Elsewhere on this site, you’ll find some great advice for writing horror fiction in general, including everything from books to screenplays. Today, we will zero in on the short story format.
This guide explains how to start writing a horror story based on a general idea. It offers practical tips to help you go from a blank page to a finished work.
Benefits of Writing Short Stories Versus Novels
I won’t lie to you. Writing a good horror story is harder than it looks.
Long-time, professional writers might make it look easy. But that’s only because they’ve done it dozens if not hundreds of times in the past.
I say this not to discourage you, but to help you set realistic expectations from the start. Writing a good story is like any other creative skill, in that it takes time and practice to excel.
Now for the good news…
Short stories are a great way to develop your writing skills. They’re much shorter than a novel and don’t require a long-term commitment. You could complete one in a week.
Short stories also allow you to experiment and try different things, hopping from one idea to the next. Don’t like the story you’re working on right now? Just put it aside and start another one. Or reshape the current piece into something more interesting.
Short stories offer more flexibility than novels, which is ideal for new and aspiring authors. They allow you to explore many different subjects over the course of a year, rather than committing to just one (as in the case of a novel).
How to Start Writing a Horror Story
Let’s get back to the central theme of this guide. Let’s talk about how to start writing a horror story, once you have an idea in mind.
For me, starting stories has always been the easiest part of the process. I do okay through the middle part as well. But I sometimes struggle with endings, because short story endings are trickier than novel endings (more on that later).
You might be different. Maybe you’re the kind of person who has a harder time starting a story. If so, you’ll find the following tips and strategies helpful.
1. Come up with a unique idea for your story.
You can’t start writing a horror story until you develop an idea or premise. It doesn’t have to be a fully formed idea—and it probably won’t be in the beginning.
But there has to be something to provide a springboard.
Here’s a creative exercise you might find helpful. Think of an ordinary person, place or thing, and then find a way to make it dark or disturbing.
Here are a few examples:
- Person: A friendly neighbor who never misses a chance to chat … but their cheerful demeanor hides an unsettling secret about what they keep in their basement.
- Place: A local coffee shop where the barista remembers every single customer’s order … and their deepest fears.
- Thing: A child’s doll that has been passed down for generations … and seems to take on a life of its own at night.
- Routine: An evening jog through a familiar park where you start noticing eerie figures hidden among the trees, always watching, but never approaching.
- Digital Device: A new smart speaker that starts responding to questions no one has asked … and knows things about the listener’s life that were never shared online.
- Public Space: A crowded subway station where strangers, one by one, start to recognize you and whisper about something terrible you haven’t yet done.
- Mirror: A mirror in an antique store that shows different reflections of the same person, each one aging or decaying in ways that suggest a horrific fate.
- Pet: A loyal dog that begins growling and acting aggressively whenever it’s near a specific part of the house.
Horror stories often involve taking the ordinary and twisting it into something uncanny, unsettling, and unexpected. There’s no shortage of ways to do this in story form.
2. Choose your point of view.
In fiction, the point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which the story is told.
Point of view establishes the narrator’s position relative to the story. It also determines how much information the reader has, since the reader “sees” the story through the eyes of the main character.
Here are the three main POV options used when writing horror stories:
- First Person: The narrator is a character within the story, directly experiencing events and using “I” and “me” pronouns.
- Second Person: The narrator directly addresses the reader as “you,” placing the reader in the story as a character.
- Third Person: The narrator is outside the story, using “he,” “she,” and “they” to describe characters. There are different versions of third person POV, but that’s the subject of another guide.
The great thing about horror short stories (versus novels) is that you can experiment with different POVs to figure out what works best. The shorter length facilitates change.
Maybe you start off writing a story in third-person POV, but later discover that it works best as a first-person narrative. No problem. Just change it around. You’re only ten pages in.
Chances are, you prefer a certain type of POV when reading short stories. Personally, I lean toward stories written in the third person and struggle with those that use first. If you have a similar preference, you’ll probably find it easier to take your own work in that direction.
3. Develop a simple hook or premise.
Short stories benefit from having a good, strong hook that pulls the reader in. That’s true for all genres, but especially horror.
When people sit down to read a horror story, they want to encounter something intriguing within the first few paragraphs.
They’re not impatient. They just have specific expectations for a specific genre and format.
Short stories deliver a compressed narrative. They usually start in the middle, just before the climax or peak action. So you have to get the ball rolling quickly. Your readers will expect it.
Before you even start writing a horror story, think about how you can hook the reader. You could do this with a simple premise, like “a character notices something wrong with their reflection,” or “a person gets a disturbing phone call late at night.”
You don’t need to have all of the answers at this stage. You don’t even have to know how the story ends. You just need a premise to get the story moving forward.
Write the beginning. Hook the reader. And move forward from there.
4. Give yourself the freedom to experiment.
If you were halfway through a novel and decided to make a major change, you would have a lot of work to do. You might have to rewrite or significantly change 200 pages of material.
Short stories, on the other hand, are much easier to reshape due to their brevity. They allow you to experiment on the page, making changes with less effort.
You might start writing a horror story with a specific vision in mind, only to find that the vision changes as you get a few pages in. That’s a manageable rewrite.
Keep this in mind when you sit down and start to write a short story. Give yourself full permission to experiment, even if it means making a midcourse correction.
In a sense, writing short stories is like a detonation and a reconstruction all rolled into one. You start with a specific idea (or part of an idea) as to where you think the story is headed. But then you start writing the horror story, and everything just blows up. Bits and pieces fly everywhere.
So then you look at those pieces and realize there’s actually a different kind of story trying to emerge. You reorganize. You reshape. You take things out and put other things in.
And eventually … voila. All of the pieces fit neatly into place.
It doesn’t always work like this. But it often does—and usually with better results.
5. Figure out what your character wants and fears.
In fiction, character actions are usually driven by their wants or desires. The character wants something (or wants to avoid something), but obstacles rise up in their path.
This “want-plus-obstacle” formula is the basis for most fiction, including horror stories.
Here’s how the legendary Ray Bradbury describes it, in the preface of his book Zen in the Art of Writing:
“What do you want more than anything else in the world? What do you love, or what do you hate? Find a character, like yourself, who will want something or not want something, with all his heart. Give him running orders. Shoot him off. Then follow as fast as you can go. The Character, in his great love, or hate, will rush you through to the end of the story.”
If you don’t know what your character wants, you don’t know what drives them. So try to figure that out before you write the first words.
6. Introduce something uncanny or unsettling.
Think about how you can hint at something being “off” at the start of your story, before the real horror unfolds. Small abnormalities or oddities make for excellent story openers.
You don’t have to reveal the scary thing in the beginning. Your story will probably be better if you don’t. Instead, look for ways to unsettle the reader with subtle, eerie hints.
7. Know that you don’t have to explain everything.
In a novel, you could include an entire chapter that reveals backstory or provides historical context. In a short story, not so much.
When writing a short horror story, you’ll have to omit a lot of the backstory. You need to stay “in the moment” for the most part, right there with the main character.
And you don’t have to explain everything. You only have to explain (or better yet, describe) whatever is relevant to the character in that moment and shortly before it.
If you need to color in a little of the backstory to make the story work, then by all means do so. Just know that you have the freedom to omit details.
Start your story with a little mystery. For example, a character might sense something strange but not fully understand it—not yet. With horror, the unknown and the unexplained are often scarier than the clearly defined.
8. Rewrite the ending several times, especially the last line.
Short stories end differently than novels, and readers expect this.
The ending of a story can come on quick, right after the climax in some cases. This leaves the reader with a quick emotional punch rather than a gradual landing.
Novels, on the other hand, provide a more comprehensive resolution. They have space to develop subplots and multiple character arcs. So the ending often has to tie up various threads to offer a clearer sense of closure.
Short story readers are usually willing to accept (and might expect) an ambiguous ending. They know it’s part of the formula, part of what makes short stories unique and special.
In contrast, a person who has invested weeks into reading a novel might feel “cheated” if the ending poses more questions than it answers.
Keep this in mind when writing short horror fiction. If you find yourself struggling to find the ending for a story, you might have already passed it. So check the rearview mirror.
And pay particular attention to the last sentence. Short stories are known for having a strong final sentence that lingers in the mind, possibly altering the context of what came before it.
The 8 Things to Take Away From This Guide
Short stories are a great starting point for aspiring horror writers. They allow for experimentation and flexibility. Here are eight points to keep in mind as you sit down to start writing.
- Start with a unique idea for your story. Twist the ordinary into the uncanny.
- Choose a point of view. First, second, or third person can all be effective in horror.
- Create a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention early on.
- Experiment freely. Short stories are easier to reshape and rewrite.
- Develop compelling characters by understanding their wants and fears.
- Hint at the horror initially. Introduce unsettling elements early on.
- Embrace the mystery. Don’t try to explain everything to the reader.
- Perfect the ending. A strong final sentence can leave a lasting impact.