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[5] Writing out a horror story all by yourself

Let's just get to it.

The protagonist must have nightmares. These should be at the start of the chapter, so that the dreamer may wake up in a bolting manner. He/she must suddenly bolt up, gasping, covered in cold sweat. Alternatively, someone may wake them up because they were yelling.

Either way, the dreamer must wake only when the ‘bad thing’ is about to happen.

All of these are necessary. Why? It’s because this is what happens in every story. The familiarity helps the reader settle in, so they won’t be on edge. This is what you want, because even if it is a horror, you don’t want to scare your readers too much. They’re reading for fun, not because they truly wish to be terrorized!

You’re not allowed to use a different mode of portraying nightmares, or ending them. For instance, you may not blur the lines between reality and a nightmare the protagonist had, by making his/her thoughts drift from past to present.

Things MUST go missing.

Your story won’t qualify to be a horror if things don’t go missing. It always happens, and you don’t want to defy the norm – because then readers won’t take you seriously as a horror story writer.

Note that things must disappear only when the protagonist places it on (say) a desk then turns around for a ‘second’. When (s)he looks back the thing must have vanished. Less common is a thing disappearing overnight, but that works too.

What may not work is if the said object subtly moves a bit daily (and only the reader is made aware by perhaps third person narration) and then vanishes, only for the disappearance to be discovered later. Discoveries must ALWAYS be made immediately, and the protagonist must know who, or what is responsible.

The objects that go missing must include something that the protagonist’s dead relative gave them, something they have borrowed and the one thing that can help solve the problem.

Somewhat along those lines, inexplicable, irrational events must occur and these should be experienced by everyone but the protagonist.

For instance, ‘everyone’ may be hit with objects, or their belongings may go missing. (Add more) and all these must happen when the protagonist is in perfect position to carry out the said deed.

Therefore the protagonist will be blamed.

This very original plot creates tension enough to make the readers pity the protagonist (he/she is isolated!) but the great thing is, because the reader knows that the protagonist is innocent, he/she won’t get thinking about other possibilities and get worried, so that eliminates the heart attack risk caused by over-excitement.

The readers won’t think of other possibilities because you’re not going to do anything stupid like have a kleptomaniac protagonist, which leaves the reader wondering as to what the truth really is. Come on, nobody does that, so why should you?

Speaking of irrational, mysterious things must appear to the protagonist but disappear as soon as he/she tries to show someone else, making him/her look like a fool. If possible, this should be repeated at least thrice before the protagonist gives up (the object could keep appearing and disappearing).

It’s a good idea, this one is, because when nobody believes the protagonist, it creates conflict. It makes the person isolated, which excites the reader. Your insurance that it won’t over-excite the reader lies in that this plot device has been tried and tested in plenty of stories. Win-win!

People will only believe the protagonist (about this, and other claims (s)he will have made during the course of the story) when the eleventh hour arrives, and people are about to die, or have already died. Three paragraphs must be utilized for an exchange of apologies, consolations and explanations during the climax, which is when the protagonist will get believers.

Yes, I said paragraphs, because dialogue must be bunched up since it’s more fun for the reader when he/she has to try and figure out what exactly is being said.

You know the period when nobody believes the protagonist? That’s not exactly accurate – there will be ONE person who believes them when nobody else does, and this person will feed the protagonist with all the information needed. The person may or may not die, but either way, he/she must be considered demented by everybody else.

Usually, the ‘person’ is the old lady who lives next door. She must be completely anti-social and her family should either be dead or have disowned her. Her teeth must be crooked and yellowing and house must smell ‘musty.’ ALWAYS.

She will guide the protagonist in his/her quest to prevent the horror, but will refuse to answer the key questions asked.

You want to use this plot device not only because it is thoroughly original, but also because the readers may get worried for the protagonist if he/she is all alone (the old lady prevents that, thus preventing any anxiety your readers may have). Even in case Ms. Old Lady dies, she will have left the protagonist the items he/she needs, as well as their house in a will.

At night the protagonist must have difficulty sleeping, especially if it’s the night of the climax. (Climaxes must occur at night).

This is the time you want to impress your readers with your amazing gift of description bestowed upon you. Now is when you can describe the dancing shadows of the trees, the silvery moonlight pouring in through the window (nobody ever pulls their curtains at night), the dry rustling of leaves and the deafening ticking of the clock (because everyone has an analogue clock in their room).

Nobody else can describe these never-described things like you can, so go ahead and impress the readers! (Limit yourself to these things though, because these are the basis of any horror story – and that’s what you’re in the process of writing).

NOTE: Don’t ever describe other things such as the creak of an old wooden gate being blown due to wind, or draughts in your room, or breezes of cold air, or how you soft toy suddenly looks dangerous. Just no.

The reason for all examples of things to describe or not describe being ‘negative’ is that no night can be ordinary. It wouldn’t be a horror if it were ordinary now, would it?

Any movement will be a cat moving.

This is a like a commandant; all horror story writers must obey this rule. It matters not whether the protagonist owns a cat, nor does it matter if nobody in the neighborhood owns a cat…any movement must still be by a cat.

Do you know why this works even if nobody owns a cat for ten miles around? It will be read as an OMEN then, which will TERRIFY your readers. And you won’t lose points on credibility, because hello? That is a cat!

The cause of horror must almost always be a spirit that has been trapped on Earth and only wants freedom.

The spirit could be trapped for many reasons, but the most is that he/she was murdered (or any other crime was committed on them) and justice has not been served.

Phone calls!

These are a key ingredient for your story. The protagonist must receive many of these, but nobody will speak. At the most, heavy breathing will be heard.

In the occurrence that the protagonist is too unnerved, he/she won’t answer the call. This is when their mother will have to drop something important that she is doing, and will answer the call – and it will be the protagonist’s best friend, and not some spirit.

Mum will be annoyed.

So yes, basically, only the protagonist may experience such calls.

The protagonist must be forced to visit a psychiatrist at some point

More often than not, the psychiatrist will be a suspect in the protagonist’s eyes, so these sessions will only serve to make the protagonist look crazier as he/she will defy the psychiatrist. In the event that Doc is guilty, sessions will include threats. If Doc is innocent, the protagonist will read comments as threats, and the true meaning will be explained at the end.

It’s never possible for your protagonist to truly be crazy.