Six Ways to Improve Your Horror Instantly
If you are interested in further tips for writing horror, you can also participate in the Writing in the Dark Online Symposium. More info at the end of this post.
Want to up your horror writing game?
Here are six tips that will take your horror fiction to the next level!
1) Understand your story isn’t about the monster (or the killer or the haunted house . . .)
Let’s face it: The Monster – whether it’s a creature, a force, or simply a dangerous human – is the star of any horror story. It’s what captured your imagination and made you want to write the story in the first place, and it’s what will capture readers’ imaginations and make them want to read your tale. But the secret to writing great monsters is knowing that they’re only monsters when perceived as such by your characters. A monster standing by itself in the corridor of an ancient castle isn’t scary, but a monster stalking a frightened tourist trapped in the castle is literally another story. Or better yet, a tourist afraid that a monster is stalking them. Good horror stories are about people confronting monsters, surviving monsters, being changed by monsters, or becoming monsters. It’s what happens inside your characters as a result of their encounter with the monster that makes for a truly effective horror story.
2) Write with a deep point of view.
In order to properly depict what occurs inside your characters, you need to show readers what’s happening in their heads – which is where horror actually happens. Whichever point of view you use – first, second, or third – you want to make sure you depict your characters’ thoughts and feelings, as well as their mental, emotional, and physical reactions to events. The more readers understand your characters, the more they will empathize with them and care about what happens to them in your story.
3) Give your story an emotional core.
In Stephen King’s short story “Children of the Corn,” a couple encounter a murderous cult of children during a cross-country drive. It’s a fine story, but the characters have absolutely no personal connection to the horror. It’s a random encounter. In Jaws, Sheriff Brody’s job is to protect the town of Amity – both its citizens and the tourists who are its lifeblood. But with the advent of a killer great white, he must face an opponent far different than the human criminals he brought down on the streets of New York. Brody is deeply connected to the horror in Jaws, which is one of the major reasons that story is so effective. Giving your characters some kind of personal connection to the horror in your story will not only strengthen the plot. It will raise the stakes for your characters and increase your readers’ involvement with the story.
4) Use suspense.
Because so many of us consume visual media – movies, TV shows, videogames – more than we read, we end up plainly narrating events in our fiction as if we were watching them on a screen: Bob was walking down the street when a vampire jumped out of an alley and killed him. But horror is most effective when details are slowly presented to foreshadow the attack and create suspense. Show Bob upset that his girlfriend left him earlier that day, show how cold the night air is, describe the traffic, the streetlights, the passersby, the sounds, the smells . . . Present these details as normal at first, then slowly depict them as sinister and threatening. Increase the tension as the scene goes on, and when the vampire finally does attack Bob, the scene will have far more impact on readers.
5) Be original.
Once we get used to something, it’s not scary anymore. If you’re afraid of spiders and you start working with them every day (and maybe get some therapy as well), your fear will lessen. It’s the same with horror tropes. Haunted houses, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, demons . . . Tropes like these show up in our media over and over, and the more we’re exposed to them, the less of an effect they have on us. Strive to make your horror original by creating your own tropes or putting fresh, interesting spins on old ones. When I was a toddler, I was afraid of feathers (I have no idea why). I used this fear in a story that was published in Weird Tales called – oddly enough – “Feathers,” about a man who sees everyone around him begin to take on avian features. In this story, I created my own trope. In my novel The Forever House, I gave the haunted house trope a new spin by making the house contain a multitude of different worlds, each under the control of a separate supernatural being. The more original you can make your horror, even when working with traditional tropes, the better it will be.
6) Physical pain is easy – too easy.
Beginning writers often depict their characters as suffering physical injuries of varying severity, often culminating in death. But the physical is only one type of pain that humans experience, and it’s not necessarily the worst. Make you characters experience mental, emotional, and spiritual pain as well. In the climax of James Gunn’s movie Slither, one of the main characters – Starla – faces her husband who’s been taken over by an alien entity. Starla is revolted by the physical mutation her husband’s undergone, but she also feels pity for him as well as guilt because she doesn’t truly love him. The alien creature has been alone throughout the entirety of its long existence, and it wants nothing more than to connect with another being, in this case Starla, and she’s aware of this too. By exploring more than his characters’ pain throughout Slither, Gunn creates a story that’s at once a fun, splattery monster movie, while at the same time being a wonderfully impactful story on an emotional level – which is why it’s a classic. Try to do the same in your own work, and you’ll produce fiction that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Critically-acclaimed author Tim Waggoner has published over fifty novels and seven collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins, and he’s the author of a book on writing horror fiction called Writing in the Dark. He’s won the Bram Stoker Award and been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Scribe Award, and the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
Website: www.timwaggoner.com
Twitter: @timwaggoner
Instagram: tim.waggoner.scribe
Writing in the Dark -
In this comprehensive textbook devoted to the craft of writing horror fiction, award-winning author Tim Waggoner draws on thirty years’ experience as a writer and teacher. Writing in the Dark offers advice, guidance, and insights on how to compose horror stories and novels that are original, frightening, entertaining, and well-written.
Waggoner covers a wide range of topics, among them why horror matters, building viable monsters, generating ideas and plotlines, how to stylize narratives in compelling ways, the physiology of fear, the art of suspense, avoiding clichés, marketing your horror writing, and much more. Each chapter includes tips from some of the best horror professionals working today, such as Joe Hill, Ellen Datlow, Joe R. Lansdale, Maurice Broaddus, Yvette Tan, Thomas Ligotti, Jonathan Maberry, Edward Lee, and John Shirley. There are also appendices with critical reflections, pointers on the writing process, ideas for characters and story arcs, and material for further research.
Writing in the Dark derives from Waggoner’s longtime blog of the same name. Suitable for classroom use, intensive study, and bedside reading, this essential manual will appeal to new authors at the beginning of their career as well as veterans of the horror genre who want to brush up on their technique.
From Raw Dog Screaming Press, it will be available September 16, 2020. It’s available in hardback and paperback for pre-order before that date, and usually mail early.
Praise for Writing in the Dark -
“More than just a generalized survey of spooky stuff, this book addresses horror in all its many manifestations, from Quiet Horror to Extreme Horror to Country Horror. Beyond discussions of plotting and character, Waggoner also offers helpful advice on interacting with agents and publishers, as well as best practices for marketing your work.”—Booklist
“I was in the final edits of a novel that I believed to be solid. Waggoner’s advice suggested I dig deeper. I did and now the story feels so much more alive and relevant…Enroll in this fine course with Professor Waggoner. You won’t mind the homework—even if the monster does eat it.”—Dave Simms for Cemetery Dance
For more information or to order go to www.rawdogscreaming.com, purchase at usual online retailers, or order from your local bookstore.
If you are interested in further tips for writing horror, you can also participate in the Writing in the Dark Online Symposium to celebrate the book’s launch, running Sep 11, 10:00PM to Sep 14, 3:00AM BST - https://hopin.to/events/writing-in-the-dark
