This week: Fear on the Page: A Beginner’s Guide Edited by: McScaredyclaws wolf  
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| Whether you’re just starting out or looking to sharpen your skills, each issue breaks down the essential elements of writing fear, from building atmosphere and tension to creating characters readers truly care about. You’ll find practical tips, inspiring prompts, and techniques drawn from both classic and modern horror, all designed to help you turn your ideas into spine-tingling tales. |
If you’ve never written horror before, don’t worry; you don’t need to be Stephen King to give someone goosebumps. You just need three things: a fear to explore, a character to experience it, and a setting that amplifies it.
 Start With Fear: Your Fear
The best horror isn’t built on clichés; it’s built on truth. Ask yourself:
What unsettles me so deeply I avoid thinking about it?
What image or sound makes my stomach knot?
Your answer is the seed. Use it as your foundation, because if it creeps you out, it will likely creep out your readers too.
Atmosphere Is Your First Monster
Horror thrives on mood before mayhem. You don’t need gore to unsettle people, sometimes a shadow where it shouldn’t be is far worse. Play with:
Setting: isolated cabins, abandoned hospitals, quiet streets at 3 a.m.
Sensory detail: creaks, whispers, cold drafts, smells of rot.
Lighting: half-seen shapes, flickering bulbs, unnatural stillness.
Characters Readers Care About
If your readers don’t care about the characters, they won’t care what’s lurking in the dark. Build them as if they were in any other genre, give them quirks, flaws, dreams; then place them in a situation that threatens it all.
The Slow Knife Cuts Deep
Tension is horror’s lifeblood  . Tease danger long before it strikes. Use pacing to stretch dread:
Start small: odd noises, missing objects, animals acting strangely.
Escalate: the world gets stranger, explanations vanish, safety erodes.
Deliver: the inevitable moment when the thing in the dark steps forward.
Twist the Knife: But Don’t Overdo It
Your reveal should pay off the fear you’ve built, but horror lingers when all the answers aren’t given. Leave just enough mystery so the reader’s imagination finishes the job.
Writing Exercise
Tonight, in the dark, write 300 words starting with the line:
“Something was breathing in the room, and it wasn’t me.”
No editing, no overthinking. Just write. You might surprise yourself...or scare yourself.
Final Thought
Good horror is about more than jump scares; it’s about atmosphere, empathy, and the quiet, crawling dread that something is very wrong. And the best part? You get to play god and monster all at once. Have fun with your story even if it scares you. |
| | Turned (13+)
A writer is haunted by her past. My submission for the May writing competition
#2339740 by M  |
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Horror/Scary: August 20, 2025 Issue [#13298]
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