This page offers dozens of ways to come up with a unique and original horror story idea, including a mix-and-match story generator. Enter if you dare!
Part 1: The Horror Story Idea Matrix
Need some original ideas for a horror story? How about 27,000 of them?
That’s how many possible combinations you’ll find in the table below.
Instructions: Pick one item from each of the three columns to generate a horror story idea, writing prompt, or premise. Repeat the process until you find a combination that intrigues you.
| Protagonist | Horror Threat | Setting |
| Reclusive librarian | Possessed heirloom | Off-season summer camp |
| Scientist studying parasites | Shape-shifting creature | Murky swamp |
| Cynical therapist | Entity that feeds on sorrow | Small-town cemetery |
| Ghost tour guide | Coven of witches | Deserted train station |
| Paranormal investigator | Cursed doll or statue | Closed hotel resort |
| Sleepwalker | Malicious doppelgängers | Old, overgrown cemetery |
| Skeptic podcaster | Invasive extraterrestrial plants | Remote mountain lodge |
| Former cult member | Giant insects | Hidden monastery |
| Police dispatcher | Contagious madness | Sprawling, abandoned mansion |
| Local historian | Skinwalkers | Darkened music hall |
| Blind clairvoyant | Mutated apes, bears, dogs | Dystopian city |
| Vintage store owner | Dead relative with dark secrets | Sprawling junkyard |
| Washed-up horror writer | Rogue AI | Basement labyrinth |
| Lonely florist | Split personalities | Ocean liner adrift at sea |
| Archeologist | Masked figure haunting dreams | Ancient burial site |
| Ghostwriter | Intelligent serial killer | Haunted recording studio |
| Retired nurse | Sentient virus | Abandoned hospital |
| Voice actor | Dollhouse that animates at night | Foggy lakeside cabin |
| Firefighter with survivor’s guilt | Nightmares becoming reality | Empty opera house |
| Cult escapee | Entity only visible in firelight | Shifting, endless maze |
| Circus runaway | Puppeteer controlling the living | Ghostly carnival grounds |
| Priest questioning faith | Ancient deity awoken | Subterranean caverns |
| Tech CEO | Viral game that drives players insane | Corporate skyscraper |
| Folklore professor | Living forest that traps visitors | Unmarked graveyard |
| ER doctor | Silent figure with no face | Endless white hospital hallways |
| Reality TV host | Bioengineered monsters | Deserted film set |
| Antique book collector | Satanic cult | Dimly-lit attic |
| Dog walker | Intelligent animals hunting in packs | Wintery woods |
| Conspiracy theorist | Poltergeist | Long-abandoned farm |
| Young mathematician | Doom clock counting down | Empty suburban mall |
Part 2: Playing the What-if Game
Original horror story ideas are all around you, all the time. You just have to be open to receiving them. You have to look at a person, place or thing, tilt your head, and say …. “what if.”
Stephen King got the idea for his classic horror novel The Shining while staying in a nearly vacant Colorado hotel. He’s in this cavernous building with “long, empty corridors” and wonders: What if somebody died here?
You can play the what-if game with just about any person, place, or thing. All it requires is imagination. As you study the object, see if you can find a darker version of it…
A Traveling Carnival
- What if the carnival’s workers are not human?
- What if the carnival is a front for a sinister cult?
- What if the rides are portals to nightmare dimensions?
- What if the “house of mirrors” shows you visions of your worst fears?
- What if every person who wins a prize is later haunted by the prize?
A Small-Town High School
- What if a dark entity is feeding on the fears and anxieties of students?
- What if a student discovers a hidden artifact with a terrible power?
- What if a mysterious new student is a harbinger of doom?
- What if the principal never ages and shows up in antique yearbooks?
- What if the basement hides dark secrets and restless spirits?
A Clown
- What if the clown is a serial killer in disguise (like John Wayne Gacy)?
- What if the clown is a demonic entity, feeding on fear and laughter?
- What if the clown is a manifestation of a child’s deepest fears?
- What if the clown’s painted face resembles a local urban legend?
- What if the clown knows things about your life that you’ve never shared?
Part 3: Seven Sources for Horrific Inspiration
The previous sections gave you some basic methods for generating unique horror story ideas. Now it’s time for the advanced class. Here are seven rich sources of inspiration…
1. Your own fears and apprehensions
What are you afraid of? I mean really afraid of?
I have a thing about the ocean at night. I would never swim in the ocean at night. It’s an irrational fear. There’s not much difference between the day and night ocean. It doesn’t transform into some evil entity after sunset.
Still, it spooks me, all of that dark water with unseen and hungry things swimming around.
What scares you? Think about that thing for a moment. Hold it in your mind. Think about why it scares you — the features or aspects that make it frightening.
Now magnify them. Exaggerate them. Let them grow and expand. Somewhere within your darkest fears, a unique horror story idea is lurking.
2. Your own dark dreams and nightmares
We can’t control or prevent our nightmares. They come to us without permission. They pick up bits and pieces of our past — people, places, and things — and mash them together in some horrifying way.
They’re also a rich source of original horror story ideas.
Many famous authors have gotten story ideas from their own nightmares. But it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Even pleasant dreams can deliver unique and compelling story ideas.
The thing about dreams is, they tend to fade fast. You might wake up thinking: “Wow, that was a memorable dream. I’ll never forget that one.” But by mid-morning it’s gone, like fog burning off a lake.
If you want to tap into your dreams and nightmares for story ideas, you have to grab them when they’re fresh. Keep a notebook in a bedside drawer. Collect those dark echoes.
3. Ancient mythology
Greek mythology is full of scary monsters. The minotaur. The hydra. Medusa!
The same goes for other ancient mythologies.
The ancient Egyptians, for instance, had their fair share of scary stories. Ammit, a demoness and goddess in the ancient Egyptian belief system, was known as the “devourer of the dead.”
She would test people who entered the underworld and eat the hearts of those she deemed unworthy.
A heart-eating demoness? Now there’s an original horror story idea.
The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians (among others) were telling scary stories long before printed books were a thing. They told tales of demons, monsters, ghosts — even shapeshifters.
Pick up a book on ancient mythologies, or use the Internet to tap into this rich resource. They’re full of original horror story ideas and inspiration.
4. Religious beliefs from around the world
As with mythology, the world’s major religions are full of scary stories. And the further back you go, the more brutal they become. The Old Testament is full of people getting burned alive, stoned to death, and beheaded.
Religions are often built around the idea of good versus evil and right versus wrong. But in order to showcase the right path, they have to present the darker one. It’s all about contrast.
The Bible and other religious books offer endless ideas and inspiration for horror stories and novels. For instance, check out the story of Ezekiel and the valley of bones. It’s like a biblical version of The Evil Dead.
5. The news and real-life events
Plenty of horror exists in the real world. Just turn on the nightly news, and you’ll find some.
There’s an old saying in the TV news world: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This means the most disturbing and violent stories get priority coverage.
Why? Because they know people will stick around to watch … after the weather, of course.
Exorcisms. Ax murderers. Supposed haunted houses. You can find them all on the TV news.
Better yet, go online and do a Google search for “real-life horror stories in the news.” You’re bound to find some unique and original story ideas out there.
Check out this list on Esquire.com to get started. A teacher recruiting students for a devil worshipping cult? That one practically writes itself.
6. Ordinary, everyday objects
I don’t know about you, but antique and vintage dolls give me the creeps. It’s not so much an outright fear. Just a bit of the cringe factor.
There’s something about their eyes, the way they follow you as you move around the room. They’re always watching, those dolls. Always.
The creators of The Conjuring tapped into this when they brought Annabelle to the big screen. That possessed doll is now famous around the world.
Why? Because a lot of people find dolls creepy.
In horror movies, scary clowns and dolls have been done to death. (Pun intended.) They’ve been featured in movies like Poltergeist, Magic, Goosebumps, and The Conjuring franchise.
But what about other everyday objects? What ordinary object might you use for a story idea?
Need some inspiration? Here are some haunted objects featured in horror novels and movies:
- A car — Christine
- A doll — The Conjuring and Annabelle movies, Chucky, etc.
- A puzzle box — Hellraiser
- A videotape — The Ring
- A TV — Poltergeist
- A mirror — Oculus
In these horror novels and movies, objects that start out as “ordinary” turn out to be anything but. Somewhere along the way, they become haunted, cursed or possessed.
So keep a sharp eye out. A fresh horror idea might be sitting somewhere in your house, right this very minute. Maybe it’s even watching you.
7. Grimoires, demonology texts, books on black magic, etc.
A grimoire is a “textbook” or guide that teaches readers how to cast magical spells and summon demons. (Supposedly, at least.) The oldest grimoires date back to ancient Mesopotamia. More recent versions arrived in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Related: 7 scary demons in horror movies
One of the more famous grimoires is The Lesser Key of Solomon, an anonymous compilation that dates back to the mid-17th century — and possibly earlier.
Among other things, it explains how to summon demons.
It also names and describes 72 demons, including notables like Bael and Malphas. Some of these demons are said to help humans, if summoned properly. While others seek to inflict harm.
Another grimoire worth looking into is Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, by Johann Weyer.
These and related texts offer an endless supply of horror story ideas, especially if you fancy the supernatural subgenre in particular.