How to WRITE HORROR

It's that scary moment when you feel your stomach dropping. When you feel your palms sweat, and the panic sets in. You want to scream, but you can't. You want to cry, but crying will only get you caught. One wrong move and it's over.

What am I talking about? Horror.

To WRITE HORROR, you can't just stick a bunch of random characters in an old abandoned house and let some ghosts out on them. That's more along the lines of paranormal anyway. Horror needs to have solid characters, awesome settings and details just as much as any tale, maybe even more so. Perhaps we need to know why Jerry was acting so weird when he came to Juliets.

First, let's start with creating suspense.

Creating suspense:

To keep the readers' attention through the long midsection of your book, you'll need to continually develop the conflict and advance the plot in logical steps without making the story predictable.

You can create suspense using a variety of techniques, including tension, pacing and foreshadowing.

The suspense we're discussing here doesn't necessarily involve the characters being in peril; it's created whenever there's something the reader wants to know. Will Joe kiss Brenda? Will Sally give in to Brad's demand that she work for him? Will Jared answer Katherine's question or dodge it?

Whenever you cause readers to be curious about what comes next, you're creating suspense in writing.

You, as the author, can create suspense in three main ways:

By withholding information from readers. As the author, you know the entire hidden story behind the plot and characters: the backstory and the plot twists that are yet to come. You might be tempted to spill out the backstory and hidden story right away, but most stories are improved when at least some of that information is held back-sometimes up to the very end.

By withholding information from the main characters. This is the Hitchcock effect-so called because Alfred Hitchcock was a master of it in his films. By reading between the lines and applying common sense and experience, the readers (like Hitchcock's movie audience) can draw conclusions about what's likely to be coming up. But, like the movie audience, the readers are powerless to prevent a character from stepping into a yawning trap that only readers can foresee.

By having the characters withhold information from the readers-and from one another. Just because a character knows something doesn't mean he has to share it (even if he's a POV character). And even hidden motives will affect how a character acts, cluing in alert readers to what's really going on.

When you're writing scenes in which suspense is crucial, you also need to know what to avoid. Keep in mind that putting too much backstory early in the book, or using too much introspection to divulge information about your characters, is a great way to bore the readers and destroy any suspense you may have established.

KEEP THE ACTION INTENSE

A great way to keep people interested and adding even more spice to your already flaming soufflé.

MAKE THE DANGER FEEL REAL

Make the reader feel as if they were sucked into the book, as if it were really happening. In real life, if a psychopath was chasing you with a saw, you wouldn't stop to give your lover a hug. It's just not realistic. Make the main characters actions real.

KEEP THE EMOTION HIGH

Even if there isn't much action, make sure your characters - and readers - feel the fear and other emotions pouring out onto the pages. Is someone angered? Saddened? Scared?

FORESHADOW

Maybe letting a casual phrase slip once isn't of much significance, but having it repeated means its probably worth mentioning. Maybe saying It's Here, means someone knows that IT is.

HIDE WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE THINKING

If a character has a clenched jaw, are they mad at someone. Are they annoyed at the main Character? Or someone else? Have the MC draw up conclusions but they may not always be right.

Another way to make your horror novel better, is Description.

Description is key when it comes to horror. If you say, She fell and was taken by the man, it doesn't make you feel suspenseful or as scared when I say:

She fell awkwardly onto the ground, her knees scraped up and bruised. We had to keep running. I tried to help her up but HE appeared, his chainsaw up high. I screamed, letting go of her for an instant, and his loud boot footsteps echoed towards me.

He grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her away, blood dyeing the floor. "HEATHER!" she cried I tried to grasp her hand, but the man swung at me and I couldn't risk it. Not for her.

You see? It sounds so much better. It doesn't give too many hidden thoughts away. Like why doesn't Heather want to risk her life for the girl? Why doesn't the man try to take Heather and not the other one?

Questions arise my friends.

Alrighty then, thank you people for reading today's How to!

Next time: How NOT to MAKE A MARY SUE

Bye! ~Absolutely_Positive