Writing your own horror story can be an interesting personal project or school assignment. One of the most challenging parts of making a horror story is determining the beginning of the story or opening paragraph. You can start by creating a story idea and crafting a strong opening. After that, revise the opening of your horror story to fit the overall plot and appeal to the reader.
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Method 1 of 3: Creating Story Ideas
Step 1. Draw something that scares or disgusts you
Think about your biggest fear. This could be the fear of losing friends, the fear of heights, the fear of clowns, or even the fear of Velcro. You can use and explore that fear as a story idea.
- Use your fears as material for stories about something scary or disgusting. Consider how you would react as a character when forced to face those fears.
- You can also ask family, friends, and partners about their fears. Use things that scare them as story ideas.
Step 2. Turn a normal situation into something terrible
You can also turn normal situations, such as taking a walk in the park, preparing food, or visiting friends into a scary one by adding an element of horror. Use imagination to add a touch of horror to everyday activities.
For example, you might find a cut ear while walking in the park, or a vegetable you're cutting suddenly turns into fingers or tentacles. Be creative and consider things that can drastically change normal situations
Step 3. Trapping your character in dire situations
You can also restrict or trap story characters in dire situations. Restricting your character's movements can build suspense and terror in the story based on the situations created.
- Consider using the concept of a cramped space that scares you. Ask yourself the scariest place.
- Maybe you trapped your character in a tight space, like a coffin, a cold warehouse, an empty police station, an island, or an abandoned city. Trapping your character in dire situations can provoke fear and create tension and anxiety at the beginning of the story.
Step 4. Create a different main character
You can also start a horror story with a focus on character development. Create one or more unique and detailed main characters. You can do a specific study of each character to get an idea of how they live, think, and react to a conflict. Even if they don't appear in the story, these character details can still influence the way you write the character and the image of the character in the eyes of the reader. Well-written characters will leave a good impression and impression on readers. Begin to create a character description by paying attention to the following points:
- Age and occupation of character
- The character's marital status or personal relationship
- The character's view of the world (cynical, skeptical, anxious, happy-sociable-lucky, contented, calm)
- Unique or specific physical details, such as a particular hairstyle, scar, or style of dress.
- The character's speaking style, dialect, or language used around other people.
Step 5. Give your main character extreme emotions
Horror stories depend on the reader's reaction to the material in them. You can provoke the reader's emotions by giving extreme emotions to story characters that describe their struggles in the story. Emotions such as shock, paranoia, and hopelessness are powerful feelings that can motivate a character to act or think intensely.
- Making a story character go into shock, for example due to the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, can create interesting conflicts. This will lead the character to make decisions that he would never have made had he not been faced with the situation.
- You can also give the character a hint of paranoia, or the feeling that something is wrong. This will make the character of the story look suspicious and start seeing things around him from a different perspective. This is an easy way to explain the protagonist's relationship with other characters. Paranoia is also good for scaring readers and making them doubt the events that occur in the story.
- Another option is to give your main character a sense of fear or a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Fear can build tension in the story and keep the reader curious.
Step 6. Outline the plot of your horror story
Once you have a clear story idea, you need to outline the plot in order to understand the roles the characters play in the overall story. Structuring the story up front will strengthen the story in the long run. Plot outlines can act as maps or story guides. However, you can change it if you get inspiration when writing a horror story.
- You can use plot diagrams to note the outline of the story. The plot diagram has six sections and forms a triangle with the climax at the very top. The six parts are: orientation, occurrence of incidents, increasing conflict, climax, decreasing conflict, and resolution.
- You can use the "snowflake" method to note plot outlines. Make a sentence that summarizes the entire plot, then write a paragraph containing a summary of the plot and a worksheet with snippets of the scenes in it.
Method 2 of 3: Write a Strong Start
Step 1. Create an interesting and informative opening sentence
The opening sentence of the story should make the reader wonder in his heart, but also be interested in following the storyline. A good opening sentence must provide an overview of the story, a unique point of view, and the characteristics of the characters in it.
- For example, you might want to write a story about your fear of Velcro in a dystopian world. You could create an opening sentence like this: “Sara is trying to stay calm when a group of men fasten the Velcro belt around her waist. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the horrible Velcro sound.”
- This opening sentence introduces the main character, Sara, and puts her in a situation that makes her feel scared and uncomfortable. The sentence also raises questions in the reader's mind, such as who is meant by “a gang of men” and why is Sara wearing a velcro belt? These questions will keep the reader interested and keep reading.
Step 2. Start by writing the scene
Try to start the story by writing a scene where one or more characters are moving, interacting, or doing something. Start the scene with an action that grabs the reader's interest so they want to continue reading the story. This method is also effective in making readers feel curious and carried away by the storyline presented.
- Try to place your main character in a scene that makes them depressed or uncomfortable. This method will bring elements of horror into the story directly.
- For example, you could open a story with a scene where the main character is tied to a device. You can describe how your character feels about the device and its desire to run away even though the person who caught it tries to keep the character attached to the device.
Step 3. Enter horrific or uncomfortable details as soon as possible
You are writing a horror story. So feel free to include gruesome details from the very first paragraph. At the end of the first paragraph, the reader should know the background and the conflict. Readers should feel scared or terrorized at the end of the first page of the story because you need to arouse their emotions.
For example, you could include sadistic details, such as blood, guts, mucus, brain debris, or saliva in the first paragraph of a story. Try to use sadistic details wisely so that the story doesn't turn out to be cliché or similar to other horror stories. Thus, the sadistic elements inserted will have a stronger effect on the reader
Step 4. Enter the main conflict
Horror stories must include the main conflict that provokes the main character into action. The main conflict of your horror story should appear in the first few paragraphs or the first page of the story. Entering the conflict as soon as possible is useful for keeping the reader's interest and building tension in the story.
- For example, the main character might be trying to get rid of a ghost in his house. This can be the main conflict that is directly inserted into the story. The rest of the story could tell the character's efforts to get rid of the ghosts in his house without getting hurt or without hurting the family who live there.
- Another common example of conflict is a story about how someone survives, where your character is faced with a dire situation that threatens his life so he has to run away.
- If you decide not to introduce conflict to the reader at the beginning of the story, there must be a clear reason why you are doing so. Withholding information must be done intelligently for the sake of the storyline being told. Readers may feel confused or lost without this information.
Step 5. Use active sentences
You should always try to use the active voice in the opening and throughout the story instead of using the passive voice. Passive sentences will make the story feel flat and uninteresting. You need to write sentences that are interesting and dynamic for the reader, and contain lots of action and a storyline that moves forward.
- For example, instead of opening the story with the passive and confusing sentence: “The ropes felt cold against Sara's skin when the men tied her to the chair”, use the sentence “Sara felt the cold and hardness of the straps that were attached when the men held her on the chair. " The second sentence uses an active pattern with a clear subject position, namely "Sara" along with the verb "to feel" in the sentence.
- Using the active voice doesn't mean you can only use the first person point of view. You can still use the active voice when describing flashbacks, or when using second and third person points of view.
Step 6. Read the horror story opening example
You can understand how to unlock horror stories better after reading various popular horror stories. Use the following examples of story openings as a guide for story writing:
- The opening lines of the novel “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe: “That's right! --nervous – I feel so nervous and can't stop; but why do you think I'm crazy?” This opening sentence gives the reader an idea that the narrator is uncomfortable, very nervous, and possibly insane. This is a great opening to get the reader intrigued and ready to digest an unpleasant story.
- The opening sentence of the novel "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates: “Her name is Connie. He was fifteen years old and had an unnatural habit; craning his neck in front of a mirror or staring into someone else's face to make sure his face is okay." This opening sentence sounds simple, but it can introduce the main character, tell his age and gender, and illustrate his awkward and naive attitude. This sentence prepares the reader to read the story of the main character who is not perfect and may be easily controlled by outside influences.
- Opening line from George Orwell's 1984 novel: "On a cold, sunny April day, the hands of the clock struck thirteen." This opening sentence is very well known and liked because it is able to combine all elements of the story in a nutshell. The reader is able to recognize the background of the story and imagine the uncomfortable thing, namely “a sunny and cold day…”. “…the clock strikes thirteen times” also sounded like a bad omen and impending danger.
Method 3 of 3: Revising Opening Sentences
Step 1. Read the opening sentence aloud
After writing the opening sentence for the horror story, read it aloud to hear what it sounds like. Take note if the opening sentence sounds inappropriate or distracting. Check whether the contents of the opening sentence have described the plot, characterization, background, and language used in the story.
You can also read the opening sentence aloud in front of a friend or coworker to ask for additional opinions. Ask the listener if he or she finds the story scary, gruesome, or thrilling. Be prepared to accept constructive criticism and input on opening sentences. Asking for a second opinion for the opening part of the story will make the story even stronger
Step 2. Revise the opening chapter after you have finished the whole story
Often times, writing an opening sentence will make it easier for you to finish the rest of the story. Once you've written a satisfying horror ending, you'll need to revise the opening. This will ensure that your opening sentence still matches the ending of the story.
You have to make sure the opening really blends in with the rest of the story. You'll also have to adjust the opening to look for the character changes that occur in the middle of the story. Write an opening that feels natural to start the whole story being told
Step 3. Edit the opening to match the clarity of the plot, the language used, and the storytelling style
Read the beginning of the story to make sure it isn't confusing and easy for the reader to follow. There's nothing worse than a confusing opening that leaves readers feeling frustrated and lazy to follow your story.
