watching her through her living room window.

I found a new bottle of my best friend’s favorite scotch on the kitchen counter today. He died in a drunk driving accident six years ago.

It’s nice that my grandmother calls to check on me, but if she wants to communicate from the other side I wish she wouldn’t scream so much.

My boyfriend has a collection he’s very proud of. He never told me that he’s been collecting souvenirs from the girlfriends he murdered.

I have a recurring dream I’m murdered by a man I’d never met. I thought it was stupid until I went on a blind date and saw him at the table.

My mom told me she had the best time playing with my little sister today. My sister went missing in 2002 — they found her body in 2006.

The knife, it slices — just like butter I tried to be a loving mother. — littlemisssassy

I can’t move, breathe, speak or hear and it’s so dark all day round. I should have been cremated, and not buried in the ground. — [deleted]

I just saw the children playing, admiring how high they have swung. But others tell me they’re just swaying in the wind where they were hung. — Alt_punch

I was always told not to play with my food, as it is a blessing to eat. However I’m one to tease my meals, and killing is always a treat. — [deleted]

Read this after the day is nigh. And tonight you might possibly die. — Hawkfrostofriverclan

I was never more scared or more filled filled with dread, Than the night the police found, her dismembered head. — Gil_ByrdIsTheWord

As I played in the basement, Mother called me upstairs. From behind me, She whispered, ‘Don’t go up there.’ — CheckeredBag

I watched you play whilst at the park. I’ll come to your house when the day goes dark. — Bucket_O_Beef

I had guests over today, they seemed to be really nice, so I introduced my hobby; it’s quite technical, you see, and I’m no good with words, so I had to show them. I really think my skills are improving; I almost didn’t have to break any bones this time, and I do like way they hang there, all strung up, an occasional whimper dripping past their mutilated lips like so much blood. — TheOtherJuggernaut

I travel here and there so suddenly, and never make a sound. Slaying quickly, quietly, swiftly; Just don’t turn around. — zenofire

And from the grave, where my father was put And hand reached up and grabbed my foot. — [deleted]

I saw the children playing, watched how high they swung. Their bodies swaying side to side, while silently they hung. – – GoldenWizard

Roses are red, violets are blue. There is someone right behind you. — Kaserbeam

You’re the prettiest person that I ever saw, I’d so love to snack on your eyeballs, quite raw. — moratnz

Warm and juicy; best best served fresh. I love the taste of human flesh. — littlemisssassy

I held her in my arms, dying What could lie in her crib, crying? — I_am_Rudy

A knock at the door and ‘Could you help us?’ I hear. I glance outside once and nevermore for the kid’s eyes were black and their faces austere. — oohshineeobjects

Can you hear the beautiful ring of the bell? That means it’s time to drag you down to hell. — Hellblood

I will wait patiently until I’m found. And exact my revenge – flesh by the pound. — CheckeredBag

Roses are red, violets are blue. You’d better run, I’m coming for you. — RedDeadRevengeance

You see, I stand on my box. And I know how your window unlocks. — [deleted]

Muscles now relaxed, and still in her bed; young Timmy and Zax leaving all left unsaid. A smile Zax cracked, and ‘no’ Timmy plead: ‘no need to cut further, mom’s already dead.’ — CDC_

Wrapped in sheets and cuddled in bed. You’ll foolishly expose your sweet, precious head… — CheckeredBag

You taught how me to be a man, but today I feel so all alone. Happy Father’s Day dad, as I kiss your gravestone. — battering-ram

I once had a girlfriend named Jill, I buried her under that hill. But sometimes at home, when I’m all alone, I find that she sleeps with me still. — CheckeredBag

I held my son’s hand tightly as the cars whizzed past the sidewalk. “With any luck, they won’t find the rest of him,” I muttered to myself.

I was starving and lost in the woods until I found a hiker. Im full now, I just wished she hadn’t screamed so loud.

‘Daddy I can’t sleep” she said, and crawled under the sheets with me. In the morning I woke up freezing cold and clutching the dress she was buried in.

I arrived at the funeral a few minutes late. Nobody acknowledged me, and I figured out why when I looked into the casket and saw myself.

I had three seconds of sight left. I was fascinated by how much my brains resembled oatmeal, spattered on the concrete.

‘Please stop,” I whimpered as he fastened my other arm to the table, “if you let me go, I won’t tell anyone”. He looked up at me with a wicked smile “how do you think I got you? They gave you to me.’

There was a picture in my phone of me sleeping. I live alone.

As I walked up the driveway with my new friend, I introduced him to my dad. “What friend?!” he asked with bewilderment in his eyes.

I sat up from this horrible nightmare that a gruesome faced man was trying to get in my home, all of a sudden I heard my daughter screaming. I ran down the hall and she was hiding her face in the pillow screaming and crying and said “a man was watching me outside.’

I’ll hide you in my walls, your body will never be found! I’ll wear your skin as a suit, your friends will like you more than they used to.

She woke up to an unusual silence in their bedroom. She looked over as the thing that laid where her husband use to be rose from under the sheets.

I have never seen anything like it, the way it screamed and crawled towards me. This… This thing is suppose to be my little brother.

I’m all alone during a storm when the power goes out. Lightning strikes and there is a man standing in my hallway with a knife.

I woke up to the sound of screams and the feel of immense heat surrounding me. Sobbing as the torture began again, I remembered hell wasn’t a made up place…

I kept calling my girlfriend the day they buried me. She wouldn’t answer.

My cat is asleep beside my computer in his favorite spot. I’ve buried him 10 times.

I’ve been scrubbing my hands non-stop for weeks. The blood just won’t come off.

I woke up to the smell of copper in the air. I had done it again.

I look at my clock its 3:15 as a rotting corpse pushes fingers into my stomach, I scream in relief its only a dream. Looking at my clock it is 3:14 and my closet door creeks open…

I see a face staring at me from my window. I live on the 3rd floor.

As she finally drifted off to sleep, she felt the cold, bony fingers caress her body. She prayed it was just a dream….

When she turned around, she saw her own self, dressed in different clothes. Her heart went into shock and the other self gently helped her to the floor as she died.

The cloven hoof prints were fresh. They were in sets of two, staggered like a man running.

I got a haunted doll in the mail today. If only I could find where she ran off too…

I hear my daughter cry, “Mommy I’m so cold, please let me in!” I shut the curtains, knowing she wont cry much longer in the snow.

I opened my front door to the frantic pounding of my next door neighbor. To my horror it was something that was wearing his skin…

The stew I was eating was delicious, and I wanted to give my husband a taste. That’s when I found his wedding ring in my bowl, still on his finger.

Every morning my husband tells me he loves me, I really wish he’d stop. I murdered him last year, but he still won’t leave me alone.

Outside my three year olds bedroom I hear her say, ” But Mommy, I don’t want to.” My voice replies, “All little girls stab their Daddies.’

Being the first to respond to a fatal car accident is always the most traumatic thing I see as a police officer. But today, when the crushed body of the little dead boy strapped in his car seat opened his eyes and giggled at me when I tried to peel him out of the wreckage, I immediately knew that today would be my last day on the force.

A smile of relief washed across his face even with his arm swallowed nearly to the elbow by the drain, and he said, ” I think I feel your ring!” I smiled too, and said,” Oh, that’s great, love…and I know about Vanessa,” as I flipped the disposal switch.

I can’t move, breathe, speak or hear and it’s so dark all the time. If I knew it would be this lonely, I would have been cremated instead.

The dog sits at my gate every morning and night when I leave and come home from work. Even after all this time she can still smell her owner’s blood on my hands.

I sat on my daughter’s bed and sang her favorite song before giving her a kiss on the cheek, just as I’ve done every night since she was a baby. When I was done and smiled down at her, she whispered “Mommy please stop, you’re dead.’

I’d been noticing it for months, that tiny lag in my reflection, not that anyone believed me. Today was different she didn’t even attempt to mimic me she stood there smiling, I think she wants to come out.

The girl pedaled quickly towards his car, droplets of water flying off her, leaving a trail on the sidewalk. He should have weighted down her body in the river, but as she came closer and the smell of rotten flesh overcame him, he realized it wouldn’t have mattered.

‘Oh don’t worry dear we’re glad to have you for diner.” They said smiling, as I lie bound and gagged on the floor while they took their last bite of lunch, my husband.

My kids were excited to tell me about the day they just had with their mother. My eyes watered as I pondered how to tell them she died this morning on the way to work.

After dating all through high school and college, our daughter’s boyfriend finally came by today to ask my husband and me for her hand. We gave it to him, hoping that he’ll finally tell us where the rest of her is.

When I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of cracking, I am aware that it is her rigor mortis body snapping unto itself as she crawls down the hallway . I knew it was only a matter of time before she would seek her revenge.

My grandmother told me it was a gift to see the angel of death in front of people’s houses, to know he would be collecting someone there soon. I thought it was a gift too, until the day I began to see it in front of every house.

She felt the warmth of the sun as she smiled at him and promised, “I will follow you until the end of time.” When she opened her eyes, the pyre beneath her had begun to burn.

Audra looked across the table to smile warmly at the loving faces of her husband and children. “I do so enjoy our time together” she whispered as she gently placed each of their severed heads back into the refrigerator.

Through moon and fog, I run, branches whipping bare legs bloody, and race the hot breath, that burp of hell, against my nape. Closer, closer, until saliva spatters my skin, and the thing with teeth wraps me in its mouth.

The smell of my own charring flesh fills my nose as the muffler coughs out the it’s last dying gasps. My only hope is someone seeing my hand, that I’m hoping is still stuck in the guardrail above.

My daughter walked up to me asking, “Mommy, who is that man behind you?” I turned with an uneasy feeling, to find no-one standing there, looked back to tell her there was nothing there and there was nothing left but the teddy bear she was just holding covered in blood.

I used to love hearing those sounds; the bathroom door opening, my girlfriend playfully drumming her fingernails on the sink, and the flat screech of the shower curtain pulling back before she stepped in to join me. But hearing those drumming nails now, as I’m showering before bed on the night of her funeral, stirs up altogether new feelings.

The mirror had been left to me by my late aunts estate, stored in the attic and covered in paper. I stared at my reflection, feeling that something was…off…but not knowing what – when my reflection winked at me.

I breathe in the gas and count back from ten to get my tonsils removed. “Looks like little Timmy is finally going to get a new heart, and I get a new car.”, I hear the doctor say as I fall into the void.

I had often had a slightly irrational fear of being stalked or having someone show up in the backseat of my car after leaving a bad relationship , so I got a smaller car for sense of security. The day I stopped carrying pepper spray with my newfound courage, a soft breath tickled the hairs on my neck with a soft “found you.’

Last night, I had a nightmare that I’d lost both my legs in a gruesome car accident. Then I realized it was only a memory.

I used to be considered the evil twin. But now I’m considered an only child.

Everyone complimented my disfigured mask last Halloween, full of hairy puss and scars. But they didn’t know, when I went home, there was nothing to remove.

All I could do was stare as I watched my father wrap his hands around my mother’s neck. But he was already dead, and soon, she would be, too.

From afar, the doll looked just like her. From close up, she could see it was made out of her lost teeth and dead skin.

I couldn’t wait any longer to be a mother. So I grabbed a knife to rip the baby from my stomach.

I work in a strip club. And I hate to admit it, but I hear more screams than moans.

I swear I heard my daughter whisper my name. But, the thing is, I’m still pregnant.

I fell asleep in my pajamas. But I woke up in a suit, with a closed casket surrounding me.

I like living alone. Because, when I hear a faint singing or feel a hand on my thigh, I know it’s one of them .

I kissed her, but she wouldn’t kiss me back. She was already decomposing.

My car thumped over something in the road. And the windshield wipers couldn’t clear the blood away.

I don’t know where the hell my husband is. I can’t remember where I buried him.

I stopped going to church, because God never answers me. But the Devil speaks to me every night.

I went camping with my three best friends. But by the time we left, we were nothing but a murderer, a witness, and a dead body.

I didn’t mind it when the rain began to fall. Until it hit my skin and burned.

I asked the hot guy in my class why he was staring at me. He said that he was actually staring at the demon that always hovers behind me.

My cat never goes near my closet. The one day she did, she never came back out.

I felt my husband’s hand squeeze mine. But then I remembered, he was dead and I was in my apartment alone.

I tried to check my makeup in the mirror. But my reflection was missing.

I scrubbed her blood off of my suit until there was no trace of DNA left. But I needed something to remember the night by, so I kept a handful of her hair.

When I checked his browser history, I found the search: “How to poison my wife.” So I threw down the water bottle he’d just handed me.

I think I’m dead. But the other spirits keep telling me I’m alive.

I’ve been talking to my mother for hours. But I don’t think she can hear me through the six feet of dirt.

I never meant to make my ex cry. I only meant to make him bleed.

My throat is raw from screaming for help. But no one can hear me now that I’m in heaven.

I didn’t run when I saw him. So he didn’t make me suffer when he stabbed me.

I reached under the bed to find my missing sock. But I felt another hand, instead.

I texted a stranger by accident. But when they texted me back, they used my full name.

I felt the barrel against my head, for only a second, before the burglar did the worst possible thing. He didn’t pull the trigger.

I didn’t panic when my best friend Tom started shuddering from head to toe, clutching his stomach, and coughing up blood. I panicked when the blood started crawling up my leg. — ShadowScribe

Three cheers for Santa Claus, and all the good children who believe. ‘Makes this so much easier,’ He chuckled, the bells on the trusting little girl’s shoes jingling as he dragged the body across the roof and away into the night. — Cinnamon-Ciara

‘Hey daddy, I’m fixing little brother for you!’ He entered the room to find his 8-year-old daughter scooping the eyes out of their now blind baby. — EccentricStrawberry

‘Do you like your new coat?’ my father asked as he draped it over my shoulders. ‘It’s from your mother,’ he said, smiling at what was left of Mom’s flayed corpse. — ShadowScribe

Being the last human alive isn’t too bad. I just wish my hungry neighbors would leave me alone. — troytheterribletaco

There was a knock on my door. Something inside told me not to open the closet. — DonBeanass

I sit in this crowded theater, all my life I’ve been a nobody, a reject, an empty, self-loathing blank. “Time for all of that to change,” I say to no-one in particular, pulling out the guns from under my coat… — TheRaincrow

There was a photo of me sleeping on beautiful red silk on my phone. What I don’t know is how the phone got into the coffin with me. — Abyss1213

I stared at the picture of me emblazoned on the screen of the mobile phone, wracking my brain to try to understand how it got there. Human technology has often proved to be an ally of mine but I’ve never before encountered a mobile that could take pictures of demons. — sleeplessfromdreams

At the expense of the last of their ammunition, the lumbering beast collapsed. Too bad the hunting party couldn’t spare a moment while patting each other on the back to notice it’s mother had witnessed the whole display. — Jibberling

Before I could react, the man produced an ax from his long coat and brought it to rest on the table before me. I carefully chose my words before saying, ‘Even with a receipt, I cannot give you a refund with all those blood stains.’ — Jibberling

My eyes were glued to the scarring images on the horrifying scrapbook I found at my new neighbors house. As I flipped towards the end of the book I noticed that there was a blank spot with today’s date written below it. — Unknownuser55550

Before my parents left town for the weekend, they tucked me in, locked my bedroom door, and told me that there was nothing to be afraid of: the monsters had no way of getting inside the house. If they had stayed a second longer they would have heard his laughter from inside the closet. — ShadowScribe

The voices won’t stop bothering me to let them free. Maybe it’s time to go into the basement and shut them up once and for all… — Tiger106700

My mom couldn’t find her ‘yummy-wummy’ baby, even when she called out to her with that ridiculous nickname. At least it was accurate: my sister was delicious. — SlavicSnowflake

Before I can go to sleep, I have to check all the doors around the house. If they’re all locked, I move on to the next house. — Volohov

More From Thought Catalog

5 Mindset Shifts To Halt Relationship Anxiety

Signs You Lack Self-Love

7 Dating Power Moves That Protect Women Against Narcissists

The 10 Most Chilling Walter White Quotes From ‘Breaking Bad’

Why Men Pull Away And Then Come Back

This Jennifer Lawrence Thriller Is The Most Controversial Romance Movie of All Time

IMAGES

Scary Story Essays
Creative Writing
Scary story essay
How To Write a Horror Story in 12 Steps (With Examples) 👻
How To Write a Horror Story in 12 Steps (With Examples) 👻
The Horror Genre Free Essay Example

VIDEO

Scary horror story
Scary horror story
Scary Horror story and stories
scary horror story part 2
Scary Horror Story. #ghost #scary #horrorstories
Scary Horror Story #scary #story

COMMENTS

132 Best Horror Writing Prompts and Scary Story Ideas
Although many horror writing prompts and scary ideas have been written, the following 132 horror writing prompts can spark great creativity in aspiring writers of the horror genre. A family is on a camping trip. The parents are walking with their two children, a daughter and a son. The little boy trips and falls into a dark river.
How to Write a Horror Story: 7 Tips for Writing Horror
6. Put your characters in compelling danger. 7. Use your imagination. 7 key tips to writing a blood-chilling horror story 😱. Click to tweet! 1. Start with a fear factor. The most important part of any horror story is naturally going to be its fear factor.
25 Horror Writing Prompts: How to Write Scary Stories
Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Sep 3, 2021 • 1 min read. Not all horror stories need to be set during Halloween. Looking for inspiration to start writing a scary story or creepy film? See these 25 creative writing prompts for writing your own horror story.
101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts
101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts. 1. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her parents find only a decrepit and scary doll left behind. They soon learn that the doll is actually their daughter. And she's alive. 2. New residents of an old neighborhood are invited by their friendly neighbors to a Halloween party.
5220+ Best Short Horror & Scary Stories to Read Online for Free
5220+ Horror Short Stories to read. Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From hauntings and murderers to terrifying creatures from the deep, our collection of horror stories will have you breaking out in cold sweats. Take a look… if you dare.
101 Horror Writing Prompts (Scream-worthy prompts for horror stories)
4. On this Halloween night, your guinea pig won't stop running in circles, and your dog keeps staring at the door, emitting a low growl. 5. You run out for candy on Halloween afternoon to find the streets empty and the store abandoned. A single car cruises into the lot and pulls into the spot next to yours. 6.
110+ Horror Writing Prompts (With A Twist)
110+ Horror Writing Prompts (With A Twist) Give yourself the chills with this list of over 110 horror writing prompts. From scary ghost stories to creepy stories about animals and monsters. Now is the time to write your own horror story, just like Goosebumps or The Haunting of Aveline Jones. From the gory to the scary, from the monstrous to the ...
Horror Writing 101: Crafting Scary Stories ️
At its core, horror writing is deeply rooted in psychology. Understanding what scares people and why is crucial for crafting a terrifying story. Different people have different fears, but there are universal fears, such as the fear of death, the unknown, or loss of control, that resonate with a broad audience.
Top 101 Bone-Chilling Horror Writing Prompts
10 Best AI Essay Outline Generators of 2024; Third-person Point of View: Definition, Types, Examples; ... Using prompts for horror stories regularly will help you write better scary stories. Horror story writing prompts will also encourage you to think out of the box and craft unexpected plots. You'll also be able to brainstorm better for ...
50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas
These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More. The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing. If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one.
250 Words of Fear & Terror
A Collection of Very Short Horror Stories. Precisely 250-Word Horror Stories. It started as an exercise to create a horror story in precisely 250 words - to spin a tale of evil and malevolence, to send shivers down your spine, and do it in very few words. Join me on this journey. Prepare for a twist into despair.
Storm Drain: A 500 Word Horror Story
The early summer rainstorm ceased. But, dark clouds remained and hovered above the sparsely populated street. Rainwater trickled into the storm drain below and lured the brown, slimy creature to the surface. Overcast skies and rain-drenched surface created the perfect environment for the underground creature. Conditions were ideal for it to go ...
Scary Story Essay example
Scary Story Essay example. Scary Story I looked up at the black sky. I hadn't intended to be out this late. The sun had set, and the empty road ahead had no streetlights. I knew I was in for a dark journey home. I had decided that by traveling through the forest would be the quickest way home. Minutes passed, yet it seemed like hours and days ...
250 Horror Writing Prompts (Scary Good Ideas)
The Ghostly Librarian - A library is haunted by the ghost of a former librarian. The new librarian must uncover the ghost's secrets to restore peace. The Phantom Dancer - A ballerina encounters the ghost of a dancer who died in a tragic accident. She must perform the dancer's final routine to set her spirit free.
How to Write a Scary Story
Whatever key elements you chose to include in your scary story, here are a few pointers on how to write a scary story to get you started. (And to see our complete guide on writing a short story, click here .) 1. Explore what scares you. Story ideas can come from anywhere, but for a scary story, start with one of your greatest fears—not to be ...
150 Horror Prompts, Settings And Characters
Whether writing a scary short story, or a horror novel, here are 150 of the best horror story prompts, setting and characters to inspire you. * * Editing. All Editing ... The setting of a horror story is everything - but not all scary novels have to take place in a scary place (in fact, sometimes the most mundane of places can be given a ...
How To Write A Scary Story: The Art of Horror Writing
Building suspense is crucial in horror writing. To create suspense, writers can employ techniques such as foreshadowing, withholding information, or setting a time limit on the characters. In this way, you slowly build tension, making readers uneasy about what might happen next. 3. Structure of a Scary Story.
Essay on Horror Story
500 Words Essay on Horror Story Introduction. Horror stories have been a part of human culture for centuries, delighting and terrifying audiences in equal measure. They are narratives designed to frighten, cause dread or panic, or invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale. The horror genre taps into the primal fear ...
Crafting the Perfect Scary Story Essay: Tips, Ideas & Structure
A horror story essay is a narrative essay designed to frighten and unsettle the reader. It typically involves supernatural or horror elements like ghosts, monsters, or otherworldly creatures. A short horror story essay aims to create a sense of unease and fear in the reader and keep them engaged until the end. How do I start a scary story essay?
Primer on the Construction of a Scary Story Essay
Horror stories don't all have to involve the main character moving into a haunted house. The secret to a good story is to make the main character be as sympathetic and likable as possible. A mother feeding her son, a sister playing with her brother, school friends - bonds of love and friendship are at the heart of every good scary story.
Halloween Writing Prompts
You can use these images however you like, but if you need more guidance, here are four prompts, as well as articles with advice from horror writers and experts, to get you started: Use the image ...
Scary Story Titles: Crafting Unforgettable, Bone-Chilling Masterpieces
Popular horror titles on Wattpad include "The Depths," "The Cellar," "The Babysitter's Club," "Mr. Composure," and "I Hate Imaginary Friends.". These titles showcase a unique blend of mystery, suspense, and fear while enticing readers to learn more about the story.
150+ Short Two-Sentence Horror Stories To Freak You Out
1. I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, "Daddy check for monsters under my bed.". I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, "Daddy there's somebody on my bed." — justAnotherMuffledVo.

Related Topics

132 Best Horror Writing Prompts and Scary Story Ideas

Generate Full-Length AI Horror Novel Instantly

Horror Writing Prompts List

Final Words

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good way to start horror writing prompts?

What are some good scary story ideas?

How can I start writing unique horror stories?

Is it easy to write on scary story prompts?

What are cliches to avoid while writing scary story ideas?

Instant AI Horror Novel Generation

Related Posts

Join 5000+ Technical Writers

101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts

Once you're inspired, take your idea to the next level and Develop Your Horror Movie Idea in 15 Days .

Get Our Screenwriting Newsletter!

Facebook Comments

Screenwriting Resources:

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

Next Related Post

Get Our Newsletter!

You Might Also Like

Connect With Us

Screenwriting Newsletter

Discover weekly, the best short stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Authors to follow

5230+ Horror Short Stories to read

🏆 Winning stories

“ Cerulean ” by AnneMarie Miles

“ Do Flamethrowers Belong In The Library? ” by Kenz Ross

⭐️ Recommended stories

“ Team Meeting | 10 AM - 1hr ” by J. Rain Sherwin

“ Tallow ” by Daniel Laing

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

✍️ All stories

“ Maxwell Needs Help... ” by Jeff Meade

“ The Layover ” by Jed Cope

“ TERMINAL DREAD ” by Darvico Ulmeli

“ A Super Duper Totally Awesome Party!!! ” by Madeline Green

“ Don't Do This To Me ” by Michael Mackenzie

“ The Crafting of a Prophet ” by KA James

“ Wedding Roulette ” by Dakota Peterson

“ A Trip To The Country ” by PJ Town

“ half of my soul ” by Lea Hoffmann

“ Guilty Party ” by Derrick M Domican

“ Plus One ” by Johan Persson

“ You're My Rock ” by Joshua G. J. Insole

“ An Order of Reflections ” by Penelope Stansfield

“ Sleeping Beauty ” by Michael McKean

The Best Horror Short Stories

Looking for some spine-chilling horror stories?

Bring your short stories to life

101 Horror Writing Prompts That Are Freaky As Hell

What Are the Main Elements of Horror Writing?

Halloween Writing Prompts

101 Horror Writing Prompts

Creepy Writing Prompts

Spooky Writing Prompts

How Do You Come Up with Horror Ideas?

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

110+ Horror Writing Prompts (With A Twist)

List of Horror Writing Prompts

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do you write in creepy writing?

How do you get inspiration for horror?

What are common horror themes?

Related Posts

Top 101 Bone-Chilling Horror Writing Prompts

Your Guide to the Best eBook Readers in 2024

Writing Tips

Writing for the Web: 7 Expert Tips for Web Content Writing

Checklist: Dissertation Proposal

Examples: Edited Papers

Horror writing prompts

Scary story prompts

Halloween horror prompts

Frequently Asked Questions