scary story essay ideas

132 Best Horror Writing Prompts and Scary Story Ideas

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Horror stories send shivers down our spines. They are gruesome, shocking, and chilling. Scary stories are meant to horrify us, and there are many ways to make a powerful impact on the reader. The element of surprise is crucial to make the readers’ blood freeze.

There are different types of horror stories. They often deal with terrible murders, supernatural powers, psychopaths, frightening human psychology, and much more.

Horror Writing Prompts List

Although many horror writing prompts and scary ideas have been written, the following 132 horror writing prompts can spark great creativity in aspiring writers of the horror genre.

A family is on a camping trip. The parents are walking with their two children, a daughter and a son. The little boy trips and falls into a dark river. His father jumps to rescue him. Somehow, the boy manages to swim to the surface. The father is nowhere to be found. When the mother gets a hold of the boy, she can’t recognize him. She tries holding him, but the moment she touches his wet body, her hands start burning.
A young girl goes missing in a nearby forest. The whole town is searching for her. Her parents find her sitting and smiling in a cave. Her eyes are completely white.
A woman starts watching a movie late at night. The movie seems all too familiar. Finally, she realizes that it is a movie about her own life and that she might be already dead.
A house finds a way to kill every visitor on its premises.
A child makes her own Halloween mask. She glues a lock of her own hair on her mask. The mask comes to life and threatens to take over the girl’s body.

While digging in her backyard, an old lady discovers an iron chest. She opens it and finds a pile of old photographs of her ancestors. All of them are missing their left eye.
A priest is trying to punish God for the death of his sister. He is getting ready to burn down the church when supernatural forces start to torture him.
Every year, a woman goes to the cemetery where her husband is buried, and when she looks at his tombstone, she notices her own name carved into it.
A woman puts a lipstick on in the bathroom when she hears a demonic voice saying to her: “Can’t you see?”
A mysterious child psychiatrist promises parents to cure their children if they give him a vile of their blood.
A group of 10 friends decide to rent an old English castle for the weekend. The ghosts are disturbed and seek their pound of flesh.
A photographer travels to an Indian reservation for his next project. He starts taking photos, but there are only shadows in the places where people should have been.

A young married couple decides to renovate an abandoned psychiatric hospital and turn it into a hotel. Everything is going well until their first guest arrives.
Three sisters are reunited for the reading of their grandmother’s will. She has left them a diamond necklace, but they have to fight psychologically and physically for it.
An old woman pretends to be lost and asks a young woman to help her get home. She offers them a cup of tea and drugs them. When the women wake up, they are chained in the basement. The old woman gives them tools and boards so that they can build their own coffin. If they refuse, she inflicts pain on them.
A mysterious stranger with a glass eye and a cane commissions a portrait. When the portrait is finished, the painter turns it into stone.
A little girl’s sister lives with a monster in the closet. She exits the closet on her sister’s birthday.
The demons under the nuclear plant get released after an explosion and start terrorizing the families of people who work at the plant.
A woman gets trapped in a parallel universe where every day, she dies horribly in different ways.
A cannibal hunts for pure children’s hearts, hoping they will bring him eternal youth.
A politician hides his weird sister in the attic. She’s had her supernatural powers after their family home burned to the ground.
A 16-year-old girl wakes up on a stone-cold table surrounded by people in black and white masks. They chant and start leaning forward. All of them carry carved knives.

A boy hears screaming from his parents’ bedroom. He jumps and hides under his bed. Suddenly, everything becomes quiet. A man wearing army boots enters his room. He drags the boy from under the bed and says: “We’ve been searching for you for 200 years.”
A husband and his wife regain consciousness only to see each other tied to chairs, facing each other. A voice on the radio tells them to kill the other. Otherwise, they would kill their children.
A mysterious altruist gives a kidney to a young man who has the potential to become a leading neuroscientist. After a year, the altruist kills the young man because he proves to be an unworthy organ recipient. The following year, the mysterious altruist is a bone marrow donor.
A group of friends play truth or dare. Suddenly, all the lights go out, and in those ten seconds of darkness, one of the group is killed.
A young man becomes obsessed with an old man living opposite his building. The young man is convinced that the old man is the embodiment of the devil and starts planning the murder.
Concerned and grieving parents bring their 8-year-old son to a psychiatrist after their daughter’s accident, believing that the boy had something to do with her death.
A woman is admitted to a hospital after a car crash. She wakes up after three months in a coma, but when she tries to speak, she can’t utter a sound. When the nurse sees that she is awake, she calls a doctor. The last thing the woman remembers is hearing the doctor say: “Today is your lucky day,” right before four men in black robes take her out.
A small-town cop becomes obsessed with a cold case from 1978. Three girls went missing after school, and nobody has seen them since. Then, one day, in 2008, three girls with the same names as those in 1978 went missing. The case is reopened.

Scary story ideas for a psychological horror

After his parents’ death, a cardiologist returns to his small town, where everyone seems to lead a perfect life. This causes a disturbance in the idyllic life of the people since none of them has a heart.
A man is kidnapped from his apartment at midnight and brought to a large private estate. He is told that he will be a human prey and that ten hunters with guns will go after him. He is given a 5-minute head start.
A strange woman in labor is admitted to the local hospital. Nobody seems to recognize her. She screams in agony. A black smoke fills in the entire hospital. After that, nobody is the same. A dark lord is born.
A young girl finds her grandmother’s gold in a chest in the attic, although she isn’t allowed to go there by herself. She touches the gold, and she starts seeing horrible visions involving her grandmother when she was younger.
An anthropologist studies rituals involving human sacrifice. She slowly begins to accept them as necessary.
A family of four moves into an old Victorian home. As they restore it, more and more people die suddenly and violently.

An old nurse has lived next door to a family that doesn’t get older. Their son has remained to be a seven-year-old boy.
A girl wakes up in her dorm and sees that everybody sleepwalks in the same direction. She acts as if she has the same condition and follows them to an underground black pool where everybody jumps.
A bride returns to the same bridge for 50 years, waiting for her husband-to-be to get out of the water.
An old woman locks girls’ personalities in a forever-growing collection of porcelain dolls. Parents of the missing girls are in agony, and they finally suspect something. When they tell the police, their claims are instantly dismissed.
A chemistry teacher disfigures teenagers who remind him of his childhood bullies. One day, he learns that the new student in his school is the son of his childhood archenemy.
A girl starts digging tiny holes in her backyard. When her mother asks her what she is doing, the girl answers: “Mr. Phantom told me to bury my dolls tonight. Tomorrow night I am going to bury our dog. And then, you, mother.”

Twin brothers were kidnapped and returned the next day. They claim that they can’t remember anything. The following night, the twin sisters disappear.
A boy has a very realistic dream about impending doom, but nobody believes him until, during a storm, all the birds fall dead on the ground.
Room 206 is believed to be haunted, so hotel guests never stay in it. One day, an old woman arrives at the hotel and asks for the key to room 206. She says that she was born there.
A genius scientist tries to extract his wife’s consciousness from her lifeless body and insert it into an imprisoned woman who looks just like his wife.
Two distinguished scientists developed a new type of virus that attacks their brains and turns them into killing machines.
A woman steps out of her house only to find four of her neighbors dead at her doorstep. Little does she know that she isn’t supposed to call the police.
A bachelor’s party ends with two dead people in the pool. Both of them are missing their eyes.
A young woman wearing a black dress is holding a knife in her hand and threatening to kill a frightened man. She is terrified because she does not want to kill anybody, but her body refuses to obey her mind.
A strange religious group starts performing a ritual on a playground. The children’s hearts stop beating.
A woman discovers that her niece has done some horrible crimes, so she decides to poison her. Both of them take the poison, but only the aunt dies.

Free Small decorative ghost in white cape hanging on tree sprig on blurred background in autumn park during holiday celebration in daylight Stock Photo

A man encounters death on his way to work. He can ask three questions before he dies. He makes a quick decision.
An older brother kills his baby sister because he wants to be an only child. When he learns that his mother is pregnant again, he decides to punish her.
A husband and his wife move to a new apartment. After a week, both of them kill themselves. They leave a note saying: “Never again.”
A man is trying to open a time portal so that he can kill his parents before he is ever conceived.
A famous conductor imprisons a pianist from the orchestra and makes him play the piano while he tortures other victims as musicians. Every time the pianist makes a mistake, the conductor cuts of a finger from his victims.
A popular French chef is invited by a mysterious Japanese sushi master for dinner. A powerful potion makes the French chef fall asleep. He wakes up horrified to learn that he is kept on a human farm, in a cage.
A nuclear blast turns animals into blood-thirsty monsters.
A mysterious bug creeps under people’s skin and turns them into the worst version of themselves.
A kidnapper makes his victims torture each other for his sheer pleasure.
Four friends are invited to spend the afternoon in an escape room. A man’s voice tells them that they have won a prize. They happily accept and enter the escape room. They soon realize that the room was designed to reflect their worst nightmares.

Two sisters have been given names from the Book of the Dead. Their fates have been sealed, so when they turn 21, dark forces are sent to bring them to the underground.
A mother-to-be starts feeling severe pain in her stomach every time she touches a Bible. Despite the fear for her own life, she starts reading the New Testament out loud.
A literature professor discovers an old manuscript in the college library. He opens it in his study, and suddenly, a black raven flies through the window.
You are the Ruler of a dystopian society. You kill every time your control is threatened.
You are an intelligent robot who shows no mercy to humanity.
You are a promising researcher who discovers that all the notorious dictators have been cloned.
A nomad meets a fakir who tells him that he will bring agony to dozens of people unless he kills himself before he transforms into a monster.
A most prominent member of a sect goes to animal shelters to find food for the dark forces.
A man hires unethical doctors to help him experience clinical death and then bring him back to life after a minute. Little does he know that one minute of death feels like an eternity full of horrors.
You travel home to visit your parents for the holidays. Everything seems normal until you realize that demons have taken over their consciousness.
A mysterious woman moves into your apartment building. One by one, all of the tenants start hallucinating that monsters are chasing them and jump to their own deaths.
Divorced parents are kidnapped together with their son. Both of the parents have been given poison, but there is only one antidote. The boy needs to decide which parent gets to be saved. He has 30 seconds to make that decision.
A patient with a multiple-personality disorder tells you that you are one of six characters.
You wake up in bed that is a bloodbath.

Free Man Wearing Black Mask And Hoodie Jacket Stock Photo

The Government abducts children with genius IQ and trains them to fight the horrors in Area 51.
A woman who has just given birth at her home is told that the baby is predestined to become the leader of the greatest demonic order in the country.
A man signs a document with his blood to relinquish his body to a sect.
A woman enters a sacred cave in India and disappears for good.
A man opens his eyes in the middle of his autopsy while the coroner is holding his heart.
You look outside the windows in your house only to see that the view has changed and there is black fog surrounding you.
The gargoyles from Notre Dame have come to life, and they start terrorizing Paris.
Somebody rings your doorbell. You open the door, and a frightened girl with bloody hands is standing at your doorstep. “You’re late,” you reprimand her.
You wake up in the middle of the night after a frightful nightmare, so you go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. You turn on the light, and a person looking like your identical twin is grinning and pointing a knife at you.
A renowned book editor receives a manuscript elegantly written by hand. The title grabs her attention, and she continues reading page after page. When she finishes, the manuscript spontaneously starts burning, and the editor is cursed forever.
The last thing you remember before losing consciousness is fighting a shady Uber driver.
You find yourself in a cage in the middle of a forest and black mythological harpies hovering above the cage.
A woman wants to quit smoking, so she visits a therapist who is supposed to help her with the use of hypnosis. She goes under, and when she wakes up, she feels like a born killer.
Five hikers get stranded during a horrible storm. One of them kills the weakest and starts burning his body.
A mother goes in to the nursery to check up on the baby and discovers that the baby is missing and, in her place, there is a baby doll.

Horror story ideas about a serial killer

A killer is willing to pay a large sum of money to the family of a volunteering victim. A cancer patient contacts the killer. The killer ends up dead.
The sacred river in a remote Asian village fills up with blood. The last time that happened, all the children in the village died.
A tall, dark, and handsome stranger invites a blind woman for a romantic date in his botanical garden. The garden is full of black roses in which women’s souls have been trapped. He tells her that she will stay forever with him in his garden.
A frightened man is trying to lead a werewolf into a trap and kill him with the last silver bullet.
An architect designs houses for the rich and famous. What he doesn’t show them is that he always leaves room for a secret passageway to their bedrooms, where they are the most vulnerable.
A man’s DNA was found on a horrible crime scene, and he has been charged with murder in the first degree. He adamantly negates any involvement in the crime that has been committed. What he doesn’t know is that he had a twin brother who died at birth.
Every passenger on the Orient Express dies in a different and equally mysterious way.
A magician needs a volunteer from the audience in order to demonstrate a trick involving sawing a person in half. A beautiful woman steps on the stage. The magician makes her fall asleep, and then he performs the trick. In the end, he disappears. People in the audience start panicking when they notice the blood dripping from the table. The magician is nowhere to be found. The woman is dead.
A mother discovers that her bright son is not human.
Specters keep terrorizing patients in a psychiatric hospital, but nobody believes them.

A man’s mind is locked into an immovable body. This person is being tortured by a psychopath who kills his family members in front of him, knowing that he is in agony and can’t do anything to save them.
A bride-to-be receives a DVD via mail from an unknown sender. She plays the video and, disgusted, watches a pagan ritual. The people are wearing masks, but she recognizes the voice of her husband-to-be.
A man turns himself to the police, although he hasn’t broken the law. He begs them to put him in prison because he had a premonition that he would become a serial killer.
Jack the Ripper is actually a woman who brutally kills prostitutes because her own mother was a prostitute.
A ticking noise wakes her up. It’s a bomb, and she has only four minutes to do something about it.
After a horrible car crash, a walking skeleton emerges from the explosion.
A world-famous violinist virtuoso uses music to summon dark forces.
A philosopher is trying to outwit Death in order to be granted immortality. He doesn’t know that Death already knows the outcome of this conversation.
A beautiful but superficial woman promises a demon to give him her virginity in exchange for immortality. Once the demon granted her wish, she refused to fulfill her end of the deal. The demon retaliated by making her immortal but not eternally youthful.
A voice starts chanting spells every time somebody wears the gold necklace from Damask.
Three teenagers beat up a homeless man. The next day all of them go missing.

Scary story ideas and horror story writing prompts

Thirteen tourists from Poland visit Trakai Island Castle in Vilnius. Their bodies are found washed up the next morning. They are wearing medieval clothes.
A group of extremists ambush the vehicle in which the head of a terrorist cell is transported and rescue him. They go after anybody who was involved in his incarceration.
A hitman is hired to kill a potential heart donor.
A man is attacked by the neighbor’s dog while trying to bury his wife alive.
A woman disappears from her home without a trace. He husband reports her missing. The police start to suspect the husband when they retrieve some deleted messages.
After moving to a new house, all the family members have the same nightmares. Slowly, they realize that they might be more than nightmares.
A psychopath is drugging his wife, pushing her to commit suicide so that he can collect the life insurance.
A woman loses her eyesight overnight. Instead, she starts having premonitions.
A vampire prefers albino children.
A man commits murders at night and relives the agony of his victims during the day.
A black horse carriage stops in front of your house. A hand wearing a black glove makes an inviting gesture. Mesmerized, you decide to enter the carriage.
Demons rejuvenate by eating kind people’s hearts.
People are horrified to find all of the graves dug out the morning after Halloween.
Men start jumping off buildings and bridges after hearing a mysterious song.
A voice in your head tells you to stop listening to the other voices. They were not real.
A severed head is hanging from a bridge with a message written in the victim’s blood.
A delusional man brings his screaming children to a chasm.
A 30-year-old woman learns that a baby with the same name as her died at the local hospital 30 years ago.
A vampire donates his blood so that a child with special brain powers can receive it.
A teenager is determined to escape his kidnapper by manipulating him into drinking poison. He doesn’t stop there.

If you want to streamline the horror novel creation process, you can also generate a custom book template with AI:

Final Words

Write a good horror story with scary story ideas

The 132 scary story ideas will help you take a deep dive into the human psyche. These horror story prompts will make you a seasoned writer and help you captivate readers. So, get ready to write a good horror story with unique writing prompts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s take a look at the following questions and answers:

What is a good way to start horror writing prompts?

To grab readers’ attention, craft the beginning of your horror story around an active scene featuring characters in the thick of an action. Introduce the central conflict and sprinkle tantalizing hints of danger or the unknown, such as clues about an accident or murder, to create an air of suspense and intrigue.

What are some good scary story ideas?

Effective horror story ideas delve into innate human fears and weaknesses. These fears can manifest as physical threats like monsters or ghosts or as psychological anxieties such as uncertainty or the unraveling of reality.

How can I start writing unique horror stories?

To craft a spine-tingling horror story, delve into the emotions that haunt your audience. Fear thrives in the unknown and the unforeseen, so weave these aspects seamlessly into your narrative. Craft a haunting atmosphere or chilling plot through vivid descriptions that linger in the reader’s mind. Gradually intensify the tension to keep them captivated and quivering on the brink of terror.

Is it easy to write on scary story prompts?

If you’re a horror enthusiast, you likely have some scary story ideas for your own screenplay. However, crafting effective horror stories isn’t straightforward. To truly scare your audience, your scary story must connect with their most primal fears.

What are cliches to avoid while writing scary story ideas?

To create effective horror stories, don’t rely solely on common tropes like haunted houses or creepy children. Instead, find unique angles or reinterpretations to keep your readers engaged in your scary story. Avoid overused scary story ideas unless you can add a novel twist. Remember that the goal of a horror story is to surprise and disturb the audience, making it crucial to avoid predictability and create an unsettling experience for your readers.

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101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts

Welcome to the story den of horror, scares, and the macabre.

Most writers are often asked, "Where do you get your ideas from?" A majority of the time, writers find it difficult to answer that question.

We get our ideas from a plethora of sources — news headlines, novels, television shows, movies, our lives, our fears, our phobias, etc. They can come from a scene or moment in a film that wasn't fully explored. They can come from a single visual that entices the creative mind — a seed that continues to grow and grow until the writer is forced to finally put it to paper or screen.

In the spirit of helping writers find those seeds, here we offer 101 originally conceived and terrifying story prompts that you can use as inspiration for your next horror story.

They may inspire screenplays, novels, short stories, or even smaller moments that you can include in what stories you are already writing or what you will create in your upcoming projects.

But beware! If you scare easily — and have active imaginations like most writers do — turn up the lights and proceed with caution...

1. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her parents find only a decrepit and scary doll left behind. They soon learn that the doll is actually their daughter. And she's alive.

2. New residents of an old neighborhood are invited by their friendly neighbors to a Halloween party. The neighbors are vampires.

3. A family dog runs away from home. He returns a year later to the delight of his family. But there's something different about him. Something demonic.

4. A girl goes missing. Fifteen years later, her parents get a call from her older self. But they listen in fear because they killed their daughter that dark night years ago.

5. A man reads a novel, soon realizing that the story is his very own — and according to the book, a killer is looming.

6. A scientist clones his family that died in an airplane crash — but soon learns the repercussions of playing God.

7. A man wakes up bound to an electric chair.

8. A man wakes up in a coffin next to a freshly dead body.

9. A woman wakes up to find her family gone and her doors and windows boarded up with no way to escape.

10. A man afraid of snakes is shipwrecked on an island covered with them.

11. Serial killers worldwide are connected by a dark web website.

12. The world's population is overtaken by vampires — all except one little child.

13. A woman afraid of clowns is forced to work in a traveling circus.

14. An astronaut and cosmonaut are on the International Space Station when their countries go to Nuclear War with each other. Their last orders are to eliminate the other.

15. A treasure hunter finds a tomb buried beneath the dirt.

16. A young brother and sister find an old door in their basement that wasn't there before.

17. Winged creatures can be seen within the storm clouds above.

18. A man wakes up to find a hobo clown staring down at him.

19. Residents of a town suddenly fall dead while the dead from cemeteries around them rise.

20. A doctor performs the first head transplant — things go wrong.

21. A man is texted pictures of himself in various stages of torture that he has no memory of.

22. A girl wakes up to find a little boy sitting on his bed, claiming to be her younger brother — but she never had one.

23. A scare walk in the woods during Halloween is actually real.

24. A bartender serves last call to the only remaining patron, who is the Devil himself.

25. Earth suffers a planet-wide blackout as all technology is lost.

26. A boy's stepfather is actually a murderous werewolf.

27. Something has turned the neighborhood pets into demonic killers.

28. A priest is a vampire.

29. A woman wakes up with no eyes.

30. A man wakes up with no mouth.

31. A monster is terrified by the scary child who lives above his bed.

32. An astronaut jettisoned into the cold of space in a mission gone wrong suddenly appears at the doorstep of his family.

33. A woman answers a phone call only to learn that the voice on the other end is her future self, warning her that a killer is looming.

34. A boy realizes that aliens have replaced his family.

35. A woman wakes up in an abandoned prison that she cannot escape.

36. A bank robber steals from the small town bank that holds the riches of witches.

37. A door-to-door salesman circa the 1950s visits the wrong house.

38. Deceased soldiers return to their Civil War-era homes.

39. Kidnappers abduct the child of a vampire.

40. An innocent circus clown discovers the dark history of the trade.

41. A homeless man is stalked by faceless beings.

42. A spelunker stumbles upon a series of caverns infested with rattlesnakes.

43. A group of friends is forced to venture through a chamber of horrors where only one is promised to survive.

44. He's not the man she thought he was. In fact, he's not a man at all.

45. Suburbia is actually purgatory.

46. Someone discovers that we are all actually robots — who created us and why?

47. She's not an angel. She's a demon.

48. An old shipwreck washes ashore.

49. A sinkhole swallows a house whole and unleashes something from beneath.

50. A man has sleep paralysis at the worst possible time.

51. A woman out hiking is caught in a bear trap as the sun begins to go down.

52. Naked figures with no faces stalk campers in the woods.

53. An astronaut is the sole survivor of a moon landing gone wrong — only to discover that the moon is infested with strange creatures.

54. A woman is wrongfully condemned to an insane asylum.

55. A mother's baby will not leave its womb and continues to grow and grow and grow while doctors try to cut it out but can't.

56. Friends on a road trip stumble upon a backcountry town whose residents all dress up as different types of clowns.

57. Tourists in Ireland retreat to an old castle when the country is taken over by greedy and vengeful leprechauns.

58. A boy on a farm makes a scarecrow that comes alive.

59. A figure dressed in an old, dirty Easter Bunny suit haunts the children of a town.

60. The abused animals of a zoo are unleashed and wreak havoc on a small town.

61. A deceased grandma's old doll collection comes alive.

62. Little Red Riding Hood was a vampire.

63. Somebody clones Hitler and raises him as a white supremacist.

64. A pumpkin patch comes alive — beings with heads of pumpkins and bodies of vines.

65. An endless swarm of killer bees wreaks havoc on the country.

66. Christ returns to Earth — at least that is who people thought he was.

67. A natural anomaly brings all of the country's spiders to a horrified town.

68. A woman finds old 16mm film from her childhood and sees that she had a sister — what happened to her?

69. Something ancient rises from an old pond.

70. A woman suddenly begins to wake up in somebody else's body every morning — each day ends with her being stocked and killed by the same murderer in black.

71. An Artificial Intelligence begins to communicate with a family online, only to terrorize them through their technology.

72. A family buys a cheap house only to discover that an old cemetery is their back yard.

73. Years after the zombie apocalypse subsides, survivors discover that the epidemic was caused by aliens that have appeared to lay claim to the planet.

74. A woman has memories of being abducted by aliens — but she soon learns that they weren't aliens. They were...

75. A boy has a tumor that slowly grows into a Siamese twin — the older they get, the more evil the twin becomes.

76. A cult that worships history's deadliest serial killers begins to kill by copying their methods.

77. Stone gargoyles suddenly appear on the tops of buildings and houses of a small town.

78. A family on a boat trip stumbles upon an old pirate ship.

79. A winter snowstorm traps a family in an abandoned insane asylum.

80. A little girl comes down from upstairs and asks her parents, "Can you hear it breathing? I can."

81. A town is enveloped in unexplained darkness for weeks.

82. A jetliner flies high in the sky as Nuclear War breaks out below.

83. Children discover a deep, dark well in the woods — an old ladder leads down into it.

84. A child sleepwalks into their parent's room and whispers, "I'm sorry. The Devil told me to."

85. As a woman showers, a voice comes from the drain whispering, "I see you."

86. A child finds a crayon drawing of a strange family — it's inscribed with the words we live in your walls .

87. All of the cemetery's graves are now open, gaping holes — the dirt pushed out from underground.

88. A woman is watching a scary movie alone on Halloween night — someone, or something, keeps knocking at her door.

89. Someone is taking a bath as a hand from behind the shower curtain pushes their head into the water.

90. A farmer and his sons begin to hear the laughter of children coming from his fields at night — no children are in sight.

91. Someone looks out their window to see a clown standing at a corner holding a balloon — staring at them.

92. Mannequins in a department store seem to be moving on their own.

93. What if the God people worshiped was really Satan — and Satan had somehow kept God prisoner?

94. A man dies and wakes up in the body of a serial killer — and no matter how hard he tries to stop killing, he can't.

95. A prisoner awakens to find the prison empty — but he's locked in his cell.

96. A woman jogging stumbles upon a dead, bloody body — she then hears a strange clicking sound and looks up to see a dark figure running towards her.

97. A girl hears laughter downstairs — she's the only one home.

98. An Uber driver picks up the wrong person — and may not live to tell the tale.

99. There's someone or something living and moving up in the attic — but it's not a ghost.

100. A child's imaginary friend is not imaginary.

101. The reflections that we see of ourselves in the mirror are actually us in a parallel universe — and they are planning to do whatever it takes to take our place in this world.

Share this with your writing peers or anyone that loves a good scary story.

For some more scares, check out ScreenCraft's 20 Terrifying Two-Sentence Horror Stories and 8 Ways Horror Movies Scare the S*** Out of Audiences!

Sleep well and keep writing.

Once you're inspired, take your idea to the next level and Develop Your Horror Movie Idea in 15 Days .

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

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101 Horror Writing Prompts That Are Freaky As Hell

Looking for some scary story ideas for your next writing project?

Sometimes, a good scary prompt idea is all you need to get started on a dark story your readers won’t be able to put down.

And that is the goal. What’s a horror story without white-knuckle suspense?

You want your readers at the edge of their seats, unable to stop though they know something bad is about to happen.

You also want to reward them for reading to the end and leave them wanting more.

So, how can this collection of horror writing prompts help with that?

What Are the Main Elements of Horror Writing?

List of most common horror themes and tropes to write on .

66 Horror Writing Prompts

Halloween Writing Prompts

Mystery writing prompts, psychological horror story ideas, “the monster you know” story ideas, ghost story writing prompts, funny horror story ideas, horror story ideas.

Every good story needs an idea that takes root in your imagination and doesn’t let go. Horror stories in particular need to affect you a certain way. If they don’t sound an alarm in your head, they won’t sound one in the heads of your readers, either.

They need to reach into your psyche, take a scrap of memory, and turn it into something that would keep you up at night.

And as you’ve no doubt read already, “No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

Look through the prompts that follow, and choose one that calls out to you and lingers in your imagination.

Paint a picture in your mind of the characters involved. Give yourself a reason to invest in them by giving each one some interesting backstory.

Then set a timer and write.

Since Earl Horace Walpole’s gothic horror The Castle of Otranto hit shelves in 1764, English readers have clamored for dark plots that excite primitive instincts and tickle our fear bones.

Many horror authors leverage shadowy impulses by sprinkling stories with uncomfortable happenings and gruesome fatalities.

But that’s not all it takes to write within the genre, begging the question: What are the main elements of horror? Traditionally, there are five: suspense, fear, violence, gore, and the supernatural.

Suspense : Creating anxious tension is a critical component of horror as it keeps the audience glued to the story. They need to find out what happens! Traditionally, suspense is valued as a sophisticated form of horror, and building it well is a skill.
Fear : Confronting fearful things is a powerful emotion with chemical reactionary consequences, making it a hallmark of horror writing.
Violence : Savagery is scary because it’s inextricably linked to death and pain — two of the four great human fears.
Gore : Brains and guts are a cornerstone of classic horror. For better or worse, our neural pathways light up when confronted with intestines, brain matter, and gushing fluids. Successful horror writers keep readers and watchers engaged by deploying gore effectively.
Supernatural: The main difference between “true crime” and “horror” is a supernatural element. While horror stories draw people in with realism, they usually feature an emotional detachment valve in the form of an explicit or implicit otherworldly presence.

Vampires, ghosts, zombies, and murderers are big-picture mainstays of the horror genre. But what are some other, more detailed tropes associated with scary storytelling?

Babysitter Alone in Big House: The naive babysitter trope is oft-repeated because it works. The sitter acts as a stand-in for the reader or audience in that, like you, they’re vulnerable. Horror-sitters are the character conduit through which readers and viewers can experience the impending fear.
Manipulative Vampires: Maybe it’s their piercing eyes, snappy attire, or mysterious penchant for the “nightlife.” Whatever the case, people stan vampires, and sensual and manipulative ones are an incredibly effective horror character trope.
Ghost-Haunted House: Ghost-haunted houses are a recurring horror motif. Whether you approach it from a traditional or modern angle is up to you. Both can work.
Creepy Kid: In real life, it’s kind to see all kids as precious and special, no matter their quirks. But when it comes to Horror World, creepy kids are a dime a dozen! Sometimes they’re the main attractions or “red herrings” (which we’ll get to more below); other times, they’re supernatural catalysts that serve as a story’s MacGuffin. Whichever the case, unnerving kids go a long way when devising a disturbing scene and fomenting suspense.
The Nonbeliever: Most horror stories have at least one character whose lack of fear or faith (in the story’s “supernatural” element) lands them six feet under.
The Red Herring: A “red herring” is a false clue. The term dates back to the 1400s to describe a culinary preparation for fish, but the first known use as a euphemism for “distraction” appeared in 1884.
Isolation: Few things frighten people more than being all alone while danger looms. As such, isolation can be a helpful trope when crafting horror stories.
Graveyard Chase: A well-conceived chase around a graveyard is another horror mainstay that continues to deliver. Try adding a twist to modernize the trope.
Distorting Mirrors: Whether a single reflecting glass or a full-on maze, using mirrors as a motif is a tangible and effective way to signal distortion.
Aliens and Cultists: The human psyche can’t resist rubbernecking when confronted with the possibility of aliens and the sociopathic underbelly of cults. Resultantly, they work well as engaging frameworks for horror stories.

101 Horror Writing Prompts

Whether you’re writing for a special occasion or just to experiment with the horror genre, any of the scary story prompts in the following groups should get you started.

Go with your gut on this one, and choose an idea that feels both familiar and provocative. Then give it a go!

1. A mysterious gift from an estranged aunt arrives on Halloween with a crystal ball and a note addressed only to you, her godchild.

2. One of the trick-or-treaters bears an uncanny resemblance to your departed sibling and repeats that sibling’s last words before picking your sibling’s favorite candy bar.

3. On Halloween night, you find a box at your door that contains a strange note and a little something from each of the people who have hurt you in the past year.

4. On this Halloween night, your guinea pig won’t stop running in circles, and your dog keeps staring at the door, emitting a low growl.

5. You run out for candy on Halloween afternoon to find the streets empty and the store abandoned. A single car cruises into the lot and pulls into the spot next to yours.

6. Every time you went to answer the doorbell, no one was there. The next day, you heard about the missing children. The worst part? Your kids spent Halloween with your ex and were supposed to come trick-or-treating last night.

7. You arrive home on Halloween to a large package from your new boss, who’d bought every piece of your favorite candy from local stores. The note reads, “Save some for me.”

8. You’re watching TV on Halloween night when your show is interrupted by a faintly familiar someone declaring their love for you and saying they’ve watched you all your life.

9. You come home to find a stranger walking through your home, sipping your wine and admiring your collected antiquities. They startle at your approach and act as though you’re the intruder.

10. The night before Halloween, you have a dream in which you wake up to see a dark shape standing outside your closet. You wake up screaming with your hands around your spouse’s throat.

11. Election day looms, and Halloween feels more ominous than ever. You’ve kept the lights off, but that doesn’t stop one visitor from leaving a note: “Knew you lived here.”

12. Your best friend has gone missing, and someone keeps leaving small reminders of them in your mailbox. You see someone approach to deliver something else, and your heart nearly stops when you recognize them.

13. You’ve always wanted a dog, so when a rain-soaked mutt shows up on your front step, you let him in. Unfortunately, something else hitched a ride.

14. Someone moves into the apartment next door and starts playing loud music at night. You call the police, who find the guy dead holding a note with your name and address.

15. Someone keeps replacing items in your home with different objects that look vaguely familiar. No one else has a key to your home, and there are no signs of forced entry.

16. You bake some cookies to share with the new neighbor, but the terrified woman backs away from the plate, shaking her head. Someone from inside calls out, “I’ll have those.”

17. Someone at work has offered to do a tarot card spread for you, and you politely decline. You find a single tarot card in your mailbox when you return home.

18. You don’t remember wandering alone on a country road as a small child, but someone does. And he wants to make sure you’re not around to testify against him.

19. Someone has gotten to your laundry before you and left it neatly folded in piles on top of the dryer. A note reads, “For more TLC, knock on #303.”

20. The window of your apartment leads to a fire escape, but twice you’ve come home to find it open. Nothing is missing. But someone keeps leaving a ring on your kitchen table.

21. You order a Christmas wreath for your door and the company sends you a package with money instead. The note reads, “Keep half. I’ll pick up the rest in 72 hours.”

22. A child knocks on your door and tells you you’ll be visited by three people that night. One of them will show you your future. The child’s face reminds you of someone.

23. Your best friend is dating a woman who seems familiar to you — and not in a good way. Turns out, she’s got a bad feeling about you, too, and she warns your friend.

24. You receive a surprise delivery of a holiday flower arrangement with a note from someone who went to jail for assault. The message reads, “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

25. An abuser from your past has written you a long letter of apology, and you agree to meet them for coffee. You find your favorite coffee place deserted — on Black Friday.

26. You broke up with your sweetheart when he lied about taking you to the prom and begged you to run away with him so he could escape an abusive home. He’s back.

27. An old friend, who had tried to warn you about an ex-boyfriend years ago, has come back to town to run a diner. Within a week, known bullies start disappearing.

28. For the past three dates, the guy you met ended up dead and posed as if proposing. A note on each one’s empty chest cavity reads, “My heart belongs to [your name].”

29. You’re with a friend at the home of the guy she’s dating. In the bathroom, you find a box with jewelry for almost every birthstone. Yours is the only one missing. You hear a scream.

30. Everyone keeps telling you your memories can’t be trusted. You’re safe with them. They’ll protect you. But you haven’t left the house in years.

31. You thought it was cute when your little sister wanted to wear your aunt’s high heels and pose with a hand on her hip. But your sister had an uncanny way with accidents.

32. You never expected to win the ‘57 Chevy from the church raffle. Neither did the car’s owner, who immediately tried to buy it back. He didn’t respond well to “No, thanks.”

33. Every time you saw anything like “Tornado Warning” or “Flash Flood” in the news, you knew someone would end up dead. And your ex would blame the weather.

34. You come home to a dozen roses from a guy who’s been telling his friends you’re dating, and you get angry. For some reason, though, everyone you know is on his side.

35. Your “Secret Santa” leaves an expensive bottle of wine with a note, “Drink me.” You call a familiar number and hear the phone ring on the other side of your door.

36. Your dad has a secret known only to his twin brother, who mysteriously disappeared but left a note with a box of his belongings in the attic. You take it with you when you leave.

37. You just broke up with the person who’s catering your best friend’s wedding. They also made the cake.

38. Some of your in-laws have decided to deliver their sibling from you. When they cross the line, you make a promise to them and to your spouse. One by one, they disappear.

39. Your health is steadily declining, and you don’t know why. Neither do your doctors, who test for the usual health issues and find nothing. Then someone calls to warn you.

40. Your estranged father sends you a porcelain doll — the one he swears you told him you wanted. It has the face and hair of your missing mother. And her eyes are glued open.

41. You’ve just told your family you’re asexual, and they seem to accept it. Out of the blue, the handsome guy next door shows up to ask you out, and your parents quietly nod.

42. A cop pulls you over for driving a few miles over the speed limit, tells you to get out of your car, slams you against the hood and whispers in your ear, “This is from your ex.”

43. You emailed your fiancé for months before meeting him for the first date. Now, you’re getting strange phone calls from someone claiming to be his wife and telling you to run.

44. You stood numb at the coffin of a close friend and flinched when your father rested a hand on your shoulder. “Had to be done,” he whispered. “Remember the bigger picture.”

45. A small package bears the name of your sister, who died five years ago. It contains a pendant that matches her own and a note asking you to activate it by chanting, “Sisters Forever.”

46. Your elderly neighbors died on the same day of an apparent suicide pact. In their will, they left their pug to you, along with a small box of what they called “magical items.”

47. You receive a note penned by your best friend, who died in a car accident the month before, His parents had found it in his room and hand-delivered it, barely looking at you.

48. You pounce on a new opening in the apartment building close to your favorite coffee place. The first night there, you wake up to ghostly shapes surrounding your bed.

49. At your first slumber party, your friend’s older brother surprised you during a late-night run to the bathroom. He died a decade later in prison. Now you see him in your dreams.

50. Your home is the high-tech brainchild of your best friend, who bequeathed it to you (rather than to his wife). It anticipates your every need and desire.

51. You’ve been having dreams about a door that shows up in your room. In one, you walk through it and see someone you love being murdered . You warn them the next day.

52. You’re the lone survivor of a horrific train crash, and everywhere you go, you see the ghosts of some of the passengers. Some have told you the crash was no accident.

53. You’re looking through your mother’s possessions when a note slips out of the book she’d been reading, warning you about “the ghost who runs this house.”

54. Your new boyfriend is obsessed with ancient artifacts, but when something hitches a ride on his latest find, you witness disturbing changes in his behavior.

55. Your life is already complicated when your boss asks you to stay at his home to care for his dog while he’s away. You soon learn the house is as mischievous as the dog.

56. You’re an editor for the college literary journal, and you’ve been getting poetic hate mail from a student who’s angry you didn’t choose their poems for the latest issue.

57. Your favorite neighbor is a trans woman named Lani who looks out for you. She warns you about a guy down the hall, who keeps trying cheesy pick-up lines to get you to smile.

58. Your co-workers tease you about your weight gain. One is found dead in the bathroom, her mouth stuffed with candy. Everyone but the custodian suspects you.

59. An anonymous admirer sends you a singing telegram with a chilling question. Now you have less than 24 hours to sing your answer in a public square, with a flash mob.

60. You sign up for wine deliveries but are disappointed by the first bottle you open and taste. On the label, you find a crass, insulting note from an old enemy.

61. Your date finds out your BFF is asexual and starts asking intrusive and insensitive questions. When your friend shuts him down, he insults and warns you both.

62. You’re working the dinner rush, and a customer loudly insists on changing her order the moment you deliver it. Someone quietly follows her as she storms out the door.

63. You’re having an open house for your new shop, and you catch a customer shoplifting. She says, “I was told to come in here and take these. You’re being watched.”

64. You arrive at your new house, and the keys from the realtor don’t work. Someone answers the door with a disarming smile. “So, you’re here about the room? Come in!”

65. Your date is going well until you reveal that you have a dog. “I’m not really a dog person,” you hear. When you get a bad feeling and end the date, things get messy.

66. Your journal goes missing, and within a week, a goofy, adorable guy starts showing up at your usual stops. He seems surprised to see you, but something isn’t quite right.

Creepy Writing Prompts

67. The old tunnel had been blocked off for as long as anyone could remember, but late at night, you could still hear the faint screams echoing from deep within.

68. As you walk past the abandoned house on your way home from school, you notice one of the curtains move slightly in an upstairs window, but the house has been empty for years.

69. You wake up suddenly in the middle of the night and see two small handprints on the foggy bathroom mirror that are far too small to belong to anyone in your family.

70. Every night when you go to sleep, you feel an uncomfortable pricking sensation on your skin, yet every morning, you find strange symbols carved into your arms that you don’t remember making.

71. While exploring the attic, you find an old doll that looks eerily like you did as a child, and when you pick it up, its eyes suddenly open.

72. The scraping sound from the closet stops whenever you turn on the light, but it always returns as soon as the room goes dark again.

73. Every time you glance in the mirror, your reflection behaves slightly differently than you do – blinking at the wrong time or moving too late.

74. You wake up covered in mud and scratches with no memory of where you’ve been all night, and the soles of your shoes are worn through as if you had walked for miles.

75. Lately, your pets have refused to go into certain rooms of your house, but you have no idea what frightens them so badly about those areas.

76. You discover a trap door hidden under an old Persian rug in your basement and shining a light into it reveals a set of footsteps descending into the darkness below.

77. You wake up one morning to find all the mirrors in your home have been turned around to face the wall, even though you live alone.

78. Your television is switched on in the dead of night, the static slowly resolving into shapes, and what looks back at you from the screen makes your blood run cold.

79. You keep finding sticky notes around your house with messages written on them in unfamiliar handwriting, like “GET OUT” or “I’M WATCHING YOU SLEEP.”

80. Every time you look at a clock, the time is exactly 3 minutes slow, though all the clocks in your home are set correctly and keep perfect time when others view them.

81. On your way home, you notice a figure standing motionless at the end of the street, staring directly at your house with its face hidden in the shadows of its hooded robe.

82. Your dog comes running inside with its leash still attached but hanging limply, yet when you call the number on the leash’s tag, your own cell phone starts ringing from within your house.

83. Your computer camera activates unexpectedly while you’re working, and you see your own bedroom behind you from an impossible angle near the ceiling, suggesting someone is watching through the camera right now.

84. You hear your name called out softly in an empty room, and even though the voice sounds familiar, you live alone, and you know no one else is inside.

Spooky Writing Prompts

85. Every night when you lie in bed, you hear the floorboards outside your room creaking as if someone is pacing back and forth, but every time you quickly open the door to check, the hallway is empty.

86. While exploring the woods behind your new house, you discover a crumbling old stone well, and when you peer down into the darkness, you think you see pale faces staring back up at you.

87. Your reflection in mirrors and windows often moves independently, quickly looking away whenever you try to catch it, watching you from impossible angles that don’t align with where you’re standing.

88. An unfamiliar chat window opens on your computer screen with only the message “I can see you through your webcam” written inside it by an unseen sender.

89. Plants within your home have been dying overnight no matter where you place them, the leaves and stems drained of all color as if the life has been completely sucked out.

90. You wake up to find a pile of dead birds on your lawn, their wings broken and necks bent at odd angles as if they crashed directly into the ground from high altitudes.

91. The old paintings hanging on the walls of your recently inherited mansion seem to follow you with their eyes, and occasionally, you notice mysterious new figures added in the backgrounds that disappear by morning.

92. Turning on all the faucets causes blood to drip out instead of water, yet when others in your home check them, the liquid running from the pipes is perfectly clear.

93. You wake from a nightmare convinced someone was standing silently at the foot of your bed, only to find the imprint of two bare feet seared into your bedroom carpet right where the figure was standing.

94. Whenever you look in the bathroom mirror late at night, you see dead relatives standing silently behind you who disappear when you turn around to check if anyone is there.

95. The baby monitor in the nursery suddenly emits a strange crackling sound followed by a singsong voice you don’t recognize whispering your baby’s name over and over.

96. Your shadow appears to have a mind of its own, often following you more slowly or quickly than it should and reaching areas you know your body has not moved to.

97. Photos taken with phones or cameras in and around your home show blurry figures lurking in the background that do not match any of the people in the images.

98. Any writing you leave out overnight – from sticky notes to notebooks – has mysterious reoccurring symbols added in unfamiliar handwriting scattered among the existing text.

99. You wake in the middle of the night to the sound of your locked window being forced open from the outside, but when you jump out of bed to check, it’s closed securely as if nothing happened.

100. From your garden, you can see directly into your neighbor’s bathroom mirror, but instead of the neighbor’s reflection, you swear you sometimes see your own face staring back with an expression you don’t recognize.

101. While searching through the attic in your recently purchased Victorian home, you find an old portrait of a severe-looking woman whose eyes seem to follow you around the room; later that night, you wake to find the same woman standing at the foot of your bed, silently watching you sleep.

How Do You Come Up with Horror Ideas?

Coming up with fresh, frightening ideas is key to crafting an effective horror story. While horror inspirations can spring from ordinary events and observations, it helps to have strategies to unleash your most sinister creativity. Here are some tips for conjuring bone-chilling tales:

Mine your nightmares. Dreams often access our deepest fears. Pay attention to recurring nightmares or startling images from your subconscious, as these can inspire terrifying new monsters or situations.
Twist tropes. Take common horror archetypes like haunted houses, demonic possession, or slashers and put a new spin on them. Surprise readers by changing elements they assume to be familiar.
Extrapolate fears. Think about phobias you or others have, like darkness, insects, or tight spaces. Imagine those fears exponentially intensified to petrifying extremes.
Research real horror. Study disturbing historical events, murders, superstitions, or unexplained phenomena and fictionalize them in a new horror setting.
Observe people. Carefully watch those around you and look for small creepy details in their appearances or behaviors that could be expanded into something sinister.

With an observant eye and inventive mind, creators can find endless inspiration from both mundane moments and their most nightmarish dreams. Putting ordinary things in an ominous light or letting one’s imagination run wild with “what if” scenarios generate the kinds of situations and figures that fuel truly frightening tales.

Pay attention to the world around and inside you, and plumb the depths of your creativity, and you’ll never run short on horror ideas.

250 Horror Writing Prompts (Scary Good Ideas)

Looking to write your next spine-chilling horror story?

Here are 250 horror writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. From ghostly apparitions to apocalyptic nightmares, these prompts will help you create unforgettable tales of terror.

What Is a Horror Writing Prompt?

Woman writing with monsters behind her -- Horror Writing Prompts

Table of Contents

A horror writing prompt is a brief idea or scenario designed to inspire a horror story.

It provides the foundation for a plot, characters, conflict, setting, consequences, and sometimes a ticking clock plot device to build tension and urgency.

There is actually more than one type of horror writing prompt (see the chart below).

Types of Horror Writing Prompts

Type	Description
Ghost Stories	Involve spirits, hauntings, and supernatural entities from the afterlife.
Psychological Horror	Focus on the inner turmoil and mental states of characters.
Paranormal Activity	Center on phenomena beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.
Creature Features	Involve monsters, mythical creatures, and otherworldly beings.
Gothic Horror	Set in dark, decaying locations with a sense of romanticism and dread.
Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic	Depict end-of-the-world scenarios and their aftermath.
Body Horror	Revolve around grotesque transformations and mutilations of the body.
Slasher Stories	Feature a murderous antagonist hunting down victims.
Cosmic Horror	Explore the insignificance of humanity in the face of incomprehensible entities.
Folk Horror	Draw from rural and traditional folklore, often involving rituals and superstitions.

Ghost Stories

The Forgotten Asylum – A group of urban explorers finds an abandoned asylum haunted by the spirits of former patients. They must uncover the asylum’s dark secrets before they’re trapped forever.
The Phantom Ship – A ghost ship appears off the coast, and a team of marine biologists investigates. They discover the souls of the drowned crew seeking revenge.
Haunted Housewarming – A couple moves into their dream home, only to find it haunted by a previous owner’s vengeful spirit. They must uncover the home’s history to break the curse.
The Whispering Woods – Campers in a remote forest hear eerie whispers at night. The ghost of a lost hiker leads them to a hidden danger.
The Ghostly Guardian – A child befriends a ghost who protects them from unseen dangers. The parents must confront the ghost to save their child.
The Lighthouse Keeper – A lone lighthouse keeper encounters the spirits of shipwrecked sailors. He must guide them to the afterlife while battling his own sanity.
The Cursed Portrait – An artist paints a portrait that traps the soul of its subject. The artist must find a way to release the soul before they face a similar fate.
The Haunted Highway – Drivers on a desolate road encounter ghostly apparitions. A journalist investigates the road’s dark history to uncover the truth.
The Spirit of the Manor – A family inherits a manor haunted by its former occupants. They must survive the night and appease the spirits to lift the curse.
The Ghostly Choir – A school choir is haunted by the spirits of former students. The new choir director must solve the mystery before the spirits claim more victims.
The Phantom Play – An old theater is haunted by the ghost of a lead actor who died on stage. The current cast must perform his unfinished play to set his spirit free.
The Ghostly Conductor – A ghost train appears on an abandoned track, and a group of friends boards it. They must solve the train’s mystery before reaching their final destination.
The Haunted Playground – Children encounter the ghost of a girl at a playground. They must help her find peace before she claims more playmates.
The Ghost in the Attic – A family discovers a ghost living in their attic. They must uncover the ghost’s past to help it move on.
The Spectral Detective – A detective partners with a ghost to solve a series of murders. They must catch the killer before the ghost’s unfinished business consumes them both.
The Haunted Hotel – Guests at a remote hotel encounter the spirits of former guests. The hotel staff must uncover the truth to stop the hauntings.
The Ghostly Librarian – A library is haunted by the ghost of a former librarian. The new librarian must uncover the ghost’s secrets to restore peace.
The Phantom Dancer – A ballerina encounters the ghost of a dancer who died in a tragic accident. She must perform the dancer’s final routine to set her spirit free.
The Ghost Shipwreck – Divers exploring a shipwreck encounter the spirits of the crew. They must uncover the ship’s fate to escape the underwater hauntings.
The Haunted Cabin – A group of friends stays in a cabin haunted by the ghost of a previous occupant. They must solve the ghost’s mystery to survive the night.
The Ghostly Roommate – A college student discovers their dorm room is haunted. They must work with the ghost to uncover the dorm’s dark history.
The Phantom Photographer – A photographer captures images of ghosts in their photos. They must find a way to stop the hauntings before they become one of the subjects.
The Haunted Mirror – A mirror in an antique shop shows the reflections of ghosts. The shop owner must uncover the mirror’s history to break the curse.
The Ghostly Gardener – A gardener encounters the spirit of a former groundskeeper. They must work together to uncover the secrets buried in the garden.
The Phantom Bus – A ghostly bus picks up passengers who never return. A journalist must uncover the bus’s story to stop the disappearances.

Psychological Horror

The Mirror’s Reflection – A person starts seeing a sinister version of themselves in mirrors. They must confront their inner demons to regain control.
The Unseen Stalker – Someone feels constantly watched and followed. They must uncover the identity of their stalker before they lose their sanity.
The Vanishing Family – A person wakes up to find their family has disappeared. They must piece together their fractured memories to find out what happened.
The Hallucination Game – A group of friends takes part in a psychological experiment, only to find reality and hallucination blurring dangerously.
The Time Loop – A person is trapped in a time loop, reliving the same terrifying day. They must find a way to break the loop before their mind unravels.
The Doppelgänger – A person encounters someone who looks exactly like them but with sinister intentions. They must discover the doppelgänger’s origins to survive.
The Sleepless Nights – A person suffers from severe insomnia, leading to disturbing visions and paranoia. They must find the cause before they break down completely.
The Disappearing Acts – A person’s friends and family begin to vanish one by one. They must uncover the truth behind the disappearances before they’re next.
The Phantom Voices – A person starts hearing voices that urge them to commit terrible acts. They must resist the voices and find out where they’re coming from.
The Twisted Reality – A person finds themselves in a world where nothing is as it seems. They must navigate the illusions to find the truth.
The Hidden Room – A person discovers a hidden room in their home filled with disturbing artifacts. They must uncover its purpose and the secrets it holds.
The Fragmented Mind – A person experiences severe memory loss and blackouts. They must piece together their fragmented memories to uncover a dark truth.
The Shadow in the Corner – A person sees a shadowy figure in the corner of their eye that gets closer each day. They must confront it before it consumes them.
The Sinister Neighbor – A person suspects their new neighbor is hiding a terrible secret. They must investigate without falling into the neighbor’s trap.
The Vanishing Town – A person visits a town where the residents start to disappear. They must find out what’s happening before they’re the next to vanish.
The Haunted Dreams – A person has recurring nightmares that start to affect their waking life. They must confront the source of their dreams to find peace.
The Creeping Darkness – A person notices shadows in their home that move on their own. They must discover the shadows’ origin before they’re engulfed.
The Split Personality – A person develops a sinister alter ego that takes over at night. They must find a way to control it before it ruins their life.
The Abandoned Factory – A person explores an old factory and begins to experience disturbing visions. They must uncover the factory’s history to escape its grip.
The Cursed Diary – A person finds a diary that predicts terrible events. They must find the diary’s owner to break the curse.
The Silent Treatment – A person wakes up in a world where no one can speak. They must find out what happened and restore communication before it’s too late.
The Puppet Master – A person discovers they’re being manipulated by an unseen force. They must break free before they lose their sense of self.
The Echoes of the Past – A person experiences vivid flashbacks of events they never lived. They must uncover the connection between the flashbacks and their present.
The Invisible Enemy – A person is attacked by an unseen force. They must find a way to defend themselves and uncover the enemy’s identity.
The Cursed Painting – A person acquires a painting that changes its scene to reflect their darkest fears. They must find a way to destroy the painting before it consumes their sanity.

Paranormal Activity

The Poltergeist – A family experiences violent disturbances in their home caused by a poltergeist. They must uncover the entity’s past to stop the terror.
The Possessed Doll – A child receives a doll that seems to have a life of its own. The parents must find a way to break the possession before it harms the family.
The Haunted School – Students encounter paranormal activity in their school. They must investigate its history to stop the hauntings.
The Supernatural Investigator – A detective with a sixth sense solves crimes involving paranormal activity. They must confront their own fears to catch a dangerous spirit.
The Vanishing Townspeople – Residents of a small town start disappearing after a mysterious fog rolls in. The remaining townspeople must solve the mystery before they vanish too.
The Ghostly Lover – A person falls in love with a ghost who haunts their home. They must find a way to be together or say goodbye forever.
The Time-Traveling Spirit – A ghost from the past appears to a historian, seeking help to correct a historical injustice. They must work together across time.
The Paranormal Researcher – A scientist investigates paranormal phenomena and discovers a hidden world of spirits. They must navigate this world to find answers.
The Haunted Item – An antique shop owner acquires an item with a dark past. They must uncover its history and break the curse before it destroys them.
The Phantom Room – A hotel room that doesn’t exist on the registry appears to guests. Those who enter must solve its mystery to escape.
The Spectral Friend – A lonely child befriends a ghost. The child’s parents must help the ghost find peace before it takes their child to the afterlife.
The Haunted Hospital – Patients in a hospital encounter ghostly apparitions. The staff must uncover the hospital’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
The Possessed Vehicle – A car starts exhibiting strange behavior after an accident. The owner must uncover its history to break the possession.
The Cursed Book – A librarian finds a book that causes anyone who reads it to experience paranormal phenomena. They must destroy the book before it spreads its curse.
The Phantom Babysitter – A babysitter encounters a ghostly child in the house they’re watching. They must uncover the child’s story to protect the family.
The Haunted Museum – Artifacts in a museum come to life at night. The curator must solve the mystery before the artifacts escape.
The Possessed Painting – An artist’s paintings start depicting horrifying scenes that come to life. They must uncover the source of the possession to stop it.
The Ghostly Guide – Tourists encounter a ghostly tour guide who leads them to dangerous places. They must uncover the guide’s past to escape.
The Paranormal Investigation – A team of ghost hunters investigates a famously haunted location and encounters more than they bargained for. They must survive the night and document their findings.
The Phantom Pet – A family adopts a pet that turns out to be a ghost. They must help the pet find peace to stop its restless behavior.
The Haunted Object – A person buys a seemingly innocuous object at a yard sale, only to discover it’s haunted. They must find its previous owner to uncover its dark history.
The Ghost Town – A group of friends stumbles upon a deserted town inhabited by ghosts. They must solve the town’s mystery to escape.
The Phantom Carnival – A carnival appears in town, and those who visit never return. A journalist investigates to uncover its dark secrets.
The Haunted Road – A driver encounters ghostly figures on a deserted road. They must find out why the road is haunted to find their way out.
The Ghostly Warning – A person receives warnings from a ghost about an impending disaster. They must decipher the messages to prevent the catastrophe.

Creature Features

The Werewolf Curse – A small town is terrorized by a werewolf. The townspeople must find and stop the creature before the next full moon.
The Swamp Monster – A group of campers encounters a monstrous creature in the swamp. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
The Vampire’s Lair – A vampire kidnaps townsfolk to feed on. A group of villagers must band together to defeat the vampire and save their loved ones.
The Sea Creature – A coastal town is plagued by a sea monster. The townspeople must uncover the creature’s origins and stop it before it destroys the town.
The Yeti Hunt – Explorers in the Himalayas encounter a yeti. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape the mountains.
The Chupacabra – A small town is terrorized by a creature that preys on livestock. The townspeople must find and stop the chupacabra before it turns to human prey.
The Mothman Prophecies – A town experiences sightings of a mysterious creature that predicts disasters. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the tragedies.
The Wendigo – A remote village is terrorized by a wendigo. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature and break its curse.
The Loch Ness Monster – Researchers searching for the Loch Ness Monster get more than they bargained for. They must survive their encounter and escape the loch.
The Giant Spider – A group of scientists encounters a giant spider in the jungle. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
The Goblin’s Curse – A village is plagued by goblin attacks. The villagers must find and defeat the goblin king to lift the curse.
The Kraken – A ship is attacked by a Kraken. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.
The Minotaur’s Maze – Adventurers exploring an ancient labyrinth encounter a minotaur. They must navigate the maze and defeat the creature to escape.
The Gorgon – A group of heroes must defeat a gorgon to save their kingdom. They must avoid its petrifying gaze and find a way to kill it.
The Cyclops – A village is terrorized by a cyclops. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Harpy’s Lair – A group of adventurers encounters a harpy in a remote cave. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
The Hydra – A group of heroes must defeat a hydra to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
The Chimera – A village is attacked by a chimera. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Basilisk – A group of adventurers must defeat a basilisk to save their kingdom. They must avoid its deadly gaze and find a way to kill it.
The Griffin – A village is terrorized by a griffin. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Dragon’s Lair – A group of adventurers must defeat a dragon to save their kingdom. They must find a way to kill the creature and escape its lair.
The Phoenix – A group of heroes must defeat a phoenix to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
The Roc – A village is attacked by a roc. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
The Unicorn’s Curse – A village is plagued by a cursed unicorn. The villagers must find and stop the creature to lift the curse.
The Leviathan – A ship is attacked by a leviathan. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.

Gothic Horror

The Cursed Castle – A family inherits a castle with a dark history. They must uncover its secrets to lift the curse.
The Haunted Abbey – Monks at a remote abbey encounter ghostly apparitions. They must uncover the abbey’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
The Sinister Manor – Guests at a manor encounter strange occurrences. They must solve the manor’s mystery to escape.
The Dark Forest – A village is surrounded by a forest where no one returns. The villagers must uncover the forest’s secrets to survive.
The Phantom of the Opera House – A theater is haunted by a ghostly figure. The performers must uncover the phantom’s past to stop the hauntings.
The Ghostly Bride – A bride haunts the church where she was left at the altar. The townspeople must uncover her story to set her spirit free.
The Vampire’s Castle – A group of travelers seeks shelter in a castle only to find it inhabited by vampires. They must escape before becoming prey.
The Sinister Tower – A tower on a cliff is said to be haunted. Adventurers must uncover its secrets and survive its dangers.
The Witch’s Cottage – A cottage in the woods is said to be inhabited by a witch. Brave villagers must uncover the truth and survive the night.
The Shadowed Hallways – A noble family in a mansion encounters shadowy figures that stalk them at night. They must uncover the mansion’s history to banish the shadows.
The Forbidden Tomb – Explorers uncover an ancient tomb that curses those who enter. They must find a way to break the curse and escape.
The Haunted Chapel – A chapel is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the church. The new priest must uncover their stories to bring peace.
The Eerie Estate – An estate known for its eerie occurrences becomes the setting for a family reunion. The family must uncover the estate’s dark past.
The Sinister Sculptor – A sculptor’s statues seem to come to life. Visitors to the sculptor’s estate must solve the mystery before they become statues themselves.
The Phantom Shipyard – A shipyard is haunted by the ghosts of shipbuilders who died in a tragic accident. Investigators must uncover the cause of the hauntings.
The Cursed Bell Tower – A bell tower’s toll brings doom to those who hear it. The villagers must silence the bell to stop the curse.
The Secret Passage – Hidden passages in a mansion reveal dark secrets. The inhabitants must navigate the passages to uncover the truth.
The Ghostly Governess – A governess haunts the children she once cared for. The new caretaker must uncover her story to protect the children.
The Darkened Library – A library contains books that whisper dark secrets. The librarian must uncover the source and stop the whispering.
The Phantom Train Station – A train station is haunted by passengers who never reached their destination. A traveler must uncover their stories.
The Sinister Garden – A garden blooms with flowers that have a deadly secret. The gardener must uncover the truth to save themselves.
The Ghostly Host – A host at a manor party is a ghost who never left. The guests must uncover the host’s story to escape.
The Haunted Portraits – Portraits in a manor watch the inhabitants. The family must uncover the stories behind the portraits.
The Cursed Well – A well in a village grants wishes at a terrible cost. The villagers must uncover the well’s origins to stop its influence.
The Phantom Ball – A grand ball is held every year by a ghostly host. The attendees must uncover the host’s story to escape.

Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic

The Last Survivors – After a nuclear apocalypse, a group of survivors must navigate a ruined city to find safety.
The Plague – A deadly virus wipes out most of humanity. The immune survivors must find a cure before they succumb to the infection.
The Alien Invasion – Aliens decimate Earth’s population. A group of resistance fighters must find a way to fight back.
The Artificial Intelligence Uprising – AI turns against humanity. A group of survivors must find a way to shut down the AI network.
The Resource War – After resources become scarce, warring factions fight for control. A neutral group must navigate the conflict to survive.
The Frozen Earth – A new ice age begins, and survivors must find a way to live in the frozen wasteland.
The Solar Flare – A solar flare wipes out the technology. Survivors must adapt to a world without electricity.
The Zombie Apocalypse – The dead rise, and survivors must find a safe haven. They must navigate hordes of zombies and hostile humans.
The Asteroid Impact – An asteroid destroys major cities. Survivors must rebuild society in the aftermath.
The Supervolcano Eruption – A supervolcano erupts, causing a global catastrophe. Survivors must navigate the ash-filled landscape.
The Mutant Uprising – Radiation causes mutations in humans. The unmutated must find a way to coexist or fight back.
The Machine Takeover – Robots take control of the world. Human survivors must find a way to disable the machines.
The Bioweapon Leak – A bioweapon leaks and creates deadly mutants. Survivors must find the source to stop the spread.
The Water Crisis – Water becomes a scarce resource. Survivors must find new sources of water and fend off those who want to steal it.
The Dark Age – Society collapses, and survivors must navigate a world without order. They must rebuild communities while avoiding bandits.
The EMP Attack – An EMP attack wipes out all electronics. Survivors must adapt to a pre-technological world.
The Global Famine – A famine causes mass starvation. Survivors must find new ways to grow food and fend off starving invaders.
The Infected Animals – A virus causes animals to become aggressive. Survivors must protect themselves from the deadly wildlife.
The Drought – A prolonged drought causes a water shortage. Survivors must find new sources of water and protect them from others.
The Nuclear Winter – A nuclear war causes a nuclear winter. Survivors must find a way to live in the cold, dark world.
The Toxic Air – Pollution causes the air to become toxic. Survivors must find ways to purify the air and protect themselves.
The Invasion – A foreign army invades, causing chaos. Survivors must navigate the war-torn landscape.
The Collapse – Economic collapse causes society to break down. Survivors must find ways to rebuild while avoiding hostile groups.
The Plague – A new plague decimates the population. Survivors must find a cure before they become infected.
The Resource Scarcity – Resources become scarce, and society collapses. Survivors must find new ways to survive and protect their resources.

Body Horror

The Parasite – A person becomes host to a parasitic creature that slowly takes over their body. They must find a way to remove it before losing control.
The Flesh-Eating Disease – A disease that causes flesh to decay. The infected must find a cure before they succumb.
The Mutation – A person starts mutating uncontrollably. They must find a way to stop the mutations before they become unrecognizable.
The Experiment – A person is subjected to horrific experiments that alter their body. They must escape the lab and find a way to reverse the changes.
The Transformation – A person transforms into a monstrous creature. They must find a way to stop the transformation and regain their humanity.
The Infestation – A person’s body becomes infested with insects. They must find a way to remove the infestation before it’s too late.
The Amalgamation – A scientist’s experiment causes multiple bodies to fuse together. The resulting creature must find a way to separate or live as one.
The Skinwalker – A person can change their appearance by shedding their skin. They must find a way to control their abilities before they lose themselves.
The Growth – A person discovers a rapidly growing tumor that gives them strange abilities. They must find a way to control it before it consumes them.
The Symbiote – A symbiotic creature bonds with a person, granting powers but slowly taking over. They must find a way to separate before losing control.
The Reanimation – A scientist’s experiment to reanimate the dead goes horribly wrong. The reanimated must find a way to live with their new bodies.
The Graft – A person receives an experimental organ transplant that changes their body in unexpected ways. They must find a way to reverse the changes.
The Cannibal’s Curse – A person who consumes human flesh gains horrific powers. They must find a way to break the curse before losing their humanity.
The Melting Man – A person starts to liquefy. They must find a way to stop the process before it melts away.
The Living Tattoo – A person’s tattoos come to life and start to control them. They must find a way to stop the tattoos before they take over.
The Bone Shifter – A person gains the ability to shift their bones, causing great pain. They must find a way to control their power before it destroys them.
The Organ Thief – A person wakes up missing organs that are replaced by mysterious mechanical parts. They must find the thief and recover their organs.
The Flesh Sculptor – A person gains the ability to mold their flesh like clay. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
The Skin Thief – A person can steal others’ skin to change their appearance. They must find a way to stop their urges before they lose their humanity.
The Hive – A person’s body becomes a hive for insects. They must find a way to remove the insects before it’s too late.
The Limb Regenerator – A person gains the ability to regenerate limbs, but each regrowth causes them to lose part of their humanity. They must find a way to stop the process.
The Mind Swap – A person swaps minds with another, causing their body to undergo horrific changes. They must find a way to reverse the swap.
The Flesh Weaver – A person gains the ability to manipulate flesh, weaving it into grotesque forms. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
The Bone Collector – A person starts collecting bones, and their body begins to incorporate them. They must find a way to stop before they become living skeletons.
The Living Parasite – A parasitic organism living inside a person starts taking over their body. They must find a way to remove the parasite before it controls them completely.

Slasher Stories

The Masked Killer – A masked killer hunts down teenagers at a summer camp. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
The Urban Legend – A group of friends accidentally awaken a killer from an urban legend. They must find a way to stop the killer before becoming victims.
The High School Horror – A killer stalks students at a high school reunion. The former classmates must band together to survive the night.
The Night Stalker – A serial killer targets people walking alone at night. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Cabin in the Woods – A group of friends vacationing in a cabin are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and uncover the killer’s motive.
The Halloween Horror – A killer in a Halloween costume targets partygoers. The survivors must figure out who the killer is before it’s too late.
The Summer Slasher – A slasher terrorizes a summer camp. The counselors must protect the campers and stop the killer.
The Haunted House Horror – A group of friends visiting a haunted house attraction encounter a real killer. They must survive the night and escape the house.
The Killer Clown – A killer dressed as a clown targets children. The townspeople must uncover the clown’s identity to stop the killings.
The Prom Night Massacre – A killer crashes a prom, targeting students. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
The Road Trip Terror – A group of friends on a road trip are hunted by a killer. They must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to survive.
The Island Slasher – Vacationers on a remote island are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to escape the island.
The Carnival of Carnage – A killer targets visitors at a carnival. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
The Silent Stalker – A killer who never speaks targets people in their homes. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Snowbound Slasher – A group of friends snowed in at a cabin and are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
The College Campus Killer – A killer stalks students on a college campus. The survivors must band together to uncover the killer’s identity.
The Backwoods Butcher – Campers in the backwoods are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to stop the killer.
The Stalker in the Shadows – A stalker targets a woman, and her friends must protect her and catch the stalker.
The Holiday Horror – A killer targets people during the holidays. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to stop the murders.
The Beachside Slasher – Vacationers at a beach resort are hunted by a killer. They must survive and uncover the killer’s identity.
The Amusement Park Horror – A killer targets visitors at an amusement park. The survivors must stop the killer and escape the park.
The Midnight Stalker – A killer targets people walking alone at midnight. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
The Wedding Day Massacre – A killer crashes a wedding, targeting guests. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
The Forest of Fear – Hikers in a forest are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to stop the killer.
The Asylum Escapee – A killer escapes from an asylum and targets people in a nearby town. The townspeople must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.

Cosmic Horror

The Lovecraftian Entity – A small town is plagued by sightings of an otherworldly entity. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the madness.
The Eldritch Tome – A scholar discovers a book that drives readers insane. They must uncover the book’s secrets to stop its influence.
The Alien Artifact – Scientists discover an artifact that brings forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to destroy it before it consumes them.
The Forgotten Temple – Explorers find an ancient temple dedicated to a cosmic entity. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
The Star Cult – A cult worships a cosmic entity that grants them terrible powers. Investigators must stop the cult before they summon the entity.
The Cosmic Rift – A rift in space-time opens, bringing forth horrors from another dimension. Scientists must find a way to close the rift.
The Astral Projector – A person gains the ability to astrally project but encounters cosmic horrors. They must find a way to control their power.
The Interdimensional Traveler – A traveler from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send the traveler back.
The Eldritch Signal – A signal from deep space drives those who hear it insane. Scientists must find a way to stop the signal.
The Otherworldly Beacon – A lighthouse serves as a beacon for cosmic entities. The keeper must find a way to stop the beacon.
The Alien Invasion – Aliens from another dimension invade Earth, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to fight back.
The Eldritch Storm – A storm brings forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop the storm.
The Forgotten Ones – Ancient beings awaken and bring cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Cosmic Plague – A plague from another dimension infects humanity. The survivors must find a cure before it spreads.
The Eldritch Machine – A machine built by an ancient civilization brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
The Otherworldly Visitor – A visitor from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send them back.
The Lovecraftian Dreams – People start having dreams of cosmic horrors that drive them insane. They must find a way to stop the dreams.
The Eldritch Ritual – A cult performs a ritual to summon a cosmic entity. Investigators must stop the ritual.
The Alien Mind Control – Aliens use mind control to bring forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Eldritch Portal – A portal opens, bringing forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to close it.
The Forgotten City – Explorers find a lost city dedicated to cosmic entities. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
The Otherworldly Artifact – An artifact from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
The Eldritch Experiment – Scientists’ experiments bring forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to stop the experiments.
The Alien Infestation – Aliens infest a town, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
The Cosmic Entity – A cosmic entity awakens, bringing forth horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop it.

Folk Horror

The Village Ritual – A village performs a dark ritual every year. Outsiders must uncover the ritual’s purpose to escape.
The Forest Cult – A cult in the forest performs dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover the cult’s secrets to survive.
The Harvest Sacrifice – A village sacrifices people for a good harvest. The outsiders must stop the sacrifices.
The Witch Hunt – A village accuses outsiders of being witches. They must prove their innocence to survive.
The Cursed Land – A village is built on cursed land. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to lift it.
The Haunted Farm – A farm is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the landowners. The new owners must uncover the farm’s dark history.
The Pagan Festival – A village’s pagan festival hides dark secrets. Outsiders must uncover the truth to survive.
The Reaping – A village reaps souls to appease a dark entity. The outsiders must stop the reaping.
The Cursed Forest – A forest is cursed, and those who enter never return. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin.
The Old Gods – A village worships ancient gods that demand sacrifices. The outsiders must stop the worship.
The Blood Moon – A village performs a ritual under a blood moon. Outsiders must stop the ritual.
The Spirit of the Lake – A lake is haunted by a vengeful spirit. The villagers must uncover its story to stop the hauntings.
The Cornfield Curse – A village’s cornfield is cursed, causing bizarre deaths. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to stop it.
The Stone Circle – A stone circle in a village is used for dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover their secrets to stop the rituals.
The Phantom Harvest – A village experiences hauntings during the harvest season. Outsiders must uncover the cause to end the terror.
The Cursed Festival – A village festival turns deadly each year. Outsiders must uncover the festival’s dark origins to stop the deaths.
The Whispering Woods – The woods surrounding a village whisper dark secrets. Outsiders must decipher the whispers to escape.
The Haunted Mill – An old mill is haunted by the spirits of workers who died there. New owners must uncover the mill’s dark history.
The Witch’s Mark – A village marks certain people as witches. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the markings to survive.
The Blood Ritual – A village performs a blood ritual to appease dark forces. Outsiders must stop the ritual before they become sacrifices.
The Specter of the Fields – A scarecrow in a village’s fields comes to life. Outsiders must uncover the scarecrow’s dark origins.
The Sinister Shepherd – A shepherd in a village controls his flock with dark magic. Outsiders must uncover his secrets to stop him.
The Ghostly Harvesters – Spirits of past harvesters haunt a village. Outsiders must uncover the harvesters’ stories to end the hauntings.
The Village of Shadows – A village is plagued by shadowy figures. Outsiders must uncover the figures’ origins to escape.
The Witching Hour – A village experiences dark events at the Witching Hour. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the events to survive.

Here is a video with 25 bonus horror writing prompts:

Final Thoughts: Horror Writing Prompts

Using these writing prompts is simple.

Choose a prompt that sparks your interest. Imagine the characters, setting, and conflict. Let the prompt guide you, but feel free to add your unique twist.

Keep writing until the story unfolds naturally.

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BRYN DONOVAN

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50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas

If you’re looking for scary story prompts or horror writing ideas, you’ve come to the right place! These are great Halloween writing prompts, and some of these could also be used as suspense story prompts or dark fantasy story ideas.

These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More . The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing.

If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one. And anyway, just remember it’s all nonsense that I made up while I was exercising on the treadmill or sitting in bed.

Some of these are skeletal (ha) plot ideas, while others are images or suggestions. And if you’d like a spooky soundtrack to inspire you, be sure to check out my scary music playlist for writers ! Be sure to pin or bookmark the post for future reference. After all, when autumn rolls around, you might find yourself looking for Halloween writing prompts!

A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.
Frightening events in a small town lead its citizens to dig up the grave of a deceased inhabitant.
Someone gets on the elevator by himself and is never seen by his friends or family again.
The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again.
A collector buys an unpublished manuscript by an obscure writer that describes a terrible historical event a year before it occurred. The collector learns the writer wrote many unpublished stories…
Creating a hybrid of a human and this particular animal turns out to be a bad idea.
A person has the ability to make other people very ill.
The dead walk out of the sea.
An individual begins seeing and hearing from someone who looks just like her – and learns she had a twin who died at birth.
A killer places an advertisement for a willing victim and finds one.
A basement contains jars filled with unusual specimens.
A person finds new photos of herself on her cell phone that she didn’t take.
The spirit of a brutalized slave or prisoner of war wants revenge on his tormentor’s descendants.
A couple vacationing in a remote area begins having the same nightmares.
All of the circus performers were killed in the train wreck.
The television switches to another station of its own accord and plays footage of something horrible that happened long before the technology existed to record it.
A spouse or sibling dies. He or she begins to take over the body of the surviving spouse or sibling.
Weekend adventurers explore a cave and can’t find their way out again. Then they encounter something terrible…
Authorities go through the cluttered apartment of a deceased man who lived alone with no known friends or relatives for decades and find something disturbing.
A group of teenagers trolls everyone else in an online group by telling made-up stories about terrible things they’ve done. Things then get out of hand.
It’s bad luck in the theatre to call the Shakespeare play Macbeth by name, but someone in the company keeps doing it anyway… and the superstition proves true.
Every exhibit in this carnival sideshow is fake. Except this one thing.
An individual develops a terror of water – drinking it, touching it, or even being near it. There’s actually a good reason why.
The grandfather clock starts running backwards.
People in this neighborhood begin having freak accidents that involve normal appliances and machinery, such as blenders, weed whackers, and garage doors.
The cure for a new deadly epidemic is almost scarier than the disease.
He locked the doors and shuttered the windows; it came in through the roof.
A woman is happy when her dead loved one comes back to life… but he’s changed.
This centuries-old beauty secret is effective but horrifying.
A killer toys with his victims by orchestrating a series of false hopes for them.
She wakes up in the middle of the night and runs out to a certain tree.
Tourists on a ghost tour, along with their guide, fall into the hands of an evil presence.
A young woman is impregnated by her handsome new boyfriend, who turns out to be something other than human.
The empty swing is swinging.
A bride on her honeymoon discovers she’s not her new husband’s first wife… not even close.
Long ago, when he was a baby, a man’s parents made an unwise deal in order to bring him back from the dead.
Members of a family or people in a town begin sleepwalking and doing strange things in their sleep.
A young man confesses to a killing that hasn’t happened. The murder he describes takes place while he’s in custody.
Grisly events happen after the arrival of a hypnotist in Victorian London.
An author’s fictional villain stalks him.
Fraternity hazing goes way too far.
It always happens when he’s alone in the car.
A patient in a mental hospital encounters a malevolent ghost, but nobody believes her.
A mother’s young child may or may not be a changeling.
Swarms of insects appear in various places in a town, always followed by an untimely death.
The ghost at the movie theater wants everyone to watch one particular snippet of film.
A child’s imaginary friend starts to cause real trouble.
When putting together a slide show for a wedding or funeral, someone notices that for decades, the same man, dressed in the same fashion, has been appearing in the background of photographs taken in public places.
A politician, religious leader, or celebrity exerts mind control over the will of his or her followers.
The fairy godmother isn’t the good kind of fairy.

Okay, I creeped myself out a little with these spooky writing prompts! If you’re writing a novel and want a step-by-step guide to planning, writing, and editing, be sure to check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts .

5,000 WRITING PROMPTS: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More | BRYN DONOVAN |

Do you have questions or suggestions about horror story ideas? We’d love to hear them in the comments section! And don’t miss future posts about writing. Follow my blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place you can sign up below. Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

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Novel writing ,

150 horror prompts, settings and characters.

By Thea Pelletier

Whether you’re looking to scare, horrify, or make your readers jump, we are here with all the inspiration you need! We’ve created a horrific list of 50 horror writing prompts to give your writing that hair-raising, back-of-the-neck eerie touch.

Why Use Horror Prompts?

Horror books (as well as movies and TV shows) exist because human fear exists. And all readers love to feel something with each genre! Classic horror fiction books aim to frighten, and over time authors have found a myriad of ways to do that. Common themes include ghosts, ghouls, monsters , vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, murderers, serial killers, paranormal forces, witchcraft, apocalypses, psychological fear, and gore.

So if you’re feeling uninspired, you think all the good ideas have already been taken (they haven’t), or you simply want to kick-start your imagination – take a look at our horror prompts list. We have included 50 specific examples of horror story ideas organised under sub-genres. We hope some of them send a tingle down your spine and inspire you to write your own creepy novel!

50 Horror Story Prompts

Word of warning: in keeping with the nature of the genre, most of these prompts contain violent or upsetting themes.

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Comedic Horror Prompts

You survive the apocalypse purely due to a series of happy accidents. It turns out, an alien race orchestrated the doomsday events on Earth to see if humans were ready to ascend. As lone survivor, you’re selected to be the sole representative of humanity in the new world order.
Unpopular new arrivals in a town that treasures natural beauty, Michaela takes pity on her plastic surgeon father and goes to bed one night wishing that all of her classmates’ worst fears of their physical insecurities would come true.
You work at a Zombie Rehabilitation Centre in LA. It was your dream job until you realise you’re stuck teaching ‘Bite Inhibition’ classes.
Flattered to be one of the few freshmen listed on the most popular sorority’s website “Fresh Meat”, you turn up to a party in your honour at the Kappa Kappa house. At the end of the night, you discover a secret book containing a step-by-step plan of ‘How to eat the class of 2022’.
Former beauty pageant queen transforms into a hungry werewolf on the most important full moon of the year, on the prowl for the ‘next pretty young thing’. This year’s pageant hopefuls are armed to the teethed and willing to fight for the crown.
You’re a vain, ancient witch adapting to the 21st century by getting a job at the Apple Store so that you can enchant teenagers’ smartphones and sap their youth through their devices.

Demonic Possession Horror Prompts

Stacey’s perfect family life begins to unravel one day when a malicious spirit moves in and inflicts itself upon its host, jumping around between her, her husband, and her two daughters.
You terrify your family when you wake up floating two metres above your bed. An exorcist tells them he’s cured you, but the demon doesn’t actually leave your body. It’s learned to come out only when you are alone.
Taking part in a prison experiment for extra credit, 11 university students are unable to explain the violence that overcame them, and the brutal death of the 12 th student, citing demons over any psychological element.
You’re trying to put your house on the market. You’ve lived there all your life, and you’re the last surviving member of your family. Every estate agent you bring in to the house dies in a tragic accident days later.

Gore Horror Prompts

Uni student Jamie was looking for some extra cash when he signed away two weeks of his summer vacation to take part in a simple clinical trial. But when he realises patients are having their organs harvested against their will, his experience turns into a brutal, bloody nightmare.
Someone in your neighbourhood has been committing grisly acts of violence on people at night. You set up a camera to investigate and catch an exact replica of yourself in the act.
A well-intentioned break-in turns nasty for a group of friends who become trapped in a ‘chalet of death’ as the stunning vacation home turns into a gruesome automated killing machine at night.
You take a summer job at an amusement park. When covering for a coworker on the rollercoaster booth one night, body parts start flying off the ride. You stop the train and find that all the passengers are long-dead corpses.

Monster Horror Prompts

Night-time brings terror for caring but agoraphobic cat lady as her six beloved pets transform into flesh-hungry demons as soon as it’s dark out.
You’ve seen The Quiet Place and Birdbox , but what if the monstrous entity who invaded Earth destroyed humanity through touch? Each ‘spore’ is as big as a city, growing bigger each time it absorbs a victim. A pack of survivors must spread out if they want to make it through an ever-narrowing world in order to find, and destroy, the epicentre.
Susie is a wedding photographer whose camera starts to reveal monsters unseen to the eye that prey on the love of newlyweds. When Susie’s clients start to disappear from their honeymoons, she is the only person who knows what’s really happening to them.
You’re a teacher chaperoning swimming lessons at your school. You inspected the pool yourself, but when the kids get in you see an enormous, invisible creature come to life. The first drowning is ruled as accidental, and to your horror, the lessons continue.

Paranormal Horror Prompts

College student Josh is tapped as a pledge for an ultra-secret society via coded messages, which are unbeknownst to him left by the ghosts of past members who each met gruesome ends. The final test forces him into an abandoned storage facility where he must carry out increasingly punishing tasks on other pledges.
A close relative who died before you were born is standing in the upstairs window of the house across the street. You have no doubt it’s them. When you work up the courage to break in to the neighbour’s house and confront them, you turn to see the person you came to find now visible in the window of your own house.
The local sheriff’s night turns hellish when the man he locked up uses his telekinesis to lethally booby trap the station.
A mother of three does all she can to protect her family from imminent doom when she begins having visions of their collective deaths.
You’re out walking the dog one afternoon when you find yourself caught in a physical endless loop in the woods. You feel yourself losing time but you can’t find a way out.

Post-Apocalyptic Horror Prompts

Humanity took to the sea to survive the rising sea levels caused by climate change, but now their ocean rigs are massively overcrowded, resource-poor, and steeped in disease. A deadly class struggle breaks out on one of the stations.
A wayward AI has slowly infected all computers and devices, subtly turning humans against each other. Now living in a culture of suspicion and distrust running on the currency of violence, nomadic young Kit refuses to kill to survive.
You’ve grown up as the next generation of the most wealthy and successful humans who survived the end of the world. Your world unravels when you realise that those raising you have in fact been the robot overlords who destroyed humanity. They copied the skins of those they found locked in an emergency bunker and started to artificially grow humans as pets and slaves.
Trapped inside a small cabin by her phobia of the rain, one of the last surviving human women on earth tries to survive the night when a horde of those infected with the plague (that wiped out most of the human race) track her down hungry for blood.

Psychological Horror Prompts

After a tragic accident on his 21 st birthday, Peter gets back in touch with his estranged father via email. He flies 6000 miles to stay with him, but when he arrives he’s pulled into a deadly catfishing game carried out by a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
You wake up in your childhood bed, look down at yourself, and find that you’re 12 again. You can’t see yourself in the mirror, or in photos, but everyone else can see you. You’re convinced you’re going to disappear altogether.
Suspecting his wife of infidelity, Ben hires a private investigator to catch her in the act. When she disappears without her lover, Ben begins to suspect the man he hired had something to do with it.
You work the graveyard shift at a 24 hour on-campus library. While snooping around you come across a handwritten book that was started three decades ago. It contains a record of all the accidents and atrocities that have happened at the school since then. A week later, a girl falls off the roof and dies. During your next shift, you see a beloved professor writing in the book. You start to doubt everything when the death is ruled an accident.

Religious/Folk Beliefs Horror Prompts

Summer is excited to be spending her semester abroad, until she witnesses some locals performing a horrifying ritual on her fellow traveller.
Your parents reveal a horrid secret to you on your 18th birthday. Your idyllic lifestyle in a small, isolated community will come to an end if you don’t start participating in the cult’s obscene rituals. If you refuse, you’ll be sacrificed against your will for the cause.
Born into a futuristic fringe community that abhors physical contact, a young woman’s attempts to break free are met with the harshest repercussions.

Slasher Horror Prompts

Callie is delighted to be driving to college in her graduation gift – a brand new electric Mercedes – when an EMP attack leaves her stranded by the side of the road. There’s nothing but forest around for miles, until a lumberjack with a dark past pulls up beside her.
Ten years after you said goodbye to your imaginary friend, you see their face on the evening news next to the headline ‘The Redfield Ripper’s Recent Attacks’.
An insane chef renting a cabin in the woods sharpens up their knife skills on whoever is unlucky enough to disturb them.

Vampire Horror Prompts

Cal is a postman resigned to a boring new route in a rural valley when he comes across three beautiful sisters living alone in a big house. He finds himself there almost every day hauling curious packages. A bout of bad weather knocks a tree down on the only road in, and a few days later, Cal is greeted with a terrifying scenario at the front door.
For months, your dog keeps waking you up at the same time every night. He barks at the window. When you look out onto the street, you see the same stranger watching you. The stranger can’t be recorded, and nobody believes you when you tell them. One night, thinking yourself delirious, you invite him in.
Told from the POV of the youngest sibling of an ancient coven of vampires, Clara and her family are ‘monsters’ living their lives in fear of a powerful new hunter who has trapped them in a small town and is threatening to pick them off one by one.

Witchcraft Horror Prompts

Down on her luck librarian Eliza idolises famous American movie star Marsha Green. When she comes across an ancient tome under some rotten floorboards and begins to meddle with unknown forces, she sets events in motion which alter Marsha’s life forever.
You win the lottery. But every time you spend some of the money, no matter what you use it for, bad things happen. You go back to where you found the lucky ticket, pinned to a tree, and it’s now covered in unfamiliar symbols.
A revolutionary new computer game downloads itself onto the laptops of a group of 11-year-olds. After playing all night, they return to school to find their in-game actions inflicted on their classmates. Suspecting their strict teacher to be behind it, the kids must figure out how to undo her spell and reverse the damage they have done.
You’re an overbearing mother who wishes she could give her daughter the perfect life. You do more harm than good with your cosmetic spells and emotional enchantments, nearly destroying the life of your sixteen year old, who eventually exacts her revenge in equal measure.
Working late one night, an exec finds himself unable to leave his bewitched office chair as a scorned investor instructs him to perform humiliating acts in front of his webcam as penance.

Zombie Horror Prompts

A teenage girl goes to an illicit gathering in the woods one night and meets a boy. Their encounter ends badly. She wakes up to find teeth and nail marks, and realises she is a little less alive than she was the day before.
You dreamt of the zombie pandemic as a child. You dedicated your life to preparing an antidote, waiting for the outbreak so you could develop a cure. You are shunned from the scientific community for your ‘fringe beliefs’. At the first signs of sickness in your loved ones, you kidnap them and take them to an underground research facility where you push yourself to your limits and make dire choices in anticipation of saving the human race.
Years after her best friend is murdered, detective Alana’s latest case leads her to a mansion overrun by a horde of zombies led by a hauntingly familiar face.
You’ve never questioned your landlord’s odd behaviour, desperate as you were for cheap rent. But when the fuse blows and no one is around to fix it, you uncover a nasty truth in the basement’s freezer. It’s overflowing with brains!
You’re a doctor volunteering in the latest wave of deadly outbreaks across Europe. When you’re morally unable to kill patient zero in the early stages of a new unknown strain, you must live with unleashing the zombie virus across the world’s population.

50 Places To Find Inspiration For Your Horror Story

The setting of a horror story is everything – but not all scary novels have to take place in a scary place (in fact, sometimes the most mundane of places can be given a horrifying twist by adding a bit of the unknown). When looking for inspiration, it really helps to physically go to a place, or research old relics, to help kick-start your imagination. Take a look at our 50 places that may inspire your next creepy tale. In fact, see if you can think of a horror book or movie set in some of these places (we certainly can!).

An empty school
A graveyard
Look at old paintings
Go through old photo albums
An empty house
The basement
A toy store after closing time
Visit an old library
An old lady’s house that hasn’t changed in decades
A scrapyard
The dessert
The ocean (the deeper, the scarier)
A secluded island
The forrest on a misty day
A snowy tundra
A corn field
A shopping mall
An abandoned…well…anything
A locked room
A log cabin
A swelteringly hot day
Suburbia…but different
A run-down urban street
A room full of puppets
Backstage of the theatre
Empty corridors leading nowhere
A rubbish dump
An empty road in the rain
The top of a mountain
Ancient ruins
The inside of a church
A fairground after closing hours
Beneath the streets of a big city
A metro station/the tube
The kitchens of a hotel or restaurant
An old stone quarry
Overgrown railway line

50 Horror Story Characters To Inspire you

Sometimes, the most simplest of storylines with the most mundane of setting, can be utterly horrifying of you add one very complicated character. Of course you can use monsters and fantastical characters you have created, but often the best effect is mixing an everyday character with a setting where they belong; for instance a clown hiding inside a car at an empty scrapyard, or a little old lady, bony and bent double, in the middle of the jungle. And remember – these characters can be the good gifs, the bad guys, or maybe a mix of both!

Little old lady
Troubled teenager
A person with no eyes
Police officer
Woman with dramatically applied make-up
Sex worker or pimp
Someone with blades for fingers
Baby in a crib
Toddler that doesn’t speak
Girl in bedclothes with hair that covers her face
A character that belongs in another time
Animal that can talk
Person with wings for arms
A very normal looking mother. A bit too normal.
Someone who is meant to be dead
A goody-two-shoes child
Airline pilot
Captain of a ship
Firefighter
Scientist (everyone loves a mad scientist)
A single dad
A mother with more kids than she can handle
Sewage worker
Builder working on an new house
Archeologist
Security guard
Traffic warden/meter maid
Someone with wheels for feet
Prison warden
Door to door salesperson
Shy secretary
Nun or priest

Writing Horror Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

We hope our list of writing prompts for horror , along with settings and characters, has sparked your imagination! If not, here’s how to take our horror ideas to the next level:

Found a horror story prompt you like but unsure of where to take it next? Let’s take #8 from the top list, for example, and add a few interesting characters from our list and choose a setting or two. Then start to build an information bank on your protagonist from there. At this point focus on the character , not the plot – because often one thing can lead to another. The Prompt: You’re a troubled teen who terrifies your family when you wake up floating two metres above your bed. You just moved into an old house in a quiet, creepy suburban street. An exorcist tells your family he has cured you, but the demon doesn’t actually leave your body, and learns to come out only when you are alone.

You’re still a teenager, living at home. Your name is Jackson, but you go by Jax. You’re a second generation immigrant and you speak Greek at home with your family. Your father named you after his favourite American baseball player. You have dark hair, dark eyes, and when you would steal your grandmother’s baklavas off the kitchen counter she would say she could see the devil in your face. You spend the weekends riding the coastal roads on motorbikes with your friends, doing your best to stay out the way of your spoiled little sister and your overworked father. You’re closest to your YaYa but too afraid to tell her where you spend most of your time. Moving house unsettled you and took away everything you ever loved.

Or, why not map out a rough plot first? The inciting incident for this prompt could be: You’ve snuck back into your room after a long night out with your friends. You left the window open. Four hours after you collapsed onto your bed in your clothes, you wake with a start to find yourself hovering inexplicably in the air. Your body is locked into position. You spend a panicked hour trying to wriggle free of its grip, but you can feel another presence inside your own body, forcing you down. You’re going to be late for your new school, your sister is turning the doorknob and your father is yelling for you. Your feet frame the pure terror in the three faces at the door as your eyes strain to see them. Your grandmother recovers the quickest, stuffing her komboskini into your frozen fist and running out of the room to phone her priest. Whether you start your horror story with just a vibe, a small seed of an idea, a great setting, character , or a full plot – it doesn’t matter. A great story can start anywhere, you just have to make sure that (like any scary monster) you keep feeding it and watch it grow bigger and more horrifying every day!

About the author

Thea is part of the Writer Support T eam here at Jericho Writers. She has a degree in German and English Literature from The University of Edinburgh and enjoys spending time with her dogs and working on her first novel in her spare time.

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365 Horrifying Horror Writing Prompts

November 14, 2023 by Richard Leave a Comment

Here are 365 Horrifying Horror Writing Prompts to inspire your writing every day of the year. Darkness falls. Shadows lengthen. The hair on the back of your neck prickles as the last rays of light fade away. Something stirs in the darkness. You can feel unseen eyes watching, evil lurking just out of sight—the night beckons, hungry for new terrors to unleash.

Within these pages await 365 prompts to inspire bone-chilling tales filled with the creepy, twisted, and macabre. Let your imagination wander into dark and haunted places, conjure nightmarish creatures from terrifying depths, and explore the disturbing boundaries of human depravity.

Summon vengeful spirits, stalk feral beasts through moonlit woods, or open forbidden doors that should stay locked. But beware, these prompts may awaken fears you never knew existed as you walk the line between spine-tingling thrills and nightmare-inducing horror.

With so many prompts, the possibilities for crafting your own horror stories are endless. You may never sleep soundly again after lingering in realms of psychological suspense, paranormal unease, and visceral horror. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The terror is about to begin…

Open the door, leave the light off, and prepare to confront your deepest fears. Once you immerse yourself in these 365 prompts, any shred of comfort or safety will be shattered. There is no escaping the darkness that awaits within these pages. Let the horror commence…

You glimpse what looks like your neighbor transforming into a hairy beast under the full moon through your window at night.
A vampire lures you into his gothic mansion under the pretense of a date. You’re trapped inside overnight.
You notice your reflection’s eyes glowing in the dark whenever you glance away from the mirror. Fangs slide from your mouth when you smile.
A mysterious stranger with hypnotic eyes seduces you at a nightclub. You wake up with bite marks on your neck.
You find a secret passage in your basement leading to an underground lair filled with sleeping coffins.
A feral werewolf stalks the woods surrounding your cabin on the night of the full moon. You’re trapped inside.
You discover an ancient book with rituals for summoning demons. Shadowy figures emerge from your closet after you read an incantation aloud.
A decrepit old manor deep in the woods is said to be inhabited by vampires. You decide to investigate at night and become trapped inside.
A dating app match invited you over for a “nightcap.” You wake up disoriented with bandages on your neck.
A creepy stranger at a carnival offers to tell your fortune. He predicts you’ll become a powerful vampire under the next full moon.
A scientists performs experiments splicing human and animal DNA. Escaped beast-men now hunt locals at night.
A tunnel in your basement leads to a vast underground metropolis populated by creatures of the night.
On a guided tour, you get lost in the ancient catacombs beneath the city. You hear inhuman howls in the labyrinth of tunnels.
A blood bank is robbed of all its plasma bags. The technician was found drained of blood.
You wake up to find bite marks and fur all over your body after a lunar eclipse. Your reflection is more beast than human.
A creepy stranger at a nightclub disappears with your friend. You find your friend unconscious behind the club, neck bandaged.
You glimpse what appears to be your neighbor transforming into a wolf under the moonlight through your window at night.
A dating app match invited you to their gothic mansion in the woods for a romantic evening. You’re unable to leave as the sun sets.
Howls echo outside your rural cabin on the night of the full moon. Inhuman, glowing eyes stare back from the treeline.
A tunnel in your basement leads to a vast subterranean city of the undead. You accidentally become trapped overnight.
On a campus ghost tour, you get lost in an off-limits section said to be stalked by a vampire. Escaping after nightfall will be nearly impossible.
An ancient ritual book instructs you how to open a portal to a hellish dimension. You read the incantation aloud as a test.
A creepy carnival worker warns you to avoid the house of mirrors. You glimpse beastly figures staring back from the glass.
A strange infection transforms residents into ravenous zombies after nightfall. You’re stranded downtown past sunset.
Local blood bank technicians are found drained of blood with mysterious neck punctures. A wave of vampirism overwhelms your town.
A tunnel in your basement leads to a vast underground metropolis populated by creatures of the night. You become trapped after sundown.
On the night of a lunar eclipse, you get lost hiking and stumble upon what appears to be a meeting place for warped beasts.
A dating app match invites you to their mansion deep in the woods for a steamy night. You arrive to find coffins lining the great hall.
You wake up in the middle of the night to see your neighbor staring back at you through the window with glowing eyes and elongated fangs.
A strange infection transforms residents into feral beasts when enraged. Quarantine protocols trap you downtown after nightfall.
Howls and shrieks echo from the old asylum at night. You sneak inside to investigate and become trapped with the creatures that dwell within.
A tunnel in the cemetery leads to a secret gathering place for ghouls and vampires beneath the city. You stumble upon their nightly meeting.
A creepy stranger warns that a demonic beast hunts the woods during the blood moon. You’re forced to take shelter in a nearby cave.
On your hotel balcony, you spot a figure across the street make an inhuman leap to the rooftop. A creature is stalking the city.
A dating app match invited you back to their place. You wake up disoriented with bite marks all over your neck.
An ancient ritual book instructs you how to open a portal to another dimension. You recite the incantation as a test, and a clawed hand reaches through.
You get lost on a ghost tour of the old city catacombs. Howls echo from the labyrinth of tunnels as the sun sets above.
A creepy carnival worker warns you to avoid the house of mirrors at night. You glimpse your beastly reflection staring back.
A mad scientist performs experiments splicing human and beast DNA. You help one of his tortured experiments escape.
On the night of a lunar eclipse, you witness what appears to be your neighbor transforming into a fanged beast under the blood moon.
While exploring the old cemetery, you discover a tunnel that leads to a secret underground meeting place for vampires and ghouls.
A dating app match invites you to their secluded manor deep in the woods for a romantic evening. You arrive to find it’s overrun with werewolves.
Howls echo outside your rural cabin on the night of the full moon. Glowing eyes stare back from the darkness. The wolves have your scent.
A strange infection transforms people into rabid beasts when enraged. You’re trapped downtown past nightfall as residents begin to turn.
Local blood banks are robbed of all plasma. Overnight, the city is overrun by a wave of vampirism.
You wake up after a night you can’t remember covered in bites and fur. Howls echo outside under the full moon.
You stumble upon what appears to be a gathering place for warped creatures deep in the woods at night. They spot you observing their ritual.
While exploring the old asylum, you become trapped inside overnight. Feral shrieks and howls echo through the abandoned cellblocks after sunset.
A dating app match invites you to their gothic mansion in the woods for a romantic evening. You arrive to find coffins lining the great hall.
You wake up to find your bed swarming with spiders. Their glowing red eyes stare back as they crawl towards you.
While exploring a cave, you stumble upon a giant egg sac filled with thousands of fist-sized spider eggs about to hatch.
You discover an old journal describing rituals to summon shadow demons. You read an incantation aloud as a test. Clawed hands reach from the darkness.
You wake up paralyzed as a shadowy ghostly figure looms over your bed, staring directly into your eyes.
Your reflection in the mirror becomes possessed, snarling and threatening you with a demonic voice telling you all the ways it plans to mutilate your body.
You get trapped overnight at an insect research facility. Mutated super-sized ants and roaches swarm through the halls, sensing fresh prey.
While camping, you wake to find yourself cocooned inside a giant spider web. The creature that spun it approaches from the trees, hungry for its trapped prey.
You stumble upon an abandoned mansion infested with rabid rats. They quickly surround you, squealing and baring their bloodied teeth.
On a dare, you play a chant from an old book said to summon a vengeful spirit. You glance up to see the ghostly girl from the story standing behind you in the mirror.
You discover your attic is infested with hundreds of spiders. Their webs coat every inch. At night you hear them skittering in the walls, ceiling, and vents.
You get bitten by a strange insect while exploring a remote island jungle. Soon you develop odd cravings, inhuman strength, and a thirst for flesh.
Home alone at night, you hear skittering and clacking sounds from the dark basement. Giant insectoid shadows creep up the stairs towards you.
You accidentally step on an ant hill during a hike. They swarm up your legs, stinging and biting relentlessly as you scream in agony.
Near an abandoned mine, you glimpse what looks like a giant spider dragging a human body back to its lair. But when you follow it, there’s no trace.
You wake paralyzed at night with a creepy crawly sensation. Peering into the darkness, you see hundreds of spiders emerge from under your bed and covers.
You discover a hidden chamber under your house containing grisly remains wrapped in webbing. At night you hear skittering in the walls and vents.
Home alone, you hear scratching and fluttering coming from the chimney. A colony of bats suddenly floods into the living room, swarming around you.
You find an old shack filled with strange cocoons and webbing that seems to pulse with life. Shadowy shapes shift inside them.
You accidentally unleash a cursed swarm of locusts while reading an ancient text. They voraciously devour every living thing in their path.
On a camping trip, you wake up to find yourself strapped down in the massive web of a building-sized spider. Its shadow looms over you as it descends from the trees.
You get trapped in a cave filled with giant cocoons twice your size. They begin to split open, birthing horrific winged creatures.
You find an old dollhouse intricately decorated with dead insects in miniature scenes. At night you think you glimpse them moving inside it.
You discover an oddly-shaped cocoon pulsing with life attached to your house. It splits open at night, birthing a terrifying creature.
You accidentally bring a cockroach home from a trip. It escapes and breeds, soon infesting your entire home with ravenous mutant roaches.
You wake up buried alive with just a faint glow stick, cell phone with no signal, and a handwritten note that says “Nobody will find you here.”
Your baby monitor picks up the sound of a maniacal voice whispering “I’m inside your house” when you’re home alone.
You find a hidden trap door under a rug in your basement. It leads to a soundproof underground room stained with blood.
Your front door security camera captures a masked man crawling out from under your bed while you sleep just inches away.
You glimpse people with blurry, staticky faces standing silently in your peripheral vision. When you turn, no one is there.
Your young daughter keeps talking about her new “imaginary friend” who visits her bedroom closet at night. You hear faint whispers from inside when home alone.
You wake up to find yourself strapped to an operating table in an abandoned hospital surrounded by disturbing medical tools. No one is around.
You find an old Polaroid of yourself sleeping on the porch steps of your childhood home. You lived alone and the photo was taken at night through the front door.
You glimpse grinning corpses propped up around the dinner table when you walk through the dark house at night. But when you turn on the lights, the bodies vanish.
You notice a bloody, clawed handprint appear on the bathroom mirror after you shower. It drips down the glass, leaving a red trail.
You wake up in a pitch black room chained to a cold metal chair. A child’s voice says, “It’s time to play the hunting game.”
You find an old unmarked VHS tape with “Watch Me” scribbled on it. It shows grainy night vision footage of a shadowy figure watching you sleep.
You glimpse people you know with jet black eyes and fanged smiles beckoning you to come closer out of the corner of your eye. But when you look directly they seem totally normal.
You come home to find the power cut and the words “I’m already inside” painted in blood on every mirror.
You wake up to find yourself floating over your own sleeping body. Something else now inhabits your physical form and is living your life.
You start finding creepy/threatening notes written in red ink on your bathroom mirror when home alone. The writing matches your handwriting perfectly.
You glimpse grinning corpses of your loved ones sitting around the dinner table out of the corner of your eye. But when you look directly, the bodies vanish.
You come home to find your front door wide open and bloody child-sized footprints leading from your bedroom to the hallway closet before disappearing.
You wake up to the sound of screaming coming from inside your own body, but you are paralyzed and cannot move or make a sound.
You notice a puddle of fresh blood pooling under your bed at night. But by morning, it has mysteriously vanished leaving no trace.
You start hearing faint cries for help behind your bedroom wall at night. The next morning, you find bloody scratch marks inside the wall.
You glimpse people with your face but with soulless black eyes staring at you from around corners and darkened doorways whenever you’re home alone.
Your young son keeps wanting to play a “staring game” where he gazes deeply into your eyes without blinking for uncomfortably long amounts of time.
You wake up to find your bedroom window open and child-sized, clawed footprints burned into your ceiling above your bed.
You glimpse faceless people wearing your clothes pointing up at your bedroom ceiling at night. Bloody words appear above your bed spelling out a death threat.
Your new puppy stares wide-eyed at your basement door while growling at an unseen entity. You start hearing faint whispers and scratching sounds from behind the door.
You glimpse a shadowy, humanoid creature with long limbs and jagged teeth prowling on all fours around your bedroom at night when you wake up. But when you turn on the light, it’s gone.
Your young niece keeps asking you to play a staring game, promising that something amazing will happen if you don’t blink for one full minute while gazing into her eyes.
You wake up to find yourself strapped to an operating table in a morgue. The chilling sound of a bone saw powering up echoes from the darkness.
A little girl in antique clothes appears weeping in the corner of your bedroom at night, warning you never to sleep again.
Your baby monitor camera pans by itself to show a dark figure hunched over your child’s crib before the screen goes black.
You wake up to find yourself bone thin and trapped inside a coffin-sized cage hanging from the ceiling of an empty room.
You glimpse a doppelgänger of yourself staring back from inside the bathroom mirror whenever you look away.
Your doorbell camera captures a hyper-realistic puppet-like version of you entering your house at night while you sleep.
You glimpse an empty baby stroller rocking itself back and forth outside your front door when home alone at night.
You start finding cryptic notes written in what appears to be blood hidden around your house saying things like, “I’m already inside” and “Let me in.”
You wake up to find yourself suspended high above your bed with shadowy hands gripping your arms and legs to hold you in place.
Your home phone rings in the middle of the night. You hear only high-pitched static, yet your caller ID displays your name and number.
You come home to find all the lights on, puddles of muddy footprints around the house, and the faint smell of rotting meat coming from the vents.
You notice a puddle of fresh blood pooling under your bed each night. One night you glimpse a small, clawed hand briefly grasp the bedframe before disappearing back under into darkness.
You glimpse a shadowy doppelgänger mimicking your movements when you look in the bathroom mirror at night. If you stop moving, it grins back with a mouthful of pointed teeth.
You wake up unable to move and see a dark figure crouched on your chest staring back with reflective, animal-like eyes.
Your front door security camera footage shows people that look just like you entering your house at night while you sleep. By morning, there’s no sign of intruders inside.
You glimpse an empty baby cradle rocking itself in the darkness of your living room when home alone at night. But when you turn on the light, it vanishes.
Your young niece keeps asking if she can “play” with your pet hamster. Sometimes you hear faint squeaking coming from inside her room.
You wake to find yourself strapped to a chair in a dark, empty warehouse. A child’s voice echoes, “Let’s see how long you can keep your eyes open during our little game…”
You glimpse a shadowy hooded figure standing silently in your peripheral vision. When you turn to look directly, it screams inches from your face before vanishing.
You notice a puddle of fresh blood pooling around your bathroom sink each night. One night you glimpse a clawed, rotting hand clutching the faucet before disappearing down the drain.
Your front doorbell camera shows an old woman standing motionless on your porch steps, staring directly into the camera lens without blinking while holding an unlit candle. She seems blurry, staticky, and translucent.
You wake up unable to move and see a shadowy humanoid creature crawling on your ceiling. It slowly creeps down the walls upside-down toward your paralyzed body smiling with a mouthful of needle-like teeth.
You wake up in a dark room strapped to a stretcher. A faceless surgeon slowly approaches you holding a gleaming scalpel.
You glimpse grinning, corpse-like versions of your loved ones beckoning you closer with clawed hands out of the corner of your eye.
You notice a puddle of blood seeping from beneath your closet door at night. Something seems to be slowly scratching its way out.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in on a pale hand reaching into your infant’s crib during the night. You rush in to find the crib empty.
You glimpse people you know with milky white eyes and stitched-together body parts shambling toward you, arms outstretched, when you look away.
You wake up chained to a filthy tiled wall in a shadowy basement. Scratch marks cover the walls and the faint sound of whimpering echoes from the darkness.
Your front door security camera shows a hyper-realistic version of you prowling around the porch on all fours at night, unnaturally contorting its body to fit.
You notice a puddle of blood pooling beneath your bed each night. One night you glimpse a snarling, clawed hand grasp the bed frame before disappearing back under.
You wake up to find yourself buried alive in a small wooden box. Dirt sifts through the cracks as you begin to claw your way out.
You glimpse demonic versions of your family seated around the dinner table, forked tongues wriggling from their grinning mouths whenever you look away.
You notice empty baby carriages and children’s toys rocking or spinning on their own in the darkness whenever home alone. But they vanish when you turn on the lights.
Shadowy doppelgängers of you stand motionless in doorways and mirrors whenever you look away, screaming when you make eye contact.
Your young daughter keeps whispering that her new “imaginary friends” visit her in her closet at night and want to meet you.
You wake up unable to move with a hunched figure sitting on your chest staring back with soulless black eyes and grinning razor-sharp teeth.
You notice clawed handprints and blood streaks on the bathroom mirror after taking a shower, as if something was trapped behind the glass trying to get out.
You glimpse people you know with pale skin, black eyes and stitched-together body parts shambling toward you when looking away. They plead for help before vanishing.
You hear high-pitched crying and clawing sounds coming from behind your bedroom wall at night, along with faint whispers pleading “let me out.”
You wake up chained to the moldy tiled floor of a shadowy subterranean room. Glowing red eyes stare back from the darkness.
You notice your reflection blinks or moves on its own whenever you glance away from the mirror. It smiles with a mouthful of needles when your eyes meet.
You glimpse corpses of your loved ones with sunken features seated around the dinner table whenever you look away. They beckon you closer with skeletal hands.
You wake up in the woods, barefoot with your ankles and wrists bound together. You hear faint hunting horns and hounds barking in the distance.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and moving on its own under the gap of your closet door at night. The doorknob slowly begins to rattle.
You glimpse your doppelgänger going about your daily routine whenever you look away. It stares back with soulless black eyes when your gazes meet.
You wake up to find yourself strapped down in an abandoned, decrepit hospital room. A faceless figure in a long coat slowly approaches holding a rusted scalpel.
You notice clawed, rotting hands grasping from inside your bedroom closet whenever you look away. They retreat back inside when your eyes are on them.
You glimpse a shadowy creature with elongated limbs and off-kilter body movements prowling around your bedroom just outside your field of vision at night whenever you’re home alone.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to a metal chair with IVs pumping unknown fluids into your body. Faceless people in suits watch through a two-way mirror.
Your young daughter keeps talking and singing nursery rhymes to “the people who visit her closet” late at night when she thinks you’re asleep.
You notice your reflection rapidly ages, decays, and becomes skeletal whenever you glance away from the bathroom mirror at night.
You glimpse doppelgängers of your loved ones with sunken features shuffling toward you pleading for help when looking away. They scream when your eyes meet.
You wake up unable to move and see a hunched figure sitting on your chest with its face obscured by tangled black hair. It slowly raises a rusted blade toward your throat.
Your baby monitor cameras pans by itself to show a shadowy figure looming over the crib, rocking your infant’s empty cradle before the screen goes black.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along on its own, just outside your peripheral vision whenever you’re home alone at night.
You glimpse a pale little girl in a tattered nightgown standing motionless in your peripheral vision. She screams and points at you when your eyes meet.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to an operating table as a figure in surgical garb approaches you slowly wielding a long, gleaming saw.
Your front doorbell camera shows a blurry, shambling figure that looks just like you prowling around the porch late at night, contorting its body unnaturally.
You notice handprints and faces pressing against your bedroom window from outside at night when you’re home alone. But when you blink, they vanish.
You glimpse your loved ones seated around the dinner table with elongated smiles filled with jagged teeth whenever you look away. They beckon you closer.
You wake up in a small, enclosed space. You push against the satin lining and realize you’ve been buried alive inside a coffin.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in on its own at night to show a spindly hand reaching into your infant’s crib over the edge of the railing.
You notice your reflection rapidly decays into a grinning corpse whenever you glance away from the mirror. Maggots wriggle from its empty eye sockets when your eyes meet.
You wake up and all the mirrors in your home are covered with sheets. You live alone. Muffled crying echoes from behind the covered glass.
You glimpse shadowy, hunched figures crouched in your peripheral vision. They skitter just out of sight whenever you turn to look directly.
Your front doorbell camera shows you arriving home hours before you actually returned. The footage shows you glancing up at the camera and grinning with solid black eyes.
You notice clawed handprints appear on foggy bathroom mirrors after you shower. They slowly drag down the glass leaving trails of blood before vanishing completely.
You glimpse doppelgängers of loved ones standing motionless, staring at you from dark corners and doorways whenever you’re home alone. They scream when your eyes meet.
You wake up to find yourself alone in a sterile white room strapped to a metal chair. A faceless figure in a lab coat slowly approaches holding a power saw.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in and pans by itself at night to show a spindly hand reaching over the edge of the crib, rocking your infant’s empty cradle.
You notice your shadow standing independently and watching you from across the room whenever you glance away. It creeps closer when your back is turned.
You wake up to find yourself chained to a cold metal table in a shadowy basement. Glowing red eyes stare hungrily at you from the dark corners.
You wake up in a dimly lit room strapped to a gurney. You hear faint whimpering and smell rotting flesh. A door creaks open and shuffling footsteps approach.
You glimpse doppelgängers of loved ones with pale skin and soulless black eyes standing in doorways whenever you’re home alone. They scream when your eyes meet.
You notice clawed handprints appear on foggy bathroom mirrors after you shower. They slowly drag down the glass, leaving trails of blood before fading away.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in and pans by itself at night to show a spindly hand reaching over the crib, rocking your infant’s empty cradle.
You wake up unable to move. A shadowy figure sits on your chest staring back with glowing red eyes and rows of razor-sharp teeth grinning.
You glimpse blurry, shambling figures just out of sight whenever you’re home alone. They stand motionless staring when you look directly.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along the walls just outside your peripheral vision whenever you’re alone at night.
Your young son keeps whispering that “the thing in the closet” talks to him at night and wants to meet you after bedtime.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to a metal chair. A faceless figure in a lab coat slowly approaches wielding a power saw.
You glimpse grinning corpses seated around the dinner table whenever you look away. They beckon you closer with skeletal hands before vanishing.
Your reflection rapidly decays into a mangled corpse whenever you glance away from the mirror. It screams when your eyes meet.
You notice handprints and pleading faces press against your bedroom window from outside whenever you look away. They vanish when stared at.
You wake up unable to move and see a shadowy figure sitting on your chest staring back with glowing red eyes. It slowly raises a long, gleaming blade.
Your front doorbell camera shows you arriving home hours before you actually returned. Your doppelgänger glances up at the camera, grinning with soulless black eyes.
You glimpse a pale little girl in a tattered nightgown standing silently whenever you look away. She points at you and screams when your eyes meet.
You notice clawed, rotting hands grasp from inside your closet whenever you look away. They slowly retreat back into darkness when stared at.
You wake up chained to a moldy tiled wall in a shadowy basement. Glowing red eyes stare hungrily at you from the darkness.
Your young daughter keeps whispering she sees “other mommies and daddies” that visit her bedroom closet at night.
You glimpse your loved ones seated around the dinner table with elongated smiles filled with jagged teeth whenever you look away.
You notice your shadow standing independently across the room whenever you glance away. It creeps closer when your back is turned.
Your reflection turns and stares back with solid black eyes and a wide unnatural smile whenever you look away from the mirror.
You wake up unable to move with a hunched figure sitting on your chest. It stares back with glowing red eyes as it slowly raises a rusted blade.
Your front door security camera shows a blurry, shambling figure that looks just like you prowling around on all fours late at night.
You glimpse pale ghostly figures standing silently whenever you look away. They reach toward you screaming when you make eye contact.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along the walls just outside your peripheral vision when home alone.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to an operating table as a figure in surgical garb approaches wielding a gleaming bone saw.
Your young son keeps whispering that “the thing under my bed” talks to him at night and wants to meet you after you tuck him in.
You glimpse doppelgängers of loved ones standing motionless and staring at you from dark corners whenever you’re home alone.
You notice handprints appear on foggy bathroom mirrors after you shower. They slowly drag down the glass leaving trails of blood before fading away.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in and pans by itself at night to show a spindly hand rocking your infant’s empty cradle.
You wake up unable to move and see a shadowy figure crouched on your chest. It stares back with glowing eyes as it slowly lifts a gleaming scalpel.
Your young niece keeps whispering about her new “imaginary friends” that visit her bedroom closet late at night when she thinks you’re asleep.
You glimpse pale ghostly children staring silently whenever you look away. They reach toward you screaming when your eyes meet.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along the walls just outside your peripheral vision when you’re alone at night.
Your reflection turns and stares back with milky white eyes and an unnaturally wide smile whenever you glance away from the mirror.
You wake up chained to a rusted metal chair in a dim concrete room. Heavy footsteps approach from the darkness.
Your front door security camera shows you shambling up to the porch on all fours late at night. Your doppelgänger glances up at the camera and grins.
You glimpse your loved ones seated around the dinner table with blank stares whenever you look away. They reach toward you silently when your eyes meet.
You notice empty rocking chairs, strollers, and children’s toys slowly moving on their own in the darkness whenever you’re home alone.
You wake up unable to move and see a hunched shadowy figure sitting on your chest, slowly raising a gleaming blade toward your throat.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in and pans by itself at night to show a spindly hand reaching over the crib railing, rocking your infant’s empty cradle.
You glimpse pale ghostly faces staring from the darkness whenever you look away. They scream and vanish when your eyes meet.
You notice your shadow standing independently across the room whenever you glance away. It skitters behind you when you turn to look.
Your reflection turns and snarls back with gleaming pointed teeth whenever you look away from the mirror. It bangs against the glass when your eyes meet.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to a metal table as a faceless figure in a lab coat approaches holding a serrated blade.
Your young daughter keeps whispering about “other mommies and daddies with red eyes” that visit her bedroom closet at night.
You glimpse empty rocking chairs, strollers, and toys slowly moving on their own in the darkness whenever you’re home alone.
You notice pleading faces and hands banging against your bedroom window from outside whenever you look away. They vanish when stared at.
Your front doorbell camera shows you prowling around the porch late at night. Your doppelgänger crawls on all fours glancing up at the camera.
You wake up unable to move and see a shadowy figure sitting on your chest. It stares back with glowing red eyes as it wriggles a long, forked tongue.
You wake up in a dark basement chained to the wall. Faint screams echo from the shadows as heavy footsteps approach.
Your reflection smiles back with rows of jagged teeth whenever you glance away from the mirror. Bloody claws smear the glass from inside.
You notice your doppelgänger going about your daily routine whenever you look away. It stares back with soulless black eyes when your gazes meet.
You glimpse grinning corpses seated around the dinner table whenever you look away. They reach toward you with skeletal hands before vanishing.
Your front door cam shows you returning home hours before you actually did. Your blurry doppelgänger looks up and smiles with empty black eyes.
You wake up unable to move. A hunched figure sits on your chest and stares back with glowing red eyes as it wriggles a long, forked tongue.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in by itself at night to show a spindly hand reaching over the crib, rocking your infant’s empty cradle.
You notice your reflection rapidly decays into a skeletal corpse whenever you glance away from the mirror. Maggots pour from its empty eye sockets.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to a metal chair. A faceless figure in a lab coat approaches wielding a gleaming power saw.
Your young son keeps whispering about “the thing in his closet” that talks to him at night and wants to meet you after bedtime.
You notice clawed, rotting hands grasp from inside your closet whenever you look away. They slowly retreat into darkness when stared at.
You glimpse your smiling friends with milky white eyes and stitched-together body parts shambling toward you when looking away.
You wake up unable to move. A shadowy figure crouches on your chest and grins back with rows of needle-like teeth as it lifts a serrated blade.
Your reflection turns and snarls at you behind the glass whenever you glance away from the mirror. Bloody claws smear down the surface from inside.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along the walls just outside your peripheral vision whenever you’re home alone.
You glimpse pale ghostly children standing silently whenever you look away. They scream and vanish when your eyes meet theirs.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in by itself at night to show a spindly hand rocking your infant’s empty cradle back and forth.
You notice empty rocking chairs, strollers, and toys moving slowly on their own in the darkness whenever you’re home alone.
Your reflection turns and smiles back with solid black eyes and a wide, unnatural grin whenever you look away from the mirror.
You wake up in a shadowy room restrained to a gurney. You hear whimpering from the darkness as shuffling footsteps approach.
Your young niece keeps whispering about her “new friends” that visit her bedroom closet late at night when she thinks you’re asleep.
You glimpse soulless black eyes staring back from around corners and darkened doorways whenever you’re home alone.
You wake up unable to move and see a hunched figure perched on your chest, slowly raising a gleaming blade toward your throat.
Your front door camera shows you prowling around the porch late at night on all fours. Your doppelgänger glances up at the camera and grins.
You glimpse ghostly faces staring back from the darkness whenever you look away. They scream and vanish when your eyes meet.
You notice your doppelgänger going about your daily routine whenever you look away. It stares back with glowing red eyes when your gazes meet.
Your reflection turns and snarls, clawing at the glass whenever you glance away from the mirror. Its flesh rapidly decays before your eyes.
You wake up in a sterile white room strapped to a metal chair. A shadowy figure slowly approaches you wielding a long, gleaming surgical blade.
You glimpse rotting versions of your loved ones shambling toward you with arms outstretched whenever you look away. They vanish when stared at.
Your young daughter keeps whispering about “other mommies and daddies with black eyes” that visit her bedroom closet at night.
You notice your shadow detaching itself and creeping along the walls just outside your peripheral vision when you’re home alone.
You wake up unable to move and see a dark figure perched on your chest, staring back with red glowing eyes as it lifts a needle toward your eye.
Your front door cam shows you arriving home hours before you actually did. Your grinning doppelgänger looks up at the camera with bleeding black eyes.
You glimpse your rotting loved ones seated around the dinner table whenever you look away. They reach toward you with skeletal hands.
Your reflection turns and smiles back with jagged blackened teeth whenever you glance away from the mirror. Clawed hands smear down the glass from inside.
You notice pleading faces and hands bang against your bedroom window from outside whenever you look away. They quickly vanish when stared at.
You wake up in a damp basement chained to a moldy brick wall. Glowing red eyes stare hungrily at you from the darkness.
You glimpse shadowy figures standing silently whenever you look away. They reach toward you screaming when your eyes meet.
You notice your doppelgänger going about your daily routine whenever you look away. It stares back with soulless black eyes and grins.
You wake up unable to move and see a hunched figure perched on your chest, slowly dragging a rusty blade across your throat as you bleed out.
Your baby monitor camera zooms in by itself at night to show a spindly hand rocking your infant’s empty, blood-stained cradle.
You glimpse your loved ones seated around the dinner table with jagged smiles whenever you look away. They beckon you closer with clawed hands.
Your reflection turns and snarls, clawing at the glass whenever you glance away. Its sunken eyes begin rapidly bleeding black.
You notice empty rocking chairs, strollers, and children’s toys moving on their own in the darkness whenever you’re home alone.
You wake up in a sterile white room, restrained to an operating table as a figure in surgical garb approaches wielding a bloody chainsaw.
Your young daughter keeps whispering she sees “other mommies and daddies” with glowing red eyes that visit her bedroom closet late at night.
You wake up levitating above your bed. An unseen force holds you in place as you helplessly float higher toward the ceiling.
You glimpse shadowy spirits standing silently whenever you look away. They scream when you make eye contact before vanishing.
The ghost of a murder victim appears in your bedroom pleading for help in solving their unsolved case before vanishing.
You notice objects moving on their own and furniture rearranging itself in the darkness whenever you leave a room in your haunted house.
You hear singing, laughing, and children’s voices whispering your name although you live alone in your isolated rural home.
Your baby monitor camera pans by itself at night to reveal a ghostly figure standing over the crib, staring down at your sleeping infant.
You glimpse the spirits of dead loved ones seated around the dinner table whenever you look away. They vanish when you stare.
Your reflection in the mirror becomes possessed and starts talking to you on its own, threatening to steal your soul.
You wake up to find yourself floating above ancient rune markings etched on your bedroom floor as ghostly figures chant around you.
You notice your shadow moving on its own and detaching itself from your feet, taking on a life of its own.
Strange singing and whimpers echo from within the walls and vents in your new home that only you can hear.
You glimpse shadowy, featureless figures standing silently in your peripheral vision. When you turn, they vanish.
Your baby monitor picks up two ghostly figures standing over your crib whispering unintelligibly to your infant.
Items start vanishing from your home only to reappear in bizarre places with no explanation. Poltergeist activity escalates.
You wake up unable to move and see a shadowy ghostly figure sitting on your chest, staring directly into your eyes.
The ghost of your deceased relative appears to deliver an urgent warning about your future before vanishing.
You hear scratching, knocking sounds from inside your walls and floors that seem to follow you from room to room.
Strange glowing mists manifest in your home and coalesce into ghostly humanoid forms before vanishing.
You glimpse spirits of the dead seated silently around your dinner table whenever you look away. They reach toward you screaming.
You wake up to find yourself floating above your bed as a shadowy ghostly figure looms over you.
The power goes out and you spot ghostly civil war soldiers marching through your living room before vanishing.
You glimpse the spirits of dead children playing in your yard whenever you look away. They vanish laughing when spotted.
Your reflection becomes possessed and starts talking to you through the mirror with a distorted demonic voice.
You notice handprints and faces materializing in mirrors and windows before fading away when stared at.
Strange symbols, words, and messages start appearing on steamy bathroom mirrors when you shower.
You glimpse shadowy spirits standing silently down the hallway whenever you look away. They vanish screaming when spotted.
You hear a child’s giggling echoing through your home although you live alone. Footsteps run behind you.
The ghost of your dead relative appears in your dreams to give an urgent warning about your future.
You wake up to find yourself levitating over your bed as a ghostly figure looms over you.
Your baby monitor camera moves by itself to show the shadowy figures of two children standing over the crib whispering.
You hear singing, laughter, and playing coming from inside your walls although you live alone.
Objects start levitating and flying across the room on their own, barely missing your head.
You glimpse the spirits of dead loved ones silently seated around your dinner table whenever you look away.
Strange symbols and messages appear on foggy bathroom mirrors after you shower as if written by an unseen presence.
You notice your shadow moving independently of you and shifting into ghostly shapes on its own.
You hear scratching sounds, knocking, and pitter-pattering footsteps following you from room to room in your isolated rural home.
The power goes out and you glimpse ghostly figures dancing in your living room before vanishing.
Your reflection becomes possessed and starts talking back to you through the mirror in a distorted voice.
You wake up paralyzed in bed with a shadowy ghostly figure looming over you, staring directly into your eyes.
Handprints, faces, and pleading messages start materializing on steamy bathroom mirrors after you shower.
You hear whispering voices, singing, and laughter echoing from inside your walls although you live alone.
Strange glowing mists manifest in your home, taking on ghostly humanoid shapes before vanishing.
You glimpse the spirits of deceased loved ones silently seated around the dinner table whenever you look away.
Your reflection becomes possessed and starts threatening you through the mirror in a sinister voice.
You wake up levitating over your bed as ghostly figures stand below, staring up and chanting.
The ghost of a murder victim appears pleading for you to bring their killer to justice before vanishing.
You notice your shadow moving independently and detaching itself from your feet, taking on a life of its own.
Strange symbols, words, and messages appear on foggy bathroom mirrors after you shower as if written by a ghostly presence.
You hear giggling, playing, and pitter-pattering footsteps of ghostly children following you throughout your isolated home.
You glimpse shadowy spirits standing silently down your hallway whenever you look away. They vanish screaming when you spot them.
You wake up with bite marks all over your body after a night you can’t remember. Howling echoes outside your window.
While exploring the woods, you stumble upon an abandoned cabin overrun with unnatural webbing that seems to throb and grow before your eyes.
You get trapped overnight at an insect research lab. You soon hear clicking and fluttering in the vents as mutated test subjects escape and search for prey.
You play a chant from an old book said to summon spirits. Behind you in the mirror, the tormented ghost of the book’s author appears screaming.
You find yourself strapped down in the massive web of a giant spider. It descends from the trees above, fangs dripping venom as it prepares to feast.
You discover your basement is infested with thousands of venomous spiders. At night you can hear them creeping through the walls and vents all around you.
While camping, you wake to find yourself wrapped tightly in webbing inside a giant cocoon. You feel the creature that spun it approaching.
You accidentally unleash a cursed swarm of locusts while reading an ancient text out loud as a joke. But the joke is on you as they voraciously consume all life in their path.
You get trapped in a massive spider’s lair. All around you are pulsing egg sacs ready to burst and release thousands of flesh-eating spiderlings.
Wandering through an abandoned shack, you stumble into a web-filled room. Inside the webbing you glimpse human shapes shifting and struggling to break free.
You play a chant said to summon spirits as a dare. Behind you, the mirror becomes a portal and a clawed hand reaches through grabbing at your throat.
You discover your son’s bedroom is infested by thousands of tiny spiders. At night you hear them creeping through the vents and walls all around you.
While exploring a remote island jungle, you are bitten by a strange insect. Soon you are overwhelmed by a ravenous hunger for living flesh.
An odd cocoon attached to your home splits open, birthing a terrifying spider-like creature with glistening fangs. It stalks you at night.
You accidentally bring home a mutated cockroach from a trip. It breeds, unleashing an infestation of voracious mutant roaches.
Home alone at night, you hear skittering coming from the chimney. You glimpse an inverted giant spider crawling down the flue towards you.
You play a chant from an old book said to summon spirits as a joke. Behind you, the tormented ghost of the book’s author appears howling.
You discover your basement is infested with cocoons that seem to throb and pulse with life. At night they finally split open, birthing horrific creatures.
While camping, you wake wrapped tightly in webbing inside a massive cocoon. You feel the giant spider that spun it approaching for its helpless prey.
You get trapped overnight in an insect research facility. Mutated test subjects swarm through the halls, sensing fresh meat.
An abandoned cabin you explore is overrun with strange webbing that seems to grow before your eyes, coating everything like a living organism.
You accidentally bring home a parasitic insect from a trip. At night it lays eggs under your skin. You feel the hatchlings wriggling beneath the surface.
You play a chant said to summon spirits as a joke. Behind you, the enraged ghost it conjures begins strangling you with icy spectral hands.
While hiking, you stumble into a giant web stretching between trees. At its center waits the massive spider that spun it, mandibles clicking with anticipation.
You glimpse what looks like a giant spider dragging a human-sized cocoon into its lair. But when you work up the nerve to investigate, there is no trace.
Home alone at night, you hear scratching coming from the fireplace. You glimpse a human hand reach down the chimney, trying to unlock the flue.
You discover your attic is infested with pulsating cocoons that throb with unnatural life. At night they finally burst open, birthing nightmarish creatures.
You play a chant said to summon spirits on a dare. Behind you in the mirror, a clawed hand reaches through the glass trying to grab you.
You hear skittering and fluttering coming from your walls and vents at night. Peering closer, you glimpse swarms of spiders massing in the shadows.
You explore a remote cave filled with massive, pulsating cocoons. As you touch one, it splits open, birthing a winged horror.
You accidentally unleash a cursed plague of locusts while reading an ancient text aloud. They voraciously consume every living thing in their path.
Home alone, your power goes out. You hear skittering coming from the basement. In the darkness, you glimpse yellow insectoid eyes approaching.
You discover your son’s room is infested with spiders. At night you hear them through the vents and walls, creeping closer when he sleeps.
Near an abandoned shack you find a human rib cage wrapped in web. Following the trail, it leads to the giant spider’s lair. But you arrive to find it freshly abandoned.
You explore an abandoned research lab where they bred insects. You accidentally release the mutant specimens which search for living prey.
Playing a chant said to summon spirits, you jokingly invite them to manifest. Behind you, a ghostly hand reaches through the mirror trying to drag you to the other side.
You wake paralyzed in bed to see a shadowy ghostly figure standing over you, staring directly into your eyes.
You find a hidden chamber pulsing with unnatural organic cocoons. At night they finally split open, unleashing the horrors growing inside.
Home alone, you hear scratching coming from the chimney as spiders swarm down the flue into the fireplace towards you.
You play a chant said to summon spirits as a prank. Behind you, the tortured ghost it conjures begins trying to possess your body.
You discover your son’s closet is infested with pulsating, throbbing cocoons. At night they finally split open, birthing ravenous spiderlings.
Exploring a remote jungle, you stumble upon an ancient temple filled with giant cocoons. You hear shrieking and scratching coming from inside them as they begin to rupture.

The final pages turn and the last prompt beckons. Another chilling journey into terror draws to a close. But the horrors conjured within these pages will haunt you, lingering in the shadowy recesses of your mind. Though you may close the book, the unease will remain as you lie awake pondering the darkness that lurks within human nature, the malevolence that stalks the unknown, and the fear of what is to come.

While you may feel relief at having navigated the full spectrum of horrors within these 365 prompts, the experience will leave its mark. You’ve glimpsed the sinister possibilities that await when imagination crosses into darkness. But until next time, keep the lights on and don’t look behind you, for the things that go bump in the night are never far away. The terror ends for now, but other prompts await whenever you dare to confront the shadows once more.

If you are interested in other writing prompts , we have many on our site. Also, if you want to share what you’ve written please leave us a comments.

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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115 Horror Writing Prompts To Inspire Your Spookiest Stories.

As with any genre, writing horror can be challenging. Readers expect a certain kind of frisson when they crack open a horror book, so coming up with ideas that are chilling and fresh can be tricky. This article contains 115 spooky and sinister writing prompts that you can use to inspire your next piece of horror fiction . They’re mostly left-field and weird, because the best way to come up with scary ideas is to think in an unconventional way.

These prompts are split into three sections: general, monster, and traditional. The general section will offer prompts related to the human condition in general and not any one specific trope or theme from horror fiction. The monster section will offer prompts related specifically to monsters as a whole rather than one type of monster like vampires or werewolves. Lastly, the traditional prompt will offer prompts related specifically to conventions from the traditional canon of horror literature .

A fortune teller reveals that you are evil.

A group of friends takes on the zombie apocalypse.

A scary doll comes to life.

A scene from a nightmare comes true the next day.

All the cats in a small town vanish in the middle of the night….and all that remains is a set of big, scary teeth smashed into a car door.

Days go by, and your parents don’t come home.

Every time you wake up, you’re a different person.

Everyone knows the new neighbors are vampires, and the kids invite you over for a sleepover.

Someone follows you home, and it’s your exact double.

Someone is living in your mirror.

Strange things start happening after the grandfather clock starts to speak.

The teacher is a monster, but no one will believe you.

When a local police officer goes to investigate the haunted house down the street, he finds a young girl who died decades ago.

While reading a scary book, you realize that you’re a character in it.

You feel yourself slowly becoming a monster.

You finally meet your child’s imaginary friend. Who turns out to be a serial killer.

You find a diary that tells the future.

You have no reflection in the mirror.

You hypnotize your brother, and you can’t snap him out of it.

You know someone is watching you day and night from the house across the street.

You realize you are shrinking.

You’re inhabited by a ghost that controls you and makes you do crazy things.

You’re lost in the woods, and you don’t know how you got there.

Your friends start to disappear, and no one else notices.

Your parents explain that you are actually an alien from another planet.

A 16-year-old girl wakes up on a stone-cold table surrounded with people in black and white masks. They are chant and start leaning forward. All of them carry carved knives.

A 30-year-old woman learns that a baby with the same name as her died at the local hospital 30 years ago.

A bachelor’s party ends with two dead people in the pool. Both of them are missing their eyes.

A beautiful, but superficial woman promises a demon to give him her virginity in exchange for immortality. Once the demon granted her wish, she refused to fulfill her end of the deal. The demon retaliated by making her immortal, but not eternally youthful.

A black horse carriage stops in front of your house. A hand wearing a black glove make an inviting gesture. Mesmerized, you decide to enter the carriage.

A boy has a very realistic dream about an impending doom, but nobody believes him until during a storm all the birds fall dead on the ground.

A boy hears screaming from his parents’ bedroom. He jumps and hides under his bed. Suddenly, everything becomes quiet. A man wearing army boots enters his room. He drags the boy from under the bed and says: “We’ve been searching for you for 200 years.”

A bride returns to the same bridge for 50 years waiting for her husband-to-be to get out of the water.

A bride-to-be receives a DVD via mail from an unknown sender. She plays the video and disgusted watches a pagan ritual. The people are wearing masks, but she recognizes the voice of her husband-to-be.

A cannibal hunts for pure children’s hearts hoping they will bring him eternal youth.

A chemistry teacher disfigures teenagers who remind him of his childhood bullies. One day, he learns that the new student in his school is the son of his childhood's archenemy.

A child makes her own Halloween mask. She glues a lock of her own hair on her mask. The mask comes to life and threatens to take over the girl’s body.

A delusional man brings his screaming children to a chasm.

A family is on a camping trip. The parents are walking with their two children, a daughter and a son. The little boy trips and falls into a dark river. His father jumps to rescue him. Somehow the boy manages to swim to the surface. The father is nowhere to be found. When the mother gets a hold of the boy, she can’t recognize him. She tries holding him, but the moment she touches his wet body, her hands start burning.

A family of four moves in an old Victorian home. As they restore it, more and more people die suddenly and violently.

A famous conductor imprisons a pianist from the orchestra and makes him play the piano while he tortures other victims, also musicians. Every time the pianist makes a mistake, the conductor cuts of a finger from his victims.

A frightened man is trying to lead a werewolf into a trap and kill him with the last silver bullet.

A genius scientist tries to extract his wife’s consciousness from her lifeless body and insert it into an imprisoned woman who looks just like his wife.

A girl starts digging tiny holes in her backyard. When her mother asks her what she is doing, the girl answers: “Mr. Phantom told me to bury my dolls tonight. Tomorrow night I am going to bury our dog. And then, you, mother.”

A girl wakes up in her dorm and sees that everybody sleepwalks in the same direction. She acts as if she has the same condition and follows them to an underground black pool where everybody jumps.

A group of 10 friends decide to rent an old English castle for the weekend. The ghosts are disturbed and seek their pound of flesh.

A group of extremists ambush the vehicle in which a head of a terrorist cell is transported and rescue him. They go after anybody who was involved in his incarceration.

A group of friends play truth or dare. Suddenly, all the lights go out and in those ten seconds of darkness, one of the group is killed.

A hitman is hired to kill a potential heart donor.

A house finds a way to kill every visitor on its premises.

A husband and his wife move to a new apartment. After a week, both of them kill themselves. They leave a note saying: “Never again.”

A husband and his wife regain consciousness only to see each other tied to chairs, facing each other. A voice on the radio tells them to kill the other, otherwise, they would kill their children.

A kidnapper makes his victims torture each other for his sheer pleasure.

A killer is willing to pay a large sum of money to the family of a volunteering victim. A cancer patient contacts the killer. The killer ends up dead.

A literature professor discovers an old manuscript in the college library. He opens it in his study and suddenly a black raven flies through the window.

A little girl’s sister lives with a monster in the closet. She exits the closet on her sister's birthday.

A magician needs a volunteer from the audience in order to demonstrate a trick involving sawing a person in half. A beautiful woman steps on the stage. The magician makes her fall asleep, and then he performs the trick. In the end, he disappears. People in the audience start panicking when they notice the blood dripping from the table. The magician is nowhere to be found. The woman is dead.

A man commits murders at night and relives the agony of his victims during the day.

A man encounters death on his way to work. He can ask three questions before he dies. He makes a quick decision.

A man hires unethical doctors to help him experience clinical death and then bring him back to life after a minute. Little does he know that one minute of death feels like an eternity full of horrors.

A man is attacked by the neighbor’s dog while trying to bury his wife alive.

A man is kidnapped from his apartment on midnight and brought on a large private estate. He is told that he will be a human pray and that ten hunters with guns will go after him. He is given a 5-minute head start.

A man is trying to open a time portal so that he could kill his parents before he is ever conceived.

A man opens his eyes in the middle of his autopsy while the coroner is holding his heart.

A man signs a document with his blood to relinquish his body to a sect.

A man turns himself to the police although he hasn’t broken the law. He begs them to put him in prison because he had a premonition that he would become a serial killer.

A man’s DNA was found on a horrible crime scene and he has been charged with murder in the first degree. He adamantly negates any involvement in the crime that has been committed. What he doesn’t know is that he had a twin brother who died at birth.

A man’s mind is locked into an immovable body. This person is being tortured by a psychopath who kills his family members in front of him, knowing that he is in agony and can’t do anything to save them.

A most prominent member of a sect goes to animal shelters to find food for the dark forces.

A mother discovers that her bright son is not human.

A mother goes in the nursery to check up on the baby and discovers that the baby is missing and, in her place, there is a baby doll.

A mother-to-be starts feeling severe pain in her stomach every time she touches a Bible. Despite the fear for her own life, she starts reading the New Testament out loud.

A mysterious altruist gives a kidney to a young man, who has potential to become a leading neuroscientist. After a year, the altruist kills the young man because he proves to be an unworthy organ recipient. The following year, the mysterious altruist is a bone marrow donor.

A mysterious bug creeps under people’s skins and turns them into the worst version of themselves.

A mysterious child psychiatrist promises parents to cure their children if they give him a vile of their blood.

A mysterious stranger with a glass eye and a cane commissions a portrait. When the portrait is finished, the painter turns into stone.

A mysterious woman moves into your apartment building. One by one, all of the tenants start hallucinating that monsters chase them and jump into their own deaths.

A nomad meets a fakir who tells him that he would bring agony to dozens of people unless he kills himself before he transforms into a monster.

A nuclear blast turns animals into blood-thirsty monsters.

A patient with a multiple-personality disorder tells you that you are one of six characters.

A philosopher is trying to outwit Death in order to be granted immortality. He doesn’t know that Death already knows the outcome of this conversation.

A photographer travels to an Indian reservation for his next project. He starts taking photos, but there are only shadows in the places where people should have been.

A politician hides his weird sister in the attic. She’s had her supernatural powers after their family home burned to the ground.

A popular French chef is invited by a mysterious Japanese sushi master for dinner. A powerful potion makes the French chef fall asleep. He wakes up horrified to learn that he is kept on a human farm, in a cage.

A priest is trying to punish God for the death of his sister. He is getting ready to burn down the church, when supernatural forces start to torture him.

A psychopath is drugging his wife, pushing her to commit a suicide so that he could collect the life insurance.

A renowned book editor receives a manuscript elegantly written by hand. The title grabs her attention and she continues reading page after page. When she finishes, the manuscript spontaneously starts burning, and the editor is cursed forever.

A severed head is hanging from a bridge with a message written in the victim’s blood.

A small-town cop becomes obsessed with a cold case from 1978. Three girls went missing after school, and nobody has seen them since. Then one day, in 2008, three girls with the same names as those in 1978 go missing. The case is reopened.

A strange religious group starts performing a ritual on a playground. The children’s hearts stop beating.

A strange woman in labor is admitted in the local hospital. Nobody seems to recognize her. She screams in agony. A black smoke fills in the entire hospital. After that, nobody is the same. A dark lord is born.

A tall, dark, and handsome stranger invites a blind woman for a romantic date in his botanical garden. The garden is full of black roses in which women’s souls have been trapped. He tells her that she will stay forever with him in his garden.

A teenager is determined to escape his kidnapper by manipulating him into drinking poison. He doesn’t stop there.

A ticking noise wakes her up. It’s a bomb, and she has only four minutes to do something about it.

A vampire donates his blood so that a child with special brain powers can receive it.

A vampire prefers albino children.

A voice in your head tells you to stop listening to the other voices. They were not real.

A voice starts chanting spells every time somebody wears the gold necklace from Damask.

A woman disappears from her home without a trace. He husband reports her missing. The police start to suspect the husband when they retrieve some deleted messages.

A woman discovers that her niece has done some horrible crimes, so she decides to poison her. Both of them take the poison, but only the aunt dies.

A woman enters a sacred cave in India and disappears for good.

A woman gets trapped in a parallel universe where every day she dies horribly in different ways.

A woman is admitted to a hospital after a car crash. She wakes up after three months in a coma, but when she tries to speak, she can’t utter a sound. When the nurse sees that she is awake, she calls a doctor. The last thing the woman remembers is hearing the doctor say: “Today is your lucky day,” right before four men in black robes take her out.

A woman loses her eyesight overnight. Instead, she starts having premonitions.

A woman puts a lipstick on in the bathroom when she hears a demonic voice saying to her: “Can’t you see?”

A woman starts watching a movie late at night. The movie seems all too familiar. Finally, she realizes that it is a movie about her own life and that she might be already dead.

A woman steps out of her house only to find four of her neighbors dead at her doorstep. Little does she know that she isn't supposed to call the police.

A woman wants to quit smoking, so she visits a therapist who is supposed to help her with the use of hypnosis. She goes under and when she wakes up, she feels like a born killer.

A woman who has just given birth at her home is told that the baby is predestined to become the leader of the greatest demonic order in the country.

A world-famous violinist virtuoso uses music to summon dark forces.

A young girl finds her grandmother’s gold in a chest in the attic, although she isn’t allowed to go there by herself. She touches the gold and she starts seeing horrible visions involving her grandmother when she was younger.

A young girl goes missing in a nearby forest. The whole town is searching for her. Her parents find her sitting and smiling in a cave. Her eyes are completely white.

A young man becomes obsessed with an old man living opposite his building. The young man is convinced that the old man is the embodiment of the devil, and starts planning the murder.

A young married couple decide to renovate an abandoned psychiatric hospital and turn it into a hotel. Everything is going well until their first guest arrives.

A young woman wearing a black dress is holding a knife in her hand and threatening to kill a frightened man. She is terrified because she does not want to kill anybody, but her body refuses to obey her mind.

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Tags: Fiction , Fiction Writing , Short Story

If you love writing scary stories, this article is for you! Dive in to discover the best 101 horror writing prompts for your next masterpiece. From creepy ghost story ideas to supernatural horror, we’ve covered everything for you.

For Halloween enthusiasts, we have also added a special section of horror story prompts. You can use these prompts for horror stories to craft suspenseful and engaging stories. So let’s get started!

Perfect your spine-chilling tale! Learn more

Horror writing prompts

1) You are accused of beating a man but you have no memory of the incident. You start hearing voices in your head and realize that evil spirits have entered your body.

2) A psychologist suggests a new therapy to a patient after which the patient starts getting scary nightmares.

3) A man insults a circus clown after which the clown commits suicide. The clown’s ghost now haunts the man.

4) A hunter sees a blood-sucking vampire in Albanian forests and flees to save his life.

5) A volcano erupts near the Pacific Ocean and releases a wicked force living at the bottom of the volcano.

6) A girl finds an ancient key and unlocks a box, releasing 20 monsters who had been imprisoned for 500 years.

7) A mother purchases an ancient dollhouse with Chinese dolls for her daughter and realizes that the dolls are haunted by cursed spirits.

8) A strong current pulls a fisherman into the ocean’s deep waters. The fisherman sees a ship and manages to climb into it, only to realize that it is a phantom ship.

9) A boy is followed by the shadow of death everywhere, leading to death wherever he goes.

10) A gardener finds an ancient telephone while digging in the garden and accidentally contacts aliens using that telephone.

11) An explorer discovers a cave and sees a banshee living in the cave. The banshee traps him in the cave.

12) A child breaks a magical snow globe and hears screams. Suddenly there is heavy snowfall and hailstones begin falling hard from the sky.

13) A priest opens a locked room in a church and releases ghosts of dead scientists who want revenge.

14) A thick fog suddenly envelops a tiny village and a wicked witch who feeds on sorrow enters the village. She enchants dead bodies and makes them obey her commands.

15) A girl starts getting dreams of what will happen in her future. To her horror, every dream comes true and she must act before the dream of her death becomes reality.

16) A drunk man throws a stone in the dark and urinates near a tree where a zombie lives. The angry zombie tortures the man.

17) A poacher is haunted by the spirits of animals whose skin he has sold.

18) A woman takes a free lift from a man who is a demon in disguise. Attracted to her, the demon takes her to the land of demons.

19) A museum adds a new artifact to its collection without realizing that the object is cursed and belongs to an ancient tribe. Angry, the tribe performs black magic on all the museum’s employees who must face torture till the artifact is returned to its rightful owners.

20) A girl befriends a stranger on a train who hypnotizes her and she is forced to obey him.

Three ghosts are near a spooky castle on the outskirts of a forest.

21) A librarian sees a young girl who was supposed to have died in 1913. The young girl asks for the librarian’s help to take revenge against a powerful man. When the librarian refuses, the angry girl unleashes horror into the librarian’s life. The librarian begins seeing blood on the walls and hears creaking sounds, scary footsteps, and a hand that reaches out to kill her.

22) A businessman doesn’t honor the promise he made to a poor man. He suddenly realizes that all the bad incidents that the poor man experienced are now happening to him.

23) One day, you wake up and begin to hear the thoughts of trees, plants, and animals, and echoes start haunting you wherever you go.

24) A government employee visits an orphanage for a survey and finds out how every child is controlled by a satanic cult.

25) A crazy and gifted musician creates an eerie tune that enchants and forces people to kill other people.

26) A group of friends is separated due to a landslide and finds themselves in parallel universes due to the mistake of an inexperienced sorcerer.

27) You enter an abandoned house and the door slams shut on its own. You realize that you are trapped in that house and see a strange yellow light.

28) You find a key to a magical land of history and a dragon follows you from the historical land to the earth.

29) An actress is kidnapped by a witch who wishes to manipulate her and control the world.

30) An investigator who tries to find out the truth behind a college student’s murder realizes that the boy invoked supernatural forces before dying. Now, the investigator must stop the supernatural forces from killing him and other humans.

31) A scientist discovers a door to the land of memories and accidentally damages the memory of his identity, forgetting everything he knows about himself.

32) A boy is cruel to a rat and other rats angry at his cruelty, drag him inside a big black hole.

33) A bed bug sucks the blood of a magical witch and starts growing larger.

34) A magician has the rare gift of bringing dead people in paintings to life. Chaos spreads after the magician brings Hitler to life by working magic on a painting.

35) A horrible black monster steps out of the Atlantic Ocean and begins eating everything it sees.

36) A teacher finds an old coat that belonged to a demon in the past. Every time he checks the coat pocket, he reads news of people dying. Hours after he reads the notes, the people mentioned in the notes die and blood spots keep appearing on the coat.

37) A beggar walking close to a forest finds a trail of notes and happily picks them up. Later, he realizes that the notes belonged to wedding guests who died in an accident. The ghosts of the wedding guests notice that he has picked up the notes and haunt him.

39) A sorceress trapped in an enchanted mirror manages to control a young girl who pulls her out of the mirror.

40) A team of psychic youths is hired to find and fight a ruthless demon who feeds on despair. They must make a terrible sacrifice to prevent the demon from knowing their darkest secrets.

41) A lady discovers an old well near the flat she is renting. She peeps to see what is inside the well and a half-human, half-animal hand grasps her neck.

42) A journalist arrives at her flat and finds a scary message written in red ink on her mirror. The message reads,”‘I’m coming for you!” and somebody has drawn a smiling face with red ink on the mirror.

43) An angel is given the task of saving the world from a deadly plague. An army of tiny demon bacteria fight the angel and try to force him to go back.

44) A man desperately tries to remove his car which is stuck in a swamp. Suddenly, he sees a muddy, ugly, hairy creature raise its head from the swamp.

45) A camper suddenly sees a little girl sleepwalking with an evil smile on her face and blue sparks flying from her hands.

47) Imagine that Pandora has a human heir called Nymphadora who opens a box she discovers. Tiny creatures that have feelers like needles step out of the box and make an attempt to stop time and the wheel of destiny.

48) You wake up and discover that you are 40 years old whereas the day before, you were just 19.

49) A couple who are hiking enter a village where no one speaks and everyone has pale yellow eyes.

50) A traveler accepts a drink from a tribal and after drinking it, falls into a deep sleep. The next day he realizes that he is in a large cage with animals and the tribals are dancing around the cage.

51) You’re attending a masquerade party in a snowy area where everyone is dressed as animals You see a large, hairy, ape-like animal and recognize that it’s a real Yeti. The Yeti, realizing that you know his true identity wants to kill you.

52) A wicked group of vampires land on Earth with a mission to kill all humans and settle on Earth. They enter your house and want to kill you and your family.

53) A couple has rented a room in a palace to spend the night. While using the elevator, the elevator suddenly stops midway, the light starts flickering and the couple hears screams.

54) An archaeologist discovers a document about cursed gold and becomes obsessed with finding the gold. His quest leads him to the cave where a wicked witch lives.

55) You discover an ancient diary that contains strange incantations. When you read them aloud, Satan appears.

56) An evil spirit enters a city and all dogs start barking without stopping. A dark shadow gradually dims all lights in the city.

57) An injured man finds an old, abandoned clinic and enters the clinic, hoping for treatment. He is confronted by a zombie who has made the clinic its home.

58) A boy presses a magical button that makes him travel in time. Unfortunately, he chooses the wrong time portal and lands in an insane asylum.

59) You see the face of a werewolf at your window’s glass. The werewolf breaks the glass and you have a few seconds to escape.

60) A boy finds a strange red device with a black button in the mud. The boy presses the button upon which, the people who are alive die immediately and dead people start coming to life.

Continue reading to get inspired by our special section of scary story prompts. Browse exciting prompts for horror stories from various genres like dark fantasy, psychological horror, and more!

Scary story prompts

61) Strange things happen to a teenager after he performed planchette with a group of friends for fun. His car stops working, the bus he travels from gets punctured and he is unable to return home.

62) A scientist invents a potion to restore his youth. However, he makes a mistake while adding an ingredient to the potion. Hence, when he drinks the potion, his skin grows deformed, with white patches and thick fur.

63) A horse rider discovers bones in an old stable. When he tries to burn the bones, the bones surprisingly do not burn. Instead, a thick white fog suddenly envelops the stable, and evil spirits emerge from the bones.

64) A sorcerer blurs the difference between dreams and reality. You can’t understand whether you are in a dream or what is happening is real.

65) A woman opens the door and finds a woman claiming to be her aunt. She also shows photographs as proof and the woman allows her ‘aunt’ to enter the house. The aunt then gives the woman a strong potion, drinking and the woman falls into a deep sleep. When the woman wakes up, she realizes that she is in the netherworld and sees beings with no light in their eyes.

A scary airborne doll is staring eerily.

66) An alpine skier has a terrible fall from a mountain. A group of nomads see her and forcibly take her to an old temple. They slit her leg with a knife and perform a strange ritual.

67) The last living witch on earth brings a puppet to life. The puppet sucks out all the magic out of the witch and becomes stronger. It uses its power to block the sunlight and kills humans in the dark as a sport.

68) A researcher finds out about a rare tribe that can make themselves invisible and travel with lightning speed. While trying to find the tribe’s descendants, she suddenly is face to face with their guardian who tries to kill her.

69) You enter a house where a psychic man has been staying in secret. When you confront the man, he uses his mind power to enchant all metallic objects, make them airborne, and position them to attack you.

70) You come across a rare animal that can change its shape at will. To your horror, it suddenly changes its shape to look like you and tries to kill you.

71) A boy returns to his remote village after a long time and realizes that all villagers are hypnotized and have black marks on their hands.

72) A lady never invites guests to her house and rarely ventures out of her house. A detective realizes that the lady’s life is manipulated by a cat who is a witch in disguise. The detective must save himself and the lady from the wicked cat.

73) A man finds tapes that his girlfriend gave him before she died. He hears an eerie screeching sound in the background when he plays the tapes. To his horror, he hears the same screeching sound and scary footsteps after he stops playing the tapes.

74) A student finds a hit list of people who will soon be killed. The list was created by a demon in disguise. The demon kidnaps the student to prevent him from telling anyone the truth.

75) A girl hires a tutor to learn Japanese. One day, she realizes that her Japanese teacher transforms into a werewolf every full moon.

76) A journalist finds out about a mysterious spaceship that landed on earth. Suddenly, he has terrible accidents and an invisible force tries to kill him.

77) A 12-year-old child sees a mysterious violet light streak across the sky. Whenever the light shines, somebody dies.

78) An intruder touches an electric fence and is jolted by a strong current. Before his eyes close, he sees an ugly ghoul looking at him.

79) A historian finds out about a rare voodoo practitioner who is the last of an ancient, mystic tribe. He arrives at the voodoo practitioner’s hut only to find the place ransacked and the voodoo practitioner gone. He suddenly sees ghosts floating in the air and hears a grandfather clock laugh menacingly.

80) You meet a strange old man who can read your thoughts and easily manipulate everyone around you.

Now let’s see some scary story writing prompts about Halloween!

Halloween horror prompts

81) Vampires gatecrash a Halloween party and terrified guests are unable to escape.

82) A group of friends decided to have a scavenger hunt on Halloween. Suddenly, all the friends disappear one by one.

83) A giant wakes up from a deep sleep on Halloween and stamps his foot in rage. This leads to an earthquake and all guests at the Halloween party are in danger.

84) You realize that all the incidents you read from a scary Halloween story are happening in real life.

85) You hear an eerie tune on Halloween night and wake up in fright. Suddenly, you see the face of a big black bear outside your window.

86) You accept a dare to visit a haunted house on Halloween. Suddenly, you hear screams and utensils falling in the haunted house.

87) A family decides to punish their extremely naughty son and not celebrate Halloween. On Halloween night, the parents leave home due to an emergency, leaving their naughty son alone at home.

88) A group of friends decide to sleep at a graveyard for fun on Halloween. Suddenly, they see ghosts emerging from the tombstones.

89) A tailor who makes costumes for Halloween is kidnapped by witches who want to have their own Halloween party.

90) Write a short story on Halloween using the words phantom, nightmare, banshee, and voodoo.

An angry zombie is preparing to attack a man.

91) A crazy scientist challenges a colleague on Halloween to drink a potion that he has created for an experiment. The colleague drinks the potion and starts shrinking.

92) A witch enchants the pumpkins that will be carved for Halloween. When guests try to carve the pumpkins, blood starts oozing from the pumpkins.

93) A boy befriends an alien who wants to celebrate Halloween. When the alien arrives at the Halloween horror costume party, it gets scared and starts attacking everyone.

94) A girl insults a tarot reader who makes a terrible prediction about her on Halloween. She continuously experiences bad luck, has an accident, and wakes up in the hospital. She realizes that she has forgotten her identity.

95) A man befriends a she-banshee on Halloween who grows extremely possessive about the man. Whenever anyone touches the man, the banshee kills him.

96) A serial killer enters a Halloween party and his next target is you.

97) A group of friends enter a horror maze to celebrate Halloween and are trapped inside the maze. Suddenly, they are confronted by a real ghost who grins wickedly at them.

98) A ghost in your house attracts the presence of animals on Halloween. All animals begin entering your house and you are forced to leave your house.

99) You are a part of a ghost-buster team. You are given the secret task of capturing a dangerous ghost from a Halloween party. The dangerous ghost recognizes you, tries to kill you, and gets very violent.

100) You meet a stranger at a costume party at a neighbor’s house for Halloween. Suddenly, the stranger touches you and whispers strange words in an unknown language. You are transported to an eerie land of spirits, ghouls, trolls, banshees, and zombies.

101) You are hiking with a group of friends on Halloween. You see a black castle floating in the air. A ladder on the ground is positioned, leading to the door of the castle. You and your friend climb the castle and the door slams shut. A wicked dwarf who is the castle’s caretaker tells you that you are trapped forever.

We hope these horror story prompts inspire you to write your next masterpiece. Once you complete working on your scary writing prompts, the next step is to edit your stories. As providers of editing and proofreading services , we’d love to enhance your horror novel!

Here are some other resources that you might find useful:

How to Write a Novel in Past Tense? 3 Steps & Examples
Foil Character: Definition, History, & Examples

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101 Horror Story Ideas (With a Twist): Scary & Gothic Writing Prompts

Post author: Neel Rana
Post published: September 9, 2020
Post category: Horror Writing / Writing Prompts

Writing a great Horror story is all about creating terror and excitement in your reader’s minds while they are reading your scary story. So, If you are struggling to get a horror story idea for your scary or gothic tale that can frighten your readers at night and get them goosebumps while reading then you have landed at the right place.

As we have created the best horror story prompts, each based on horror vocabulary words , along with some great plot twists to help you write your great scary tale that gets read.

Related: 100 Short Story Ideas

Use the below writing prompts to write your scary short story, flash fiction, horror fiction, or any other work related to the horror genre, or gothic fiction.

101 Scary Story Ideas (Many With a Twist)-

Writing prompt on “Horror”- Lily loved reading fiction, and novels and buying antique books, but everything in her life changed when one day she brought an old 1890 horror novel from an auction.

Plot Twist: Some days later, Lily’s whole family started experiencing some paranormal activities in the house and after a week her grandmother suddenly died with an unknown illness, but one day when Lily was reading the 1890 novel she got shocked to find her grandmother Angelina as a character in the old book.

Writing prompt on “Gothic”- Tim wanted to visit the Gothic cathedral of the town which is said to be built on a graveyard, people say the place was the gateway for spirits and one could see his dead relatives and acquaintances roaming outside the old cathedral and Tim wanted to see someone.

Plot Twist: For the first time after his death Tim saw his classmates who also had got trapped in the burning school bus that day.

Writing Prompt on “Demon”- Every day the demons tried hard to harm Phillip’s family.

Plot Twist: But the demons didn’t know that Philip was not a normal being but the blood of a demon, a half demon half human

Writing Prompt on “Horrific”- After spending the first horrific night at their new house, the Potter family decided to leave the place as soon as the sun shines.

Plot Twist: The next morning the neighbors found the whole potter family lying dead in their backyard.

Related: 500 Words Flash Fiction Stories

Writing Prompt on “Haunted”- Rick and his friends planned the birthday party at a haunted hotel for the excitement but soon at night, they realized that they made the biggest mistake of their life.

Plot Twist: The next day Rick and his friends got shocked to see their own dead bodies lying in the hotel lobby, then they realized what had happened to them last night.

Writing Prompt on “Supernatural”- Jacob never believed in supernatural things until he crossed the path with a shadow which got vanished into the room soon.

Plot Twist: One day Jacob again saw that shadow and started following it which took him to a hidden door in the basement which was the way to the other world.

Writing Prompt on “Paranormal”- After every day experiencing the paranormal activities at the new apartment, eventually, when Jason and his girlfriend talked to the owner they got shocked by the answer when he said that the previous renter had committed suicide in their apartment.

Plot Twist: When Jason saw the picture of the dead renter, he got shocked as he said he sees her every day in the subway.

Writing Prompt on “Devil”- No one exactly knows how the devil gets powers, but some say they are fed on our fear to survive in a place.

Writing Prompt on “Mysterious”- The mysterious man behind all the killing was found out to be dead years ago.

Writing Prompt on “Castle”- The brother of the former king and now the new king of the kingdom got frightened when he heard from his guards that the spirit of the former dead king, yet roam in the castle and will take revenge for his death from his brother who was the main conspirator.

horror story ideas with a twist scary and gothic writing prompts

Related: Dark Fantasy Story Ideas

Writing Prompt on “Basement”- Sam had warned Rebecca not to go into the basement.

Plot Twist: One day while playing Rebecca went into the basement and found his father, Sam talking with her mother who had died years ago.

Writing Prompt on “Enchanted”- On the way to the old tomb, the troop found a glowing enchanted tree.

Plot Twist: The tree was the home of the spirits protecting the hidden tomb, but suddenly someone threw a stone at the enchanted tree and woke all the spirits.

Writing Prompt on “Vampire”- Every vampire hates the sunlight, but Christopher was different.

Writing Prompt on “Gloomy”- It was a gloomy night when Eric was driving the car to his home and saw someone standing beside the road but when he reached there he found no one.

Plot Twist: Soon after a while he realized that he was not in the car alone, when he looked back, he got shocked to see Anna, his girlfriend whom he had killed years ago.

Writing Prompt on “Afterlife”- Smith in his laboratory created a pill to experience the afterlife and every night he took it which made him dead for several hours and he could see his body.

Plot Twist: One day he ate all the pills.

Writing Prompt on “Skeleton”- While playing Jacob discovered a skeleton and called his father, but when Adam came, he found nothing.

Plot Twist: The next day Adam found a skeleton on Jacobs’ bed and his son was missing.

Writing Prompt on “Flesh”- The unknown creature loved eating the flesh of its victims with great fear.

Writing Prompt on “Goosebumps”- Hearing the whispering from behind the curtains Elizabeth started feeling goosebumps.

Writing Prompt on “Monster”- An unknown monster creature was only targeting the kids with some disabilities in the town.

Writing Prompt on “Zombies”- When Steve reached his home, he found that his parents had also got infected and turned into zombies.

Writing Prompt on “Witch”- Rebecca didn’t know that her twin sister was a witch until she followed and saw her going into the woods alone.

Writing Prompt on “Scream”- Ben was in a deep sleep when he heard a scream from his children’s room.

Plot Twist: When he reached, he saw the window was broken and a man looking like he was taking the kids into the woods.

Writing Prompt on “Terror”- The terror of the mysterious shadow was so much that no one slept that night.

Plot Twist : The next day Adam confessed that it was the spirit of his dead mother who comes to meet him every day since childhood.

Writing Prompt on “Graveyard”- Peter was yet terrified by the horrible memory of last night when he was crossing from the graveyard at night and felt someone sitting in his car’s back seat.

Writing Prompt on “Raven”- Whenever the killings were happening there was a raven following the victims, and now it was following Alex.

Plot Twist: When Alex killed the raven it got turned into a shadow of his dead servant.

Writing Prompt on “Quiver- Jena started quivering with fear when she saw a car honking outside her house with no one inside.

Writing Prompt on “Black Cat”- The black cat in the Rick house was very strange as she used to stare at us like humans.

Plot Twist: One day Rick told everyone that he believes that the black cat is his sister who had died while saving her cat in the fire.

Writing Prompt on “Bat”- That night the bats were flying all over the sky before the incident had happened.

Writing Prompt on “Ghostly”- Many people at night saw someone sitting at the ghostly bench in the park who witnessed a murder.

Writing Prompt on “Eerie”- Maya got so frightened when she saw an eerie glowing light coming from her basement, but when she tried to go closer to the light it vanished.

Plot Twist: She installed a camera in her basement and one day when the light again emerged, she got shocked to see the footage of a portal that was the door for the spirits coming into this world.

Writing Prompt on “Shivery”- Everyone suddenly started shivering in the room with fear of an unknown shadow standing on the stairs. Soon the number of shadows started increasing and all the doors closed and the lights went off.

Writing Prompt on “Panic”- John said his wife not to create panic when someone was continuously knocking very heavily at their door at midnight.

Writing Prompt on “Grave”- Some nights Rebecca had a nightmare of seeing himself in a grave.

Plot Twist: One day it again happened, but this time she found that it was not her dream, but her adoptive parents were doing some black rituals on her while putting her into a grave in their backyard.

Writing Prompt on “Ugly’ ‘- Nobody liked the ugly staring painting handing in Jasper’s house, yet he never removed it.

Writing Prompt on “Yelling”- The yelling sound stopped when Bill chanted God’s name with a cross in his hand. One day at night again the yelling started, Bill couldn’t find his cross and the sound of yelling started coming closer to him.

Writing Prompt on “Priest”- After doctors were unable to cure the peculiar behavior of Demi, her mother called the priests.

Plot Twist: Demi killed all the priests and told her mother that if she wants to see Demi alive then let her live in his daughter’s body.

Writing Prompt on “Peculiar”- A sudden chain of bad events started happening when Alex brought a very peculiar painting home that he had bought in the auction.

Writing Prompt on “Bogeyman”- People in the neighborhood got so frightened of the bogeyman that they stopped going out at night.

Plot Twist: One day all children of the neighborhood went missing.

Writing Prompt on “Wrecked”- Everyone in the neighborhood was curious to know about the voices coming from the abandoned wrecked house.

Writing Prompt on “Dreadful”- Smith tried hard to forget the dreadful night that he spent alone in the office.

Writing Prompt on “Death”- All the unfortunate events started after the death of that Normy black pet cat.

Writing Prompt on “Hallucination”- The weird stranger sitting next to Rebecca on the bus tried to hallucinate her.

Writing Prompt on “Creepy”- Mark got scared when someone unknown called him at midnight and just saying hello in a very strange and creepy voice ended the call.

Writing Prompt on “Clown”- Everyone was frightened by the unknown clown in the circus roaming at night.

Plot Twist: The circus manager said that many years ago one artist Tim, performing as a clown died by falling from the roof.

Writing Prompt on “Crawling”- The sound of someone crawling on the roof haunted everyone that night.

Writing Prompt on “Hang”- Everyone in the neighborhood saw a body hanging on the tree near the pond.

Writing Prompt on “Scares”- Liam got shocked and scared when he woke up and found scars all over his hand.

Writing Prompts on “Voices”- Eventually, Steve left his new apartment listening to the unknown voices in his room every night.

Writing Prompt on “Horror-struck”- Keith got horror-struck to see a person looking the same as he passed away friend standing across the road alone that night.

Writing Prompt on “Drip”- William screamed when he saw the blood dripping from the roof sealing.

Writing Prompt on “Coffin”- All the people gathered at the rituals got shocked to see the coffin empty.

Writing Prompt on “Scarecrow”- Mark got scared to find that the scarecrow in his farm was changing direction itself and was pointing at his house.

Writing Prompt on “Bury”- They buried the doll that night but got shocked to see it again in the house.

Writing Prompt on “Evil Spirits”- The priest requested the evil spirits to leave the house.

Plot Twist: The spirit killed everyone in the room except little Alina.

Writing Prompt on “Dracula”- Dracula left the castle as soon as the sun rises.

Plot Twist: Later people found that it was their king Henry, who gets turned into Dracula every night.

Writing Prompt on “Evil Doll”- Nick said to the doctor that his little daughter was normal until one day while playing she found an old doll outside her house and brought her home.

Writing Prompt on “Scared”- Jacob got so scared to see the book’s pages start flipping themselves when no air was blowing around.

Writing Prompt on “Unearthly”- After watching the victim of the incident, everyone said that it was done by an unearthly entity.

Writing Prompt on “Casket”- The casket was filled with old letters written by Noah before his death.

Writing Prompt on “Presence”- The priest said that he could feel the presence of an unknown evil entity in the house.

Plot Twist: The priest said that the house is possessed by the spirit of a girl who has got murdered in the house many years ago by one of the family members.

Writing Prompt on “Cemetery”- Louis had to find a cemetery of Albert to stop all the bad events.

Plot Twist: Finally Louis found the cemetery, but got shocked to see his own name written next to Albert’s grave.

Writing Prompt on “Spider’s Web”- When they reached the hidden place they found the spider’s web all over the place and a pungent smell all around.

Writing Prompt on “Abnormal”- The youngest child of Murphy started behaving abnormally after meeting an unknown lady in the subway.

Plot Twist: When Murphy was reading the newspaper he saw the news of the same lady who had died in the subway accident some days ago.

Writing Prompt on “Nightmares”- Every night Silvia had nightmares of getting followed by herself.

Writing Prompt on “Claustrophobic”- Nelson was claustrophobic, yet he stayed in the wardrobe that whole night to survive.

Writing Prompt on “Bible”- After that weird incident, Rachel always used to sleep with the bible in his hands.

Writing Prompt on “Uncanny”- Every day when Bella was alone in the house, she had an uncanny feeling of someone standing behind her.

Plot Twist: Once she looked back and was shocked to see her dead twin sister.

Writing Prompt on “Entity”- The priest advised the Hopkins family to leave the place as soon as possible as it was possessed by a powerful evil entity.

Writing Prompt on “Dead Dark”- After getting lost on the island the whole troop walked in a dark dead night, but they were not the only people present there.

Writing Prompt on “Spooky”- Alex, the youngest child of Christy, had a weird habit of going to spooky places.

Plot Twist : It had been 9 years since Alex went missing when one day Christy found him standing outside the house, but Alex was same as he was 9 years ago.

Writing Prompt on “Ghostbusters”- When nothing worked Tim called the Ghostbusters.

Writing Prompt on “Frightened”- Albert got so frightened to see the curtains suddenly start moving when there was no air blowing.

Writing Prompt on “Sinister”- The sinister somehow managed to escape but left the clue.

Writing Prompt on “Grin”- Matt found the grinning of an old woman sitting next to him very weird and frightening.

Plot Twist: He got shocked when she calls him by his name and asked why didn’t he come to his funeral. When Matt looked at her again he saw she was his grandmother who had died seven years ago.

Writing Prompt on “Numb”- Everyone in the house got numbed to see blood on the stairs.

Writing Prompt on “Eyeballs”- Rebecca had a hobby of collecting weird stuff and his favorite was marbles which looked like real human eyeballs.

Writing Prompt on “Possessed”- The priest warned the family not to go into the upstairs room until he does the rituals as it is possessed by an evil spirit.

Writing Prompt on “Cursed”- No one was ready to buy the lavish but haunted house in the town, even at a low price as people say the house was cursed and no one survived more than a year in there.

Writing Prompt on “Bizarre”- The bizarre-looking painting in Joe’s home always felt like staring at me.

Writing Prompt on “Ghostly”- Adam got frightened when his pet dog suddenly started looking at an empty space in a ghastly way.

Writing Prompt on “Strange”- Nobody knew about the strange voices coming from the woods.

Writing Prompt on “Haunt”- Every night the picture of the person who died in the road accident haunts Eric as he had left without helping him.

Writing Prompt on “Tortured”- The screaming and sobbing voices of the slaves who were tortured in the castle yet heard by the guards sometimes at night.

Writing Prompt on “Superstition”- Miley always followed the superstition of staying away from black cats as she says it brings a bad omen.

Writing Prompt on “Thrilling”- Justin found it so thrilling to drive the car alone on the abandoned road until he got hit by the strange vehicle which vanished into the woods.

Writing Prompt on “Whisper”- The priest advised the Harper family that whenever they would hear the whisper, they had to chant the god’s name without looking back.

Plot Twist: But one of the family members turned back.

Writing Prompt on “Shadow”- Every staff member of the hotel was scared to see a shadow roaming in the castle.

Writing Prompt on “Unholy”- The presence of something unholy scared every member of the camp trip.

Writing Prompt on “Chilling”- The atmosphere in the farmhouse was very ghostly and chilling.

Writing Prompt on “Fatal”- The joyful dare of the teenagers to visit the abandoned place outside the town soon got changed into a fatal night.

Writing Prompt on “Menacing”- Rob suddenly started shouting in a scary, menacing voice.

Writing Prompt on “Freaked Out”- Bobby freaked out when suddenly his TV got started and started playing the favorite song of his passed away friend.

Writing Prompt on “Moonlight”- In the moonlight, the demons were more powerful, so everyone decided to wait for the next day to face them.

Writing Prompt on “Staring”- An old lady kept on staring at Adam in the subway, but when he told this his girlfriend, he got shocked when she said there was no old lady there.

Writing Prompt on “Calamity”- The priest did some rituals in the house to avert the calamity.

Writing Prompt on “Agony”- Eventually, his agony ended with his death.

Writing Prompt on “RIP”- Everyone in the Smith family got scared to see the RIP sign written everywhere in the room.

Writing Prompt on “Skull”- When digging the ground for gardening Eliana got shocked when she found a skull.

Writing Prompt on “Spell”- When Windy found an old book of spells in his grandpa’s basement, she thought to return it or tell his grandpa about the book but soon she changed her mind and brought it home secretly.

Writing Prompt on “Ash”- When cleaning the room Julia got shocked to see ashes under his bed.

Writing Prompt on “Wicked”- The wicked spirit was only targeting the girls in the family.

Writing Prompt on “Midnight”- No one knew who was playing the piano at midnight when every family member was sleeping in their room.

Writing Prompt on “Vanish”- No one believed Rick’s words until they all saw the strange woman vanishing into the woods as soon as they started following her.

Do watch the below video by Ted-Ed on how to make horror writing suspenseful.

About the Author-

Neel Rana is a YA short story author, flash fiction writer, literary enthusiast, and the founder of Pandora Post. Neel holds a degree in BA Honours in English Literature and has been writing since 2017. Neel’s magnum opus YA short storybook, “ The Drunken Ghost ” has been well received by the readers.

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Scary Story Ideas Eighteen Prompts For Horror and Thriller Writers Featured

Scriptwriting

Scary Story Ideas — 18 Prompts For Horror & Thriller Writers

H ere there be dragons, boogeymen, and blood-sucking vampires! Scary stories have frightened and allured audiences for thousands of years. So, whether you’re looking to establish a new form of horror, or riff on an existing genre trope, you’ve come to the right place, because we’re going to break down scary story ideas. Dim the candlelight, turn up the theremin, and sit back as we delve deep into horror writing prompts!

Scary Story Prompts for Writers

Scary story ideas & horror writing prompts.

It can be challenging to respond to writing prompts when they’re proposed without follow-up questions. So, we’re going to attempt to rectify that by giving you some scary story ideas with follow-up questions.

*Note on scary story ideas and writing prompts: all of the prompts outlined here were created by me! However, they’re almost all surely inspired by existing material, whether recognized consciously or unconsciously. In accordance with that point, I’m going to attach “suggested accompanying viewing” to each prompt for further inspiration!

1) A young man finds himself unable to break out of a recurring lucid dream.

Ideas for Horror Stories Spellbound Still from Spellbound

Ideas for Horror Stories • Still from ‘Spellbound’

Who is the young man?
What is the recurring lucid dream?
Why is he unable to break out of it?

SCARY STORY IDEAS

Suggested viewing.

Inception
Donnie Darko

2) An island community is besieged by a rapidly-mutating virus.

Horror Story Ideas The Beach Still from The Beach

Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Beach’

Where is the island?
What is the virus?
How did the virus originate?

HORROR WRITING PROMPTS

3) a woman sells control of her father’s estate to a peculiar… bloodthirsty… count from transylvania..

Scary Story Ideas Drakula Still from Bram Stokers Dracula

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’

Who is the woman?
Who is the count?
Why is she selling her father’s estate?

Writing Prompts Horror

Bram Stoker’s Dracula
The Cherry Orchard (Play)

4) A group of hitchhikers enter a seemingly empty home to wait out a torrential storm.

Horror Story Ideas The Twilight Zone Still from The Twilight Zone

Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Twilight Zone’

Who are the hitchhikers?
Why does the house seem empty?
Where is the antagonist?
“The Howling Man” from The Twilight Zone
The Cabin in the Woods

5) An asteroid hits a space station orbiting the outer-ring of a lunar outpost. Oxygen supply is cut by 80%, meaning the crew has to kill four members, or else they’ll all die before an emergency shuttle arrives.

Horror Story Prompts Sunshine Still from Sunshine

Horror Story Prompts • Still from ‘Sunshine’

Who’s on the space station?
Why aren’t there any emergency shuttles on the station?

SCARY STORY PROMPTS

6) a veteran cop suspects his daughter is dating a serial killer..

Scary Story Ideas Taken Still from Taken

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Taken’

Who is the cop?
Who is the daughter?
Who is the suspected serial killer?
How did the cop learn about his suspicious nature?

HORROR STORIES IDEAS

The French Connection

7) A small-town legend says that a monster lurks under the lake. Sounds crazy, but why have so many people gone missing?

Horror Story Ideas The Wailing Still from The Wailing

Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Wailing’

What is the monster?
Why have people gone missing?
How did this legend spread?
The Wailing

8) A man finds a slumped-over investigator with puncture-wounds in his neck. His final word, “devil.”

Scary Writing Ideas Angel Heart Still from Angel Heart

Scary Writing Ideas • Still from ‘Angel Heart’

Who is the man?
Who is the investigator?
What does “devil” imply?
Interview With the Vampire
Angel Heart

9) A group of college girls stargazing at the Grand Canyon find themselves stalked by a shadowy figure.

Horror Story Prompts It Follows Still from It Follows

Horror Story Prompts • Still from ‘It Follows’

Who are the college girls?
Why are they at the grand canyon?
Who, or what, is the shadowy figure?
Spring Breakers

10) A woman is kidnapped in broad daylight, only to re-awaken in a human zoo.

Scary Story Ideas The Truman Show Still from The Truman Show

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Truman Show’

Where is the woman kidnapped? And where is she brought?
Who is responsible?
Why is there a human zoo?
"Black Museum” episode from Black Mirror
The Truman Show

11) A cursed man must find love by year’s end or else his entire family will be killed.

Horror Story Ideas Beauty and the Beast Still from Beauty and the Beast

Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘Beauty and the Beast’

How was he cursed?
How do we know his family will be killed?
Why do we want him to succeed?

HALLOWEEN STORY IDEAS

Beauty and the Beast
“The Chaser” episode of The Twilight Zone

12) A woman goes back to a man’s apartment after a date… but discovers what appear to be mementos – hair-pins, engraved jewelry, watches, etc. – in the bathroom drawer. When she decides to leave, the man blocks the doorway.

Scary Writing Ideas Burning Still from Burning

Scary Writing Ideas • Still from ‘Burning’

How does the woman discover the mementos?
Who is the woman? And who is the man?

13) A group of strangers find themselves locked in a classroom – and instructed that whoever scores the highest on the test will be allowed to leave. The rest will be killed.

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Exam’

How did the strangers find themselves locked in a classroom?
Who is “the instructor?”
Why are they being forced to engage in a sadistic game?

14) A teenage-outcast finds solace in a Dungeons & Dragons club, but slowly starts to suspect that their teacher, the club’s organizer, is an actual demon.

Scary Story Ideas Stranger Things Still from Stranger Things

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Stranger Things’

Who is the teenage-outcast?
Who is the teacher?
Why does the teenage-outcast suspect the teacher is a demon?

HORROR STORY IDEAS

Stranger Things
Dazed and Confused

15) A young vampire on a tiny island must drink blood to survive. But people are running out. And ships stopped coming.

Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘Vampyr’

Who is the young vampire?
Why are they on a tiny island?
Why did the ships stop coming?
Shutter Island
Vampyr (game)

16) A traveler runs out of gas on the outskirts of a mountain-town. In the distance, he sees a hooded-figure, with a fleshy-sinewed face.

Scary Story Ideas Insomnia Still from Insomnia

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Insomnia’

Where was the traveler going?
Why did he allow his car to run out of gas?
Who, or what, is the hooded-figure?
"The Hitch-Hiker” from The Twilight Zone
Deliverance

17) An expeditionary voyage is thrown into chaos when a dead body is discovered in the captain’s chambers.

Horror Story Prompts Clue Still from Clue

Horror Story Prompts • Still from ‘Clue’

Who’s body is discovered?
Where is the expedition going?
Why was it discovered in the captain’s chambers?
Return of the Obra Dinn (game)

18) A nuclear holocaust forces people to move underground. Things are safe for a while, but eventually, the monsters make their way down.

Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Metro 2033’

Who detonated the nuke?
Why was the nuke detonated?
What are the monsters?
How did they get underground?
Metro 2033 (novel/game)

How to Write Horror

We touched on some strategies for writing scary story ideas here – but the focus was mostly on the ideation stage. Want to learn more about the process of writing scary stories? Check out our next article on “horror writing” where we break down examples from Stephen King, Edgar Wright, and more. By the end, you’ll know not only how to start a scary story, but how to see it through to the end!

Up Next: Horror Writing Tips for Fiction →

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15 Haunted Halloween Writing Prompts

by Abigail Perry and Ruthanne Reid | 10 comments

BOO! Halloween is right around the corner—what better day to write some spooky stories? Sharpen your pencil and take a stab at one of these Halloween writing prompts !

Scary Stories Connect With Readers in Big Ways

You write to get a reaction out of your readers. No matter the genre, you want your reader to feel something when they read your writing.

For horror writers, that feeling is fear. But it's also so much more.

Great horror stories take the everyday creepy and turn it into something even more creepy (and often become a condemnation of injustices in society). The great thing is, horror stories teach you that those creepy things can be beaten. That's what keeps bringing the readers back.

And that's why horror writers keep churning out the fear.

Maybe you love writing scary stories. Maybe you don't, but I hope you'll give it a try, just for practice (we're fans of that around here!).

Just like reading outside your genre is valuable to mastering the writing craft, so is writing a scary story .

This story doesn't have to be long, it could be a short story . Try for something you can write in one sitting, like 1,500 words.

To get you started, use one of the Halloween writing prompts suggested in this article. Then let loose, and have fun!

Creepy Story Writing Prompts

1. It's late at night, and you hear footsteps in the cellar, but you're definitely home alone…or so you thought.

2. You've put that doll in the cabinet, in the closet, in the attic, but no matter where you tuck it, it always shows back up on the sofa. On Halloween night, you find it watching you…

3. A bad-tempered businessman is driving home after a long day of work. He thinks he sees his kids trick-or-treating and stops to pick them up but those aren't costumes.

4. It's Halloween night and you and your friends think it would be fun to visit the local town's annual corn maze. But when you're inside it, someone inside the maze doesn't look like an actor in a costume. And shortly after, your friends start to disappear one by one.

5. You don't believe in the rumors that say a certain scary book is cursed—and that anyone who reads it will meet their maker by the end of the week. So naturally, you read it. And then things start going wrong…

Monster/Ghost Story Writing Prompts

6. A young woman goes to her grandmother's house for tea on Halloween night. They have a wonderful time together, sharing stories, joy, and the best times of family. The next day, the woman learns her grandmother has been dead for a week and no one could get ahold of her to tell her.

7. A little boy is lost in the woods, but at least his faithful dog is with him. As they look for the way out, the dog defends his master against terrifying monsters and animals. But the closer they get to the escaping the dark forest, the more apparent it is that they'll need to face the person, or thing, releasing these monsters in the first place.

8. A farmer who dreams of being a scientist experiments on this year's pumpkins, hoping to enlarge them. He has a lot of success, until one of his potions is tampered with, and the cute pumpkin in his patch morphs into a monster that eats anyone who stumbles over its vines.

9. Your girlfriend/boyfriend brings over your favorite treat on Halloween, but when you eat it, you transform into a giant, poisonous snake that kills anyone who touches you. What do you do next?

10. You wake up on Halloween night, look outside your window, and see your sister sleep walking away from the house. You chase after her but can't catch her until she plunges into a dark lake, where there's a mysterious song that starts to pull you deep below the surface.

Not-So-Spooky Story Writing Prompts

Not all people love scary stories. If this is you but you'd like to try to write a scary story—and have a fun time writing it—try tackling a (not-so) scary story prompt that could turn a potentially scary tale into something that is fun (even funny):

11. You hate clowns, which makes it even worse when your husband secretly decides to hire a clown for you son's birthday party—which just happens to be on Halloween.

12. Aliens have just landed on Earth and boy, did they pick a weird day to come. How do they respond to Halloween, supernatural or otherwise? Do they decide this place is just too bizarre and get the heck out, or do they stick around and join in the fun?

13. On Halloween night, lovers get to come back and spend the evening together one more time. One couple from the Roaring Twenties decides to come back from the grave to help their extreme nerd great-grandchild or the kid will never get married.

14. You decide that this year you're going to crash the ten top costume parties in town—and prank each one while you're at it.

15. A mad scientist determined to destroy the world falls hopelessly in love with a not-so-wicked witch. As hard as he tries, he can't impress her.

Write Your Spooky Stories

Writing a scary story can be a fun exercise to give your students (regardless of age, elementary students to college graduates) around this time of year. It also can stir some exciting writing ideas in any writer, whether or not they're part of an entire class or their personal writing group.

As mentioned above, writing scary stories can also push you to better your creative writing skills, even if it's not normally in your genre lane. Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has some great insight about why this is true:

Fairy tales are more than true: Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

You don't have to love horror stories to write one, but you will learn about protagonists who face trialing, often life or death, situations when writing them. Challenge students or writers to become better at their writing craft by pushing them to write a short scary story with one of the writing prompts in this article.

Sit down with your favorite candy or flavor of candy corn and get ready to write. Pluck it from the list, and let your imagination free!

What is your favorite Halloween writing prompt from this list? Why did it stand out to you? Let us know in the comments .

Abigail Perry

Abigail Perry is a Certified Story Grid Editor with professional teaching, literary agency, and film production experience. In addition to writing Story Grid masterwork guides, she works as a freelance editor and is the Content Editor for The Write Practice. Abigail loves stories that put women and diverse groups at the center of the story—and others that include superpowers and magic. Her favorite genres include: Smart Book Club Fiction, Women's Fiction, YA Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and unique memoirs. She also has a B.S. in TV, Radio, and Film and loves working on screenplays that are emotionally driven and/or full of action. You can learn more about Abigail on her website.

Ruthanne Reid

Best-Selling author Ruthanne Reid has led a convention panel on world-building, taught courses on plot and character development, and was keynote speaker for The Write Practice 2021 Spring Retreat.

Author of two series with five books and fifty short stories, Ruthanne has lived in her head since childhood, when she wrote her first story about a pony princess and a genocidal snake-kingdom, using up her mom’s red typewriter ribbon.

When she isn’t reading, writing, or reading about writing, Ruthanne enjoys old cartoons with her husband and two cats, and dreams of living on an island beach far, far away.

P.S. Red is still her favorite color.

10 Comments

“Damn, I hate those busy bodies. Auditors, they call themselves. Pains in the ass is what they are.” said Joe aloud to no one who could hear. The radio blasted the nightly news and told a grisly story about three kids poisoned by bad candy. Joe, shaking his head from side to side and mumbling,

“For crying-out-loud. They’re just kids. Who in their right mind would do that to kids?”

The traffic became lighter and Joe took the off ramp to his street. As he drove toward his house, he saw his children walking down the sidewalk trick or treating. After hearing the news about the poisoning, he wanted his kids to go home. He stopped the car and walked over to them.

“Jeremy, Julian, why are you out here alone. Your mother was supposed to wait until I got home?”

He stood over the children waiting for an answer. When none came, he grabbed an arm, one child in each hand, and marched them to the car. He opened the back door and demanded they get in.

“In the car. Don’t stand there, get in… I’ve had a rough day, keep this up and you’ll get a Halloween to remember.”

Jeremy, the cutest little goblin, turned to Joe, jumped on top of him, opened his enormous mouth, and swallowed Joe whole. Julian, danced around Jeremy singing

“Remember, remember, a Halloween to remember, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down”

To the children passing by, the song sounded familiar. They started to sing,

“Ring-a-round the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! We’ve all tumbled down.”

William – I enjoyed your story. Nicely developed in such a short span.

Great lead-in to the story as a way to introduce taking his kids home. One suggestion in the first paragraph … not sure you need “from side to side” after “shaking his head”, and you could modify it to ” Joe, shaking his head, mumbled, …” or “Joe shook his head and mumbled, …”

While it could be viewed as too abrupt (I didn’t think so), I love how Jeremy “the cutest little goblin” got right down to business and “jumped on top of [Joe], opened his enormous mouth, and swallowed Joe whole”, with Julian dancing and singing along. Those two lines plus Julian’s clever integration of “Remember, remember, a Halloween to remember” made for a ghoulishly delightful twist.

Thanks for the Halloween treat.

– Susan

Thanks Susan. I already made the change (Joe, shaking his head, mumbled). It reads much better. William

Hi thanks for writing this story it gave my students some ideas to write about since halloween is coming up

Thanks for the Halloween treat, Ruthanne. Great prompts.

I love prompt #4 with the grandma, I was devastated when my grammy died…. this will be good to write about.

Harold Saggerbob loves Halloween. Has his very own Pumpkin Club. But while the ‘pumpkins’ on his shelf, might be round, they are certainly not orange. And every Halloween, several kids disappear near his home…

It’s not really creepy but I tried it with my characters. English isn’t my first language so if you see any mistake, please let me know:

“Aymeric was eating alone in the kitchen. He didn’t have much appetite and spent more time looking at the dark sky through the window than eating. He sighed. He wished he had company. But that wouldn’t happen. Rose was back to his home and was probably already sleeping – flowers go to sleep with the sun, after all. The sky was covered in dark clouds so thick he couldn’t even see the Moon – and it was definitely up somewhere. He could feel it. It felt as if he had a knot in his throat. He covered his plate and put it in the fridge. He would eat it later, when he’d be hungrier. Suddenly, he stilled. He had heard footsteps. He closed the fridge slowly, careful not to make any noise. It wasn’t some kind of rodent. They were scared of lycanthropes. And Aymeric was able to recognize footsteps from rodents. With a hearing like his, no one could fool him. He put his fork and his knife in the sink, shrugging. It wasn’t as if the intruder could mess with his stuff unnoticed, anyway. What bothered him was that he didn’t heard the intruder enter. It was definitely strange. He didn’t know what or who it was but he’d better be careful. He grabbed a dagger and followed the noise. It definitely came from the cellar. He barged in there, determined to end all this quickly. The moon was rising and waxing, anyway, so he shouldn’t have any problem dealing with whoever it was. What he saw still surprised him. A tiny body in the middle of the room. Thick wavy blond hair, long ears, big grey eyes. Aymeric recognized the child immediately. When the little elf saw him, he rushed into his arms. “Hey, what’s wrong, champion?” He didn’t expect the kid to reply. The elf only hugged him tightly. Aymeric could feel his relief and his fear. The ability they had to travel between spaces and times was really something he couldn’t get used to…”

Noah was waking up. He had been knocked down while he was chased by a group of teens. It was Halloween. Noah left his home with Oscar his dog. He headed to park across the street where his friends were waiting for him for trick or treating around the neighborhood. As they got treats from the third house Noah and his friends headed for the next house. Suddenly a huge dark figure appeared and almost grabbed one of Noah’s friends. The group was actually chased by teenage boys who looked hideous beasts in their costumes. Noah and his friends were dispersed. Some managed to stick together, some made it back home. Noah lost the sense of direction and was running for a while now. Suddenly he stumbled and tripped over. He knocked his head hard on something and passed out. After he got up he could see dark figures with blazing eyes staring down at him. Noah jumped to his feet and fled into the woods that were the only easy hideout he could access fast. Oscar was behind him growling and barking at the dark figures that followed them into the woods. As he went farther it got more and more dark. The only thing that kept him going was Oscar who was right behind him keeping the dark figures at a distance. Noah saw bushes and managed to hide within. Oscar had stopped barking now and there was a deadly silence. Noah was panting and was trying to calm down. He was about to lie down when he saw a huge hand trying to grab him from within the bushes. Noah screamed in panic when Oscar jumped in between just in time to save him. Noah was running fast when suddenly he saw light piercing through the darkness. He ran towards the light fast. When he came near he couldn’t believe his eyes. The sun shone bright and there were beautiful flowers and trees. Far away he could see children playing. He quickly entered the garden as he had no better choice to escape the dark figures. Oscar slowly paced back and ran all the way home where Noah’s parents were mourning his death.

great Helloween

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Scary Story Essay

As one reads through a spine-chilling tale, have you ever found yourself captivated, unable to avert your gaze despite the creeping sensation of terror that permeates your being? If so, you’re not alone. Scary stories essays have been popular for centuries, and they tap into our deepest fears and anxieties and transport us to a world where anything is possible.

If you are struggling to develop ideas for your scary story essay, don’t worry – with the right tools and techniques, anyone can write a terrifying tale that will leave readers begging for more. Whether you are an experienced wordsmith or a fledgling novice, continue reading to acquire the knowledge necessary to pen a narrative that will ensnare your audience and leave them tossing and turning throughout the night. Write my essays with confidence and create your spine-tingling tale today!

What is a Scary Story Essay?

A scary story essay is a narrative essay designed to frighten and unsettle the reader. It typically involves supernatural or horror elements like ghosts, monsters, or otherworldly creatures. The objective of an essay centered around a frightening narrative is to instill a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension within the reader while concurrently maintaining their attention until the very conclusion.

Some characteristics of a scary story essay include:

An eerie or ominous tone
Vivid descriptions of the setting, characters, and events
A sense of foreboding or impending doom
Suspenseful pacing and plot twists
An unsettling or unexpected ending

Differences between a scary story essay and other types of essays

One of the key differences between a scary story essay and other types of essays is the emphasis on creating an emotional response in the reader. While most pieces are designed to inform or persuade, a scary story essay spm is intended to evoke a specific emotional reaction.

Another difference is using narrative techniques such as plot, setting, and character development. In a scary story essay, these elements are used to create a sense of tension and unease rather than simply advancing the plot or conveying information.

Elements of a Horror Story

The key elements that make up a horror story include:

Setting	The setting of a horror story is typically dark, gloomy, and foreboding. It might be a haunted house, a creepy forest, or an abandoned hospital.
Characters	Horror stories often feature characters who are vulnerable or helpless in some way. This might include children, elderly people, or individuals with disabilities.
Plot	The plot of a horror story typically revolves around a supernatural or horror element, such as a ghost, monster, or curse. The report may involve a quest to defeat or escape the horror or be a tale of terror and suspense.
Tone	The tone of a horror story is typically eerie, ominous, and unsettling. It may be characterized by a sense of foreboding or impending doom, as well as sudden shocks and surprises.

When these fundamental components are merged and executed efficiently, they coalesce to generate an overwhelming sense of dread and discomfort in the reader. For example, the creepy setting might make the reader feel like they are being watched or followed, while the vulnerable characters make them feel sympathetic and protective.

The plot and tone of the story might create a sense of dread or anticipation as the reader wonders what will happen next. And when a sudden shock or surprise does occur, it reinforces the idea that anything can happen in this world and that the characters are never truly safe.

Types of Horror Stories

Numerous horror tale classifications exist, each presenting distinctive attributes and themes. Some of the most common types include:

Supernatural horror	This type of horror story involves supernatural or paranormal elements, such as ghosts, demons, or haunted objects.	“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson”The Shining” by Stephen King”Dracula” by Bram Stoker
Psychological horror	In psychological horror stories, the horror comes from the characters’ minds and emotions rather than external forces. This might include stories about madness, obsession, or psychological trauma.	“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman”The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe”American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis
Body horror	Body horror stories focus on physical transformations or mutilations, such as body horror films like “The Fly” or “The Thing.”	“The Fly” by George Langelaan”The Thing” by John W. Campbell Jr.”The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
Survival horror	This type of horror story involves characters who must fight to survive in a dangerous or hostile environment, such as a zombie apocalypse or a deserted island.	“The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman”The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins”Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
Folk horror	Folk horror stories are rooted in local or regional folklore and mythology, and often involve pagan or supernatural elements.	The Wicker Man” by Robin Hardy”Midsommar” by Ari Aster”The Ritual” by Adam Nevill

How to Start a Scary Story Essay (Horror Story Essay)

Tips for brainstorming ideas.

Consider the setting, characters, and plot when brainstorming ideas for your scary story essay. What kind of horror elements do you want to include? Are there any real-life fears or anxieties you want to tap into?

After formulating a rudimentary concept, endeavor to generate several plot twists or scenarios that could unfold within the established framework. Do not hesitate to allow your creative faculties to soar unrestricted and endeavor to formulate a concept that exudes individuality and unpredictability.

How to create a compelling opening that sets the mood

The opening is one of the most important parts of a scary story essay. The opening sets the tone for the entire paper and should grab the reader’s attention immediately.

Consider starting with a startling or eerie image or scene to create a compelling opening. This might be like a character stumbling through a dark forest or a haunted house looming in the distance. You could also start with a quote or dialogue that sets the mood.

Examples of effective opening lines from famous horror stories

“The horror, the horror!” – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
“It was a dark and stormy night…” – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” – The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Writing a Scary Story Essay

How to structure the essay for maximum impact.

To structure your scary story essay for maximum impact, consider starting with a compelling opening that sets the mood, followed by a gradual buildup of suspense and tension. The story’s climax should be the most intense and terrifying part, with a resolution that provides some closure for the reader.

Developing a well-rounded plot and characters

To develop a well-rounded plot and characters, consider the motivations and fears of your characters. What propels their actions, and what are their most profound terrors and apprehensions?

Try to create real and relatable characters, even if they are dealing with supernatural or horror elements. This will make the story feel more immersive and engaging for the reader.

How to create suspense and tension

To create suspense and tension in your scary story essay, consider using pacing and structure to build up to the climax. You can do this by gradually increasing the frequency and intensity of horror elements, such as jump scares or moments of suspense.

You can also use foreshadowing and other literary devices to hint at what’s to come while still keeping the reader guessing. Furthermore, do not hesitate to leave certain details to the reader’s imagination, which can engender an even more disconcerting feeling of terror.

Using sensory details to enhance the scary atmosphere

To enhance the scary atmosphere of your story, consider using sensory data to help the reader visualize the setting and characters. This might include descriptions of sounds, smells, textures, and visual details like lighting and shadows.

You can also use figurative language and metaphors to create a more vivid and evocative picture for the reader. For example, you might describe a character’s fear as a cold, clammy hand gripping their heart.

Scary Story Essay Examples

“the tell-tale heart” by edgar allan poe .

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe is a classic horror story that features a narrator who becomes obsessed with the eye of an old man, to the point of murdering him. The story is told from the perspective of the murderer, which creates an unsettling sense of intimacy and psychological tension.

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is another famous horror story that involves a cursed object. In this case, a family possesses a monkey’s paw that grants wishes but with terrible consequences.

Analysis of what makes these stories effective and how they can be used as inspiration.

These narratives are potent as they delve into ubiquitous dreads and trepidations, such as the fear of demise and the inscrutable. They also use literary techniques like pacing, foreshadowing, and sensory details to create a vivid and unsettling atmosphere.

As you work on your scary story essay, you can use these stories as inspiration for your plot and characters while also studying their structure and pacing to see how they create suspense and tension.

Tips for Writing a Successful Scary Story Essay

Dos and don’ts for writing a scary story essay

Use sensory details to create a vivid and evocative atmosphere
Build suspense and tension gradually, with a well-paced structure
Create well-rounded and relatable characters
Use literary devices like foreshadowing and metaphor to create a sense of foreboding

Don’t:

Rely too heavily on jump scares or gore to create horror

Neglect the importance of setting and atmosphere

Use clichés or tired tropes that have been overused in horror stories

Tips for editing and revising to improve the overall quality of the essay

When editing and revising your scary story essay, consider the pacing and structure of the story. Make sure that the buildup of tension feels natural and engaging and that the climax is both satisfying and terrifying.

It is also crucial to prioritize character progression and dialogue, ensuring each persona is distinctive and multifaceted. Ultimately, it is imperative to contemplate the all-encompassing tone and ambiance of the narrative, guaranteeing that it evokes a pervasive feeling of discomfort and foreboding from the opening sentence to the closing line.

In conclusion, writing a scary story essay can be a thrilling and rewarding experience, but it requires careful attention to detail and an understanding of what makes horror stories truly effective.

By adhering to the pointers and techniques explicated in this article, you can compose a hair-raising anecdote that will keep your readers teetering on the precipice of their seats. So why not start brainstorming ideas for your scary story essay today? With a little creativity and imagination, you can create a story that will haunt readers long after they finish reading.

Remember to focus on the key elements of horror, such as setting, characters, and plot, and use literary techniques like pacing and foreshadowing to build suspense and tension. With practice and perseverance, you can hone your writing skills and create stories that will chill and thrill readers for years.

What is a Horror Story essay?

A horror story essay is a narrative essay designed to frighten and unsettle the reader. It typically involves supernatural or horror elements like ghosts, monsters, or otherworldly creatures. A short horror story essay aims to create a sense of unease and fear in the reader and keep them engaged until the end.

How do I start a scary story essay?

To start a scary story essay, consider starting with a startling or eerie image or scene that sets the mood. You could also start with a quote or dialogue that creates a sense of foreboding. From there, gradually build tension and suspense until you reach the story’s climax.

What are some tips for writing a good scary story essay?

Some tips for writing a good scary story essay include:

Don’t rely too heavily on jump scares or gore to create horror
Avoid clichés or tired tropes that have been overused in horror stories

Can I use real-life experiences in my scary story essay?

Yes, you can use real-life experiences as inspiration for your scary story essay. However, be sure to use them in a way that is respectful and doesn’t exploit real-life trauma or tragedy.

How can I make my scary story essay stand out?

To make your scary story essay free stand out, try to create a unique and unexpected plot that subverts readers’ expectations. You can also use vivid and evocative language to create a more immersive atmosphere and focus on creating well-rounded and relatable characters. Lastly, do not fear to take risks and experiment with fresh concepts – the most exemplary horror tales frequently challenge conventions and surpass limitations.

Lesley Hummings

159+ Horror Story Prompts – Unleash Your Scary Stories

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on Published: September 5, 2022 - Last updated: January 2, 2024

Categories Writing , Inspiration , Storytelling

Are you a horror enthusiast with a passion for writing? Well, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we’ve put together 159 spine-chilling horror story prompts to help unleash your creativity and keep your readers on edge. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned writer, our carefully curated prompts, sorted by genre, will turn your creative gears.

Dive into these prompts and start crafting your terrifying tale today! With our help, you’ll be able to engage and thrill your audience through captivating narratives and haunting horror elements.

Key Takeaways

Discover 159 creative writing prompts to inspire gripping horror stories
Experience prompts tailored for different sub-genres within the horror realm
Unleash your creativity and captivate readers with spine-chilling tales

25 General Horror Writing Prompts

Here are 25 intriguing horror writing prompts to spark your imagination:

Haunted Places

Your family moves into a new home, only to find out it’s haunted by the ghost of a previous occupant.
A group of teenagers dares each other to stay overnight in a haunted house.
Inheriting your deceased grandmother’s house, you find a haunted music box.
Your group of friends discovers their beach hotel is haunted during their vacation.
Settling into your new home, your family realizes they’re not alone.

Mysterious Encounters

You and your friends go camping in the woods, but a mysterious killer begins stalking you.
Alone at home, you hear strange noises coming from within the house.
While driving home from work, your car breaks down late at night in a dark, isolated area.
On Halloween night, a creepy child dressed in a clown outfit shows up at the door of your babysitting gig.
Investigating odd noises in your attic, you make a horrifying discovery.

Supernatural Experiences

You and your friends decide to play with an Ouija board, accidentally summoning a demonic presence.
Strange occurrences begin happening when you discover that your children have been playing with a voodoo doll.
Living alone, an elderly woman notices objects in her house mysteriously moving independently.
Following a car accident, you start having nightmares of your death.
You stumble upon disturbing rituals at an abandoned temple on a Mexican vacation.

Unsettling Situations

Waking up in a hospital, you have no memory of how you got there or what happened to you.
You find out that your identical twin sister has been locked away in an asylum and decide to switch places with her.
As layoffs loom at work, your colleagues start dying in mysterious accidents.
Trying on clothes in a dressing room, you realize you’re not the only one present.
Your regular poker game is disrupted when you realize one of your friends has been replaced by an impostor.

Survival and Escape

After being stranded on an island, your group of survivors becomes the prey of cannibals.
Returning from war, you discover sinister counterparts have taken the place of your family members.
Driven by financial desperation, you agree to participate in a dangerous medical experiment.
Performing maintenance on an old elevator, you find yourself trapped overnight with terrifying company.
You start receiving terrifying phone calls and strange gifts at your doorstep.

25 Horror Screenplay Ideas

Let these ideas spark your creativity as you dive into the eerie world of horror writing:

Curses and Transformations

Imagine a small town where a mysterious curse transforms townsfolk into animals under the cover of darkness.
Picture an evil witch transforming people into frogs, forcing them to race against time to break the spell.

Ghosts and Spirits

Picture a woman tormented by the spirit of her deceased sister, who relentlessly attempts to end her life.
Think of a family moving into their dream home only to discover it’s inhabited by vengeful ghosts.
Visualize a woman pursued by her abusive ex-lover returned from the afterlife.
Consider friends visiting a haunted house, unaware of the frightening spirits awaiting them inside.
A family moves into a new house, only to find they’re being watched by an unseen presence.

Demonic and Otherworldly Entities

Envision a group of friends camping in the woods, stalked and hunted by ravenous werewolves.
Contemplate a young girl possessed by a malevolent demon, striking terror and death in her community.
Ponder a man who gradually realizes his wife has been replaced by an extraterrestrial being.
Envision a mother’s fight to protect her children from a nightmarish creature hiding in their closet.
In the midst of an eclipse, vampires emerge to feast upon unsuspecting humans.
A detective uncovers a shocking truth: werewolves have committed a string of grisly murders.

Apocalyptic and Unnatural Threats

Zombies and the undead.

Imagine a zombie invasion during a couple’s Caribbean getaway.
A twisted scientist creates a serum that turns its victims into undead zombies and unleashes it on the world.
On Halloween night, the dead rise as zombies to roam the Earth.

Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena

A woman is tormented by sinister, phantom-like children.
People fall victim to demonic possession through everyday technology.
A man, subjected to cruel experiments, channels newfound psychic powers to exact revenge.

Terrifying Encounters and Survival

Haunting encounters.

Teenagers partying in a deserted warehouse get trapped, facing dire consequences.
Kids at summer camp discover the staff members are aliens with a sinister plan.
As teens roam through an abandoned asylum, they begin to vanish one by one.

Cultural and Exotic Horrors

An American family vacationing in Japan unwittingly stumbles upon paranormal Yakuza activity.

Wilderness and Isolation

While hiking in the mountains, a group of friends must find their way back before darkness falls.
A brave sibling must protect their younger sister during a home invasion.

Let these ideas guide you in crafting your own terrifying tales. Enjoy the spine-chilling writing process!

37 Science Fiction Horror Prompts

Immerse yourself in these spine-chilling science fiction horror scenarios:

Space Horrors

Envision a space expedition going horribly wrong when the crew realizes they’re not alone on their ship.
Consider a woman astronaut haunted by a ghost from her past that she thought she left behind.
Visualize a cursed alien object causing gruesome deaths to whoever touches it.
Picture people trapped in a deadly maze on a faraway exoplanet created by a lunatic.
Contemplate astronauts on a deep space mission finding a hidden creature aboard their ship.
Envision a woman waking from cryogenic sleep to find she’s the last person on earth.
Reflect on a woman realizing her perfect life is an illusion created by an AI brain implant.
Contemplate a family vacation in space ruined by an alien creature stalking them.
Envision a woman with someone else’s still-beating heart inside her chest after surgery.

Time and Dimensional Anomalies

Imagine friends using a time machine and ending up in a parallel universe where menacing creatures are hunting them.
Think about a girl with psychic abilities accidentally opening a portal, unleashing terror upon her town.
Imagine friends uncovering an evil alien entity behind strange disappearances near their hometown.
Think about scientists accidentally opening a door to another dimension while working on a top-secret project.
Imagine a man stuck in a deadly time loop, living the same day over and over.
Ponder women drawn to an alien after a strange invasion, but is it just a physical attraction or something more sinister?

Alien Invasions and Encounters

Ponder an alien invasion taking over a small town, leaving a group of teens to save the day.
Reflect on a virus turning humans into zombies, with survivors fighting for their lives in a world of ruin.
Ponder a student’s terrifying hallucinations of an alien invasion caused by mysterious pills.
Consider mysterious disappearances in a town, with aliens as a possible culprit.
Picture an alien invasion forcing humanity underground, and someone venturing back to the surface only to find something far more horrifying.
Envision a distant future where humanity is at war with an advanced alien species, changing the course of human evolution .
Imagine a silent spacecraft appearing over a city, its intent unknown, sparking fear and fascination worldwide.

Futuristic Dystopias

Think about a mad scientist experimenting on people to create the perfect human.
Visualize an eclipse leaving everyone blind, except for one person.
Picture a future with a hive mind connecting everyone, and a woman hearing voices that aren’t her own.
Ponder a dark secret hidden by corporations ruling a world without democracy.
Consider an environmental disaster forcing humanity to live in a dome city ruled by a tyrannical government.
Visualize a world with cloning, and a woman realizing her identity isn’t what she thought.
Reflect on a small town terrorized by a killer who’s not quite human.
Contemplate scientists resurrecting extinct animals, only to create something far more dangerous instead.
Reflect on a man who suspects he may have started a zombie outbreak after a suspicious virus appears.

Psychological and Supernatural Terrors

Envision a boy discovering a mysterious door in the forest that takes him to an unwelcoming world.
Contemplate a girl who starts seeing unseen creatures after making a wish on a shooting star.
Consider a world controlled by AI, where a man starts to question his own memories.
Visualize a woman haunted by nightmares that turn out to be real, discovering she’s not the only one suffering from them.
Imagine a woman exploring lucid dreaming, later realizing she’s not the only one inside her mind.
Think about friends playing an augmented reality game with deadly stakes against a mysterious opponent.

27 Halloween Night Horror Prompts

As you delve into the world of horror writing, set the stage by using these chilling Halloween night prompts to unleash your creativity. Remember, on Halloween, the barrier between worlds becomes thin, so embrace the eerie occurrences that lurk in the shadows.

Haunted and Cursed Locations

Picture yourself and your friends gathered around a bonfire, sharing ghost stories. As one tells a tale about a cursed house nearby, you suddenly realize you’re standing in front of that very house.
A dare leads a group of teenagers to spend Halloween night in a haunted graveyard, only to discover they are not the only ones there.
Exploring an abandoned mental asylum with friends on Halloween, you hear strange noises coming from a cell.
After moving into a new home, paranormal happenings plague your family’s first Halloween.
An unexplainable force draws you to an abandoned house on Halloween night.
Curious teens follow your town’s haunted history, only to realize they are being watched by an evil presence.

Terrifying Encounters

A quiet Halloween night spent home alone becomes terrifying when you hear someone break in. As you hide under the bed, the intruder is already in the room with you.
Walking home from work, you notice a man following you. Your pace quickens, but so does his – and he’s always right behind you.
Trick-or-treating with friends, you encounter a seemingly abandoned house with its lights on and voices inside.
Playing basketball alone on Halloween, a mysterious clown approaches you on the street.
A chilling phone call from an unknown number threatens you on Halloween night.
Taking an alley shortcut, you notice something odd in a dumpster.
Babysitting on Halloween, unexplainable events occur while you’re alone with the children.
As you trick-or-treat, a masked man follows your every step.
Lying in bed, the slow approach of footsteps up the stairs on Halloween night fills you with dread.
A power outage causes uneasy knocking on apartment doors during Halloween night.

Supernatural and Mysterious Events

Driving home from a Halloween party, your family hits a deer on the road – except it’s more than just an ordinary deer.
Babysitting on Halloween night, the power goes out and you hear strange noises coming from upstairs.
Cleaning up after a party, you discover a hidden door in your basement that leads into darkness.
A remote cabin trip with friends for Halloween quickly becomes a nightmare with no connection to the outside world.
Discovering an old box in the attic, the contents send shivers down your spine.
Finding an ancient book on Halloween, a young boy unknowingly releases malevolent forces.
Desiring adventure, a group of teens leaves a Halloween party to stumble upon a forbidden place.
On Halloween, a haunting text message arrives from an unknown sender during a midnight horror movie.
First Halloween in a new home, you begin to realize your family isn’t alone.
As you set up for a Halloween party, lurking shadows indicate you are being watched by something malevolent.

These prompts will help you explore the spine-chilling world of horror stories, invoking spine-chilling fright and fueling your writing on Halloween night.

18 Haunted House Horror Prompts

Imagine your protagonist moving into a new home, only to find that their sanctuary is disrupted by paranormal forces. These 18 haunted house horror prompts will craft a chilling tale to keep your readers on edge.

Ghostly Encounters

Unwelcome Occupant : You and your family move into a new home, only to realize it’s haunted by a former resident.
Spiteful Spirit : A haunted fixer-upper reveals the vengeful ghost of a former owner.
Malicious Phantom : Your family moves in, only to find a malevolent spirit already residing in the house.
Ghostly Messenger : A tormented girl receives cryptic messages from a ghost.
Terrifying Twins : Expecting twins, you worry that one is possessed by a demon.
Mother’s Nightmare : Strange scratches on your daughter’s body make you think she’s possessed by a demonic entity.
Haunted Marriage : Your relationship is tested when your new home turns out to be haunted.
Ghostly Visions : After moving into a new home, you suddenly gain the ability to see spirits.
Unexpected Roommate : Moving into your first house together, you and your partner quickly realize something unseen shares the living space.

Demonic and Supernatural Threats

Nightmare Hauntings : A mysterious figure tormenting your dreams puts your family in danger.
Demonic Husband : Strange symbols in your home make you suspect demonic possession of your spouse.
Portal to Darkness : Your new home connects to a demonic realm through a mysterious entrance.
Dark Communication : Your son starts speaking in tongues and behaving strangely, making you think he’s talking to demons.

Mysteries and Dark Secrets

Deadly Dare : Friends stay overnight in a haunted house for a dare, only to discover the danger is real.
Dark Secret : Unbeknownst to them, your family moves into a house with a history of brutal murders by the owner’s son.
Mirror Menace : Suspicion of your husband’s infidelity grows as you notice another woman’s reflection in the mirrors.
Eerie Sounds : Unusual noises emanate from your home’s attic.
Hidden Horrors : You find remnants of a gruesome past concealed in your new home’s walls.

These prompts will help you explore the haunted house setting through various eerie scenarios, involving ghosts, demons, and chilling discoveries—all in a friendly, second-person point of view. Dive into your story, harness the fear, and captivate your audience with these spine-tingling ideas.

17 Paranormal Activity Horror Prompts

Haunting and possessions.

Consider a woman haunted by a ghost that desperately needs to communicate something important.
Think about a woman discovering her son is possessed by an evil demon.
A family moves into a new house already inhabited by ghosts seeking company.
Your mother becomes possessed by an evil spirit, endangering everyone in her life.
An exorcism goes haywire, unleashing a horde of demons into the world.
A family is visited by the ghost of their young child, who tragically passed away.

Dark Forces and Evil Entities

A woman discovers her supernatural abilities and uses them to stop a force of darkness from enveloping the world.
An evil witch curses a village, turning all its inhabitants into various animals overnight.
Two young girls learn they possess witchcraft powers and must stand against a wicked sorcerer.
Unfriendly angels begin to descend from heaven with ominous intentions.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride into your town, bringing death, destruction, and chaos.

Mysterious and Deadly Threats

Imagine you and your friends go camping and find yourselves hunted by a mysterious and possibly non-human creature.
A group of friends is stalked by a killer who knows their darkest secrets and deepest fears.
A psychic girl foresees her own death but is powerless to stop it, adding to her fear.
People begin to inexplicably and spontaneously combust around you, with no discernible cause.
A rampant wave of demonic possessions starts affecting your community, turning loved ones against each other.

Unexplained and Terrifying Events

A family vacationing in a secluded cabin starts to encounter unexplainable events.

10 Plot Twists for Horror Stories

Ready to take your horror stories to the next level? Here are 10 plot twists that can add a frightfully unexpected twist to your sinister tales.

Unending nightmare : Your protagonist wakes up and realizes they’re caught in a never-ending bad dream.
Hidden family secrets : Your protagonist’s nemesis turns out to be their long-lost twin sibling.
Extraterrestrial encounters : The menacing creature is actually an alien from another world.
Ghosts with a purpose : The spirits haunting your protagonist are time-travelers from the future , trying to avert a catastrophe.
Reincarnated nemesis : Your protagonist discovers they are the reincarnation of the villain they despise.
Psychic revelations : Your protagonist realizes they have psychic powers and have been experiencing visions of future atrocities.
Supernatural portal : The seemingly ordinary small town setting is actually a gateway to the underworld.
Demonic doll : The murderer is an evil doll that springs to life under the cover of darkness.
Purgatory prisoner : Your protagonist has been dead all along and is trapped in purgatory.
Reader revelation : In the end, the reader realizes they are the true culprit in the story.

Sprinkle these plot twists into your horror writings to frighten your readers, weaving magic and torture into your stories for unforgettable moments of terror.

The Structure of a Great Horror Story

The attention-grabber.

A compelling horror story begins with an element that captivates the reader’s interest. This initial intrigue should evoke fear without giving away too many details. Your goal is to entice the reader to continue.

The Tension Builder

Having captured the reader’s interest, building suspense through eerie descriptions and tension-filled narratives is essential. Keep details vague to maintain an air of mystery , allowing the reader’s imagination to run wild.

The Chilling Moment

At some point, you ought to deliver an unforgettable scare. This is when your tension-building pays off. The chilling moment should be surprising yet consistent with the story’s context. An out-of-context scare might feel contrived and undermine its impact.

The Unraveling

Finally, it’s time to bring the story towards its conclusion. Provide some clarity while leaving a hint of ambiguity. This keeps the reader on edge even after they’ve finished reading.

Keep these guidelines in mind, and you’ll be well-equipped to craft an enthralling horror story. Focus on maintaining mystery, building suspense, and striking at the perfect moment. Happy writing!

The Potential Weakness of a Horror Story

As a writer, you want your horror story to be frightening enough to captivate your readers and not so horrifying that it repels them. To find the ideal balance, it’s crucial to know who your audience is and what scares them.

Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula when it comes to fear. Different people are frightened by different things. Horror elements such as blood and gore aren’t always the most effective; sometimes, stories that tap into our deepest fears are more terrifying. For instance, a story about a mother losing her child in a store could evoke more dread than one involving a murderous monster.

One major challenge of crafting a compelling horror story is avoiding predictability. To keep your readers engaged, consider subverting their expectations and taking your story in surprising directions. This approach not only keeps them guessing but also maintains suspense throughout.

In the world of horror, striking a balance between being too scary and not scary enough is critical. By understanding your audience and exploring their fears, you can tailor your story accordingly. Ensuring unpredictability and capitalizing on deeply-rooted fears can significantly help elevate your story. Following these guidelines, you’ll be on the right track to create a chilling horror tale that leaves your audience suitably spooked.

What Are Common Horror Writing Themes

The world beyond our understanding.

A classic horror theme involves supernatural elements. This could mean ghosts, vampires, witches, zombies, or other beings that evoke fear. Incorporating the supernatural into your story can create spine-chilling moments for your readers to enjoy.

Menace Behind The Mask

Serial killers attract attention in horror stories as well. These characters often suffer from mental illness, making them unpredictable and frightening. By targeting specific victims, these killers bring a sense of personal dread for readers. Consider having a serial killer as your story’s main antagonist if you want to delve into gruesome aspects of human nature.

Alone in The Dark

Isolation is a powerful theme in horror, as it allows fear to fester and grow. When characters find themselves cut off from society, voluntary or not, situations can spiral out of control quickly. To increase tension in your story, have your characters confront their nightmares in isolation.

The End of The World

Apocalyptic scenarios are yet another classic horror staple. These can involve a zombie outbreak, an environmental catastrophe, or any other event that brings society to its knees. If your goal is to craft a harrowing story, consider setting it during or after a cataclysmic event.

Terror in Our Flesh

Body horror focuses on grotesque mutations, excessive gore, and horrifying physical changes. Although graphic in nature, body horror can also incorporate scares and suspense. For a blood-curdling tale, experiment with body horror elements.

Incorporating aspects such as population growth, psychological horror, and terrifying clowns can add an extra layer to these themes. Remember, whether you choose one of these themes or create something entirely original, the most crucial aspect is writing a story that piques your interest while keeping a friendly tone and maintaining a second-person point of view.

What Makes a Character Terrifying

Understanding their desires.

Firstly, it’s important to determine what your character wants. Their goals should be sinister and harmful to others. Whether it’s a simple desire to inflict pain or a complex plan to conquer the world, ensure that their intentions send shivers down your readers’ spines.

The Extent of Their Actions

Next, consider the lengths your character is willing to go to achieve their goals. Are they prepared to kill, torture, or maim? The more gruesome and ruthless their methods, the more terrified your readers will become. Looking at classic horror villains like Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers, you can see that their lack of mercy in inflicting pain on others is what makes them so scary.

Victims : The types of victims your character targets can also add to their degree of terror. For example, do they prey on innocent people or focus on those with specific traits?
Best friend : If your character has a best friend or close ally, explore how their relationship influences their actions and motivations. Consider how this bond can add depth or twists to the story and enhance the frightening aspects of your character.

Uncovering Their Motivations

After identifying your character’s sinister objectives and the extreme methods they’re willing to employ, seek to understand the reasons behind their desires. Was their drive initiated by a past tragedy or the concealment of a dark secret? By comprehending their motives, you can create a truly believable and terrifying character.

In conclusion, a well-rounded and multi-dimensional character with malevolent motives can truly strike fear into the hearts of readers. Utilize these suggestions to craft a spine-chilling horror story, making sure to let your creativity and imagination run free.

Fate and Coincidence in Horror Story Writing

In your journey as a horror writer, you might realize that blending fate and coincidence plays a crucial role in making your stories spine-chilling. When characters face continuous misfortune, readers can’t help but feel a sense of dread. So, how can you make the coincidences in your story plausible and avoid making them seem forced? Here are a few tips to help you seamlessly integrate fate and coincidence into your tale.

Firstly, remember that not all coincidences need an explanation. Sometimes, leaving them unexplained is better. A neatly knit story where everything is explicitly connected can feel contrived and unbelievable. Embracing mystery can add suspense to your spine-tingling narrative.

However, avoid certain coincidences altogether to maintain reader engagement. For instance, if two unrelated characters coincidentally meet on the street or a character discovers vital information purely by chance instead of through their efforts, it may seem unconvincing or like cheating.

To ensure that every event has a purpose and avoid contrived coincidences, ask yourself why a specific incident is happening and how it will impact the characters and plot. If you can’t find a satisfactory answer, consider reevaluating that scene.

By heeding these tips, you can make coincidences believable and enhance suspense instead of diminishing it. Strive to maintain an air of mystery while ensuring that each event serves its purpose. With a little effort, you can craft spine-tingling horror stories that will leave your readers captivated and wanting more.

Entangled love in horror

In the realm of horror films, the inclusion of love as a central theme can create a compelling contrast that heightens the emotional stakes of a story.

This juxtaposition of love in a horror story often deepens the reader’s connection to the main characters and makes their journey through fear and horror even more poignant.

Whether it’s a psychological thriller in which the protagonist must save a loved one from strange and evil forces or a supernatural horror in which love is the only solace in a world of darkness, the element of love adds a unique dimension to scary story ideas.

Love can be the driving force that pushes characters to face their deepest fears, resulting in an unforgettable and impactful horror story.

When horror writers weave these threads together, they create not just good horror stories but narratives that resonate on a deeply human level, combining the thrill of fear with the warmth of love.

Choose a Catchy Title

If you’ve gathered a wealth of story ideas and are ready to bring your spooky tale to life, the next crucial step is finding the perfect title to capture the essence of your story.

We invite you to explore our specially crafted guide at Brilliantio’s Horror Story Titles , where you’ll discover 34 unique ideas on how to name your horror story effectively.

This resource is designed to help you brainstorm and select a title that not only intrigues your readers but also gives a glimpse of the chilling adventure they’re about to embark upon.

A compelling title can make all the difference in drawing readers into the world you’ve created, so be sure to take advantage of this valuable tool in your storytelling journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i start writing a frightening tale.

Choose a setting: a haunted house, a creepy forest, or an old mansion.
Develop your main character(s): give them a strong backstory, fears, and strengths.
Identify the source of horror: a ghost, a monster, or a mysterious villain.
Create tension and suspense: use descriptive language to keep readers on edge.

What elements create an excellent creepy romance?

Dark and alluring atmosphere: gothic, mysterious, and eerie.
Forbidden love: star-crossed lovers or love triangles.
A menacing or supernatural element: a vampire, ghost, or werewolf.
High emotional stakes: danger, betrayal, lost love.

Are there short horror movie ideas suitable for students?

A cursed object: an old book, a painting, or a music box.
A hidden secret: a forbidden room or an undiscovered basement.
A group of friends’ ghost hunting expedition turns dire.
Attending a party unaware of the host’s sinister intentions.

How should I approach writing a 500-word scary story?

Focus on one main event, setting, or character.
Utilize a simple and compelling plot.
Use concise descriptions to create an eerie atmosphere.
Leave readers wanting more with a twist ending.

What intriguing concepts can I use for body horror?

Transformation: becoming a monster or a grotesque creature.
Disfigurement: a character waking up with altered physical features.
Parasitic takeover: the protagonist’s body gradually taken over.
Cloning or doppelgangers: exploring dark counterparts.

How can I make my chilling tale stand out?

Subvert clichés : twist typical horror tropes to surprise readers.
Focus on psychological terror : dive deeper into characters’ minds.
Blend genres : combine horror with mystery, romance, or sci-fi.
Incorporate folklore or legends : introduce lesser-known myths or legends.

25+ Ghost Story Prompts

Need a scary ghost story to tell over the campfire? Today we bring over 25 ghost story prompts to inspire you to write your own paranormal short story or novel.

A ghost story is a type of horror story that emphasises the theme of the supernatural, apparitions, and otherworldly ghost-like creatures. Generally revolving around death, hauntings or the afterlife. This genre often has an uncanny air about it, producing feelings of fear, dread, and the unfamiliar. A ghost story is one of the oldest forms of literature and can be found in all cultures.

If you’re looking for some new ideas for your next ghost story, these 25+ paranormal story prompts are perfect for writers of all levels. You might also find this ghost name generator useful.

The spookiest time of year is here, and that means it’s time for ghost stories! Whether you’re writing a ghost story for Halloween , a seasonal short story , or even a standalone novel, these ghost story prompts are a great place to start:

A young woman moves into an old house and finds herself in a terrifying situation with her new roommate, a ghost. The only way to escape is to get out of the house alive.
A man is haunted by his past and must face the demons that come back to haunt him.
A group of college students decide to spend their summer vacation in a cabin in the woods. But what starts as a fun vacation turns deadly when they realize that the woods aren’t quite as safe as they thought.
Use this story starter for a ghost story: The first time I saw it, I was only six. It was night and I was playing in my granddad’s garden when I heard this weird sound coming from the forest. I followed the sound and found myself in the middle of a circle of tall trees. It was so dark that I could barely see my hands in front of me. Suddenly, something grabbed my leg.
A woman is haunted by the ghosts of her ancestors, but she must learn to accept her fate and embrace the spirits before they are all gone forever.
An orphaned boy is taken in by a family of ghosts after his parents die in a fire. They teach him how to use his supernatural abilities to help people in need. But soon the boy starts using these powers for evil.
A group of teenagers visit their favourite haunted house during the Halloween season, but they never make it home again.
A couple gets married on Halloween night and discovers that their marriage is cursed. They must solve the mystery of the ghost bride to break the curse.
A boy finds a box of his grandfather’s old slides in the attic, and when he goes back to school, he starts seeing his grandfather’s ghost everywhere.
A man hears strange sounds coming from his attic, and he’s determined to find out what they are. He sneaks up to the attic to investigate, but when he does, he stumbles upon something much more frightening than he could have imagined.
An abandoned mansion on a lonely island is rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a pirate who was hung for his crimes. A group of friends decide to spend the night in the mansion, and they quickly learn that there’s more than one kind of ghost in the house.
A family moves back into their old family home where their son died years ago. The father becomes obsessed with finding out who killed his son. He believes he knows who the murderer is but no one will believe him.
A man is tormented by a ghostly hitchhiker. He is forced to take them on a road trip until they reach their final destination…a mysterious abandoned town.
A family moves into an old Victorian home, where the previous owner mysteriously disappeared after getting locked in one of the rooms. Now the family is trapped inside by a malevolent entity.
A man is on his way home from work when he is attacked by a group of ghosts. He manages to escape, but now he has a few more problems than he started with.
Use this story starter for a ghost story: I woke up in the middle of the night, and I felt a cold hand touching my face. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out. Then, I felt a sharp pain in my neck.
My father told me about his experience while we were driving home. He said he saw a dead girl walking towards him just after I was born, but when he got closer, she disappeared. He thought if was imagining things at the time.
My father used to scare me at night. One time he came into my bedroom and woke me up, telling me to come downstairs. He took me to the living room, and there he told me that a ghost had put a curse on me.
It was the most beautiful cemetery ever. People would come from far away just to walk through the grounds. There was a rumour about a ghost that roamed the graveyard at night.
A teenage girl is forced to spend her summer with her grandmother who believes she can communicate with ghosts.
A young woman moves into an apartment next door to an old house where she hears a woman screaming and sees a little girl standing in the window.
A woman hears a baby crying in her house, but she can’t find it. She keeps hearing it crying in another room, so she goes to check on it. When she opens the door, there is no baby there. But then, the door slams shut and locks itself.
A girl is staying at her grandmother’s house with her family for the night. She is sleeping in her grandmother’s bed, but she can’t get comfortable. Every time she falls asleep, she wakes up to see her dead grandmother sitting on the edge of her bed.
A woman is walking down a deserted road when she sees a figure standing in front of her. It turns out to be an old man in a top hat, holding a cane. He says to her, “Hello, young lady. My name is John Marley. I am a spirit from the other side.”
One night, a mother wakes up to hear her son crying in their room. When she goes into his room, he is not there. She looks everywhere for him and calls out his name. The only answer she gets is a terrible scream that echoes throughout the house.
In a small village, there lived a woman who was very lonely. Her husband had passed away and she was left all alone with her two sons. The boys were grown and had families of their own. The woman was so lonely that she began talking to herself. “I’m all alone,” she said to no one in particular. “I’m all alone.” And then she hears a voice.
There was once a man who lived by the beach . He loved the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. One day, he decided to go for a walk on the beach and ended up drowning. When he died, he came back as a ghost. Every night, he would come back to the place where he drowned, and stand there.
There was once a little girl who loved to play hide and seek. One day, while playing, she got separated from her family. She found a tree stump and went behind it, but when she peeked around the edge, she saw that no one was there. The stump began to move, and suddenly the girl felt herself being lifted off the ground and into the air. As she looked at the tree stump, she noticed that it had eyes. The eyes were staring right at her. Then, before she could scream, the tree stump opened its mouth.

For more spooky ideas, check out this list of over 110 horror story ideas .

How do you write a ghost story?

The basic structure of a ghost story includes an opening sequence that presents the reader with a situation that seems normal but is actually supernatural in nature. The protagonist then encounters the ghost and experiences events that are often strange and frightening, leading up to a climax where the ghost is defeated or disappears. Writing a ghost story is the same as writing a horror story . Before you start writing you need a good ghost story plot idea, like the list above. Both ghost stories and horror stories have a set of characters, a spooky setting, an opening, a middle part and a dramatic ending.

What is the shortest ghost story?

The shortest ghost story is just two sentences long. It was written by Frederic Brown in 1948. The story reads: “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door …” Just by reading these two sentences, we can imagine a scary situation. There are two key themes used here, the fear of loneliness and the surprise element at the end. Both these are important themes in ghost stories.

What makes a ghost story scary?

Ghost stories are typically scary as they focus on death and going into the unknown. But the key to a scary ghost story is fear. It is important to make the reader feel uneasy or frightened. Here are some key elements of a good ghost story:

An encounter with a ghost or spirit
A supernatural force that can be both good and evil
Sense of dread
The feeling of being watched or followed
Feeling helpless
Being lonely or lost

Just like all stories, a ghost story must include these basic elements of a story : Characters, Setting, Plot, Conflict and Resolution.

How do you finish a ghost story?

Most ghost stories end with the haunting being explained away as something natural. This explanation can be a spiritual one (the ghost was a real person who died), or it can be a psychological one (the ghost was a product of the protagonist’s mind). The ghost story can also end with no explanation at all. Some ghost stories don’t even bother to give an explanation for the haunting, but let the reader figure it out themselves.

Did you find this list of over 25 ghost story prompts useful? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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🏆 Winning stories

“ the gingerbread cookies ” by aaron chin.

🏆 Winner of Contest #229

The Gingerbread Cookies Let’s go downstairs and bake some cookies, like mother used to make. The warm smell sits right at home in your nostrils, invading them like wild ax-murderers hacking and slashing their way through endless miles of human bodies that stand in the way of their inhumane, carnal desires. Shhh, shhh, but that’s too dark. It’s Christmas after all. So let’s go down...

“ Cerulean ” by AnneMarie Miles

🏆 Winner of Contest #223

The door is cerulean, a bright and vibrant blue, but really it is the color of my sudden uneasiness. The feeling creeps up me slowly, jumps out at me dauntingly, and I am frozen in it. If the door were a mirror – and how I wish it were as innocent as a mirror – I would see my face reflected back to me, and it would tell me to run.I’m not sure what’s more jarring: the fact that this door is a clashing contrast to the rest of the library décor, or the fact that I’ve never noticed the path we took to get here before. I supp...

“ Do Flamethrowers Belong In The Library? ” by Kenz Ross

🏆 Winner of Contest #211

We lose people all the time. It’s just the nature of the job. What can you expect from a place full of nooks and crannies people intentionally go to get lost in? I usually don’t worry when I don’t see someone for a while, but when it’s been days since someone’s checked out, it’s usually a sign that I need to step in. I’m not doing this alone, thankfully. No Librarian i...

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“ dead to write ” by cameron navarre.

Submitted to Contest #266

My faithful readers,In the pages of this monthly column, I have revealed to you the mysterious doings of some of the most curious and eccentric persons on this earth. Over the years of your faithful readership, you’ve followed along on my adventures in meeting such elusive characters as the Bayou Swamp Preacher, the Magician Salesman, and the Mob Exorcist. Although I’m proud of my chronicles thus far, there had been one particularly evanescent figure of great importance who had evaded my attention…until now. Join me as I regale my encou...

“ Melpomone ” by David Coyle

Melpomene The last eddy of pink disappeared, returning the ceramic to an off-white. Theo rubbed a marigold thumb against a dark mark with a squeak. It didn’t budge, and was unpleasantly sharp against his skin. Not detritus, but a chip in the sink. A dropped utensil perhaps. This was an old kitchen, both in age and style. It was a perfect match to the old woman lying on her back on the terracotta tiles. She was surrounded by a dark halo that still oozed sluggishly outwards. The circumference of the halo had a very slight smudge, ...

“ Hair Soup in Tupelo ” by Philip Alexander

*There are mentions of sexual themes.Gorky sang a hymn at the altar of Saint Jude's Church in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was the only pale-skinned teenager in a congregation of African American churchgoers. His voice was ineffectual, and the choir kept sneaking glances when it cracked and whined. Patrice, the soprano, shot a vexing look, prompting Gorky to lip-sync the rest of the chorus. You're right, Patrice. I should banish myself to the fires of hell where my voice would serve as a torturing device. And so he held his tongue. Finally, "I wi...

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The day started like any other. I woke to the sound of Steve Miller’s "The Joker," the opening drumbeat sending a jolt through my spine. I jumped out of bed, ready to tackle the day. I’m a writer, a damn good one, and this damn good writer has deadlines.After going through the usual routine of bathroom, breakfast, teeth and shower, I sat down to return to the chapter I’d left unfinished. It gnawed at me all night and I was eager to dive back in. Writing was my passion, my religion. It wasn’t easy and it sure as hell didn’t pay well but this ...

“ The First Death ” by Justin J. Harris

I won. Blood drips thick into the drain. They sound like the haunting ticks of a clicking clock. I grip the basin. “I’m… I’m fucking done,” I say, peering into the mirror to look behind me at the hotel bed. At the bloodied, torn shirt with grimed palm trees printed on it.Somewhere, a phone rings. ****“Wow, Vieja! This is the last comp before … you know who,” said Javi, his thumbs locked and his fingers wiggling above his head.“He’s Dracula, not Voldermort. You can say his name.”Javi chuckled. “Sorry, but the thought of meeting...

“ Rapture ” by Joshua Petty

Everything was poised perfectly. A cornucopia of inspiration surrounded Cassidy Flemming, and yet he stood, seized, with the sharp tingling smell of white spirits burning his nose, the bright white canvas burning his eyes, and the warm reassuring weight of the paintbrush burning his heart with its betrayal. Cassidy threw the brush down with disgust, rocking the small table beside the easel. He hadn't been able to paint anything in months so here he was surrounded by all the required elements for the ritual with the Conduit. He looked over th...

“ Ritual Inspiration ” by Les P

September 6th, 2024 It's been so long since Milo died. I've become a worse author without him around. My characters are flat, my pacing stunted. We used to talk for hours about the ideas that were rattling around in my head. When they stay in my brain, they just suffocate. But once he put his touch on them, they came to life in a way I could never accomplish on my own. He was my muse, my best beta reader. And for the past two years, I've written nothing of worth. I miss him so much. That's why I've resolved myself to fix this situation, what...

“ Tales We Never Told ” by Nita A Mozzi

In the middle of the room, my suitcase stays open, half-packed. I sit cross-legged on my bed, looking down at my phone, writing down the last personal details before I can receive an electronic boarding pass. Once I’m done I reach out towards my bedside table, and my fingers brush the hard surface of the paperback copy of Tales We Never Told. I lift it up from its sacred place, drawing circles on the hard paper with my finger tips. I let it go, and stare as it falls down with an abrupt thud. I won’t need it where I am going. A cryptic sile...

“ The Night at Solomon's and the Days After ” by Emily Brown

At her desk, wrapped in her dad’s old jumper, Sylvia Lamb stares at a lump of clay. She hasn’t touched it in the last hour, only every so often reaching out, struck by an idea before flinching away, sure that it was wrong. Before enrolling in university, Sylvia had no problem creating, in fact her room in her mum’s house was filled with sculptures. Six months later and half a term into her new school and she was stuck, paralysed; as unmoving as one of her pieces. Around h...

“ Can you see me? ” by James Moore

Session No 3‘Good morning Sarah, please come in, have a seat’Mr Mavers requested in an officious yet friendly tone. He spoke softly and carefully, in a manner that was calming but skirting on patronising.‘It’s lovely to see you again, you ARE looking well. How has everything been? I can see here in my notes that last time we spoke we discussed the Idea of your writing down your thoughts and feelings in a journal. And you were quite dismissive of the idea at first. Did you manage to write anything down?’‘I’ve written some things. Stupid ...

“ Click. ” by Dreux Long

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“ Oh, Muse. Oh, Catharsis! ” by Lonnie Russo

My legs were on fire by the time they left the ground. I surged upward like a spark, stretching my arms toward the ceiling—grabbing, reaching. I landed hard on my calloused soles. Once more, then, I leapt, gaining height. The third jump took me higher still, and as I returned to the floor, catching sight of myself in the mirror, I rolled my whole body downward.I found a strange foundation there in the scuffed surface, and I allowed this discovery to take root in the depths of my stomach. It tugged me to the ground like a magnet, providing mo...

“ The Unrequired Summoning ” by N A

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“ MuseConnect ” by S.L. Stallings

2:20 a.m. — Alma scrolled through her social media feed, unable to sleep. Dim light cast eerie shadows across a dozen unfinished canvases hanging in wait. Her creativity had dried up weeks ago. All that was left was anxiety and a sinking feeling that her parents were right.Art isn't a way to make a living.2:22 a.m. — An ad for 'MuseConnect' appeared. It blocked her scrolling and refused to close. Alma stared at the screen, eyes wide.Have you lost your edge? Need to do something spectacular to silence the parents? If you're a creati...

“ Harmony in Darkness ” by Joseph Ellis

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The Best Horror Short Stories

Horror stories. What is it that you think of first? Maybe it’s malevolent, otherworldly spirits. Or perhaps it’s psychopaths, serial killers, and struggling writers driven mad by a deserted hotel? Whatever it is, there’s one thing that unites you and every other horror lover out there — adrenaline. You know the feeling: your skin crawls, your heart pounds, a shiver runs down your spine. And, as all the best horror story writers will tell you, the cause of this feeling isn’t just the presence of a monster, but the creation of suspense.

That’s where short stories come in. Think Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft: some of their best horrors take the form of a short story. Tales that climb steadily towards a dark and horrific denouement. The kind of thing that, if you’re brave enough, you’d tell your friends around a campfire — a torch casting spooky shadows on your face.

Looking for some spine-chilling horror stories?

If you’re into creepy stories that keep you awake at night, then look no further than our collection of short horror stories, compiled from submissions to our weekly writing contest. Here we’ve gathered together all the scary stories that made us want to lock our laptops in a cupboard and hide under the blankets. And at the top of the page, is the cream of the crop: horror stories that have either won our competition or been shortlisted.

Lots of promising new writers have emerged from this collection, deftly creating atmosphere and building that all-important suspense. So who knows? You might just discover the next Stephen King. And if you enjoy this collection of horror stories, then why not try your hand at writing your own? You could join this week’s short story contest , and walk away with the cash prize — and a shot at publication in Prompted , our new literary magazine!

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Movies — Horror

Essays on Horror

The importance of writing an essay on horror.

Writing an essay on horror is essential for several reasons, as it allows individuals to explore the genre's significance, impact, and cultural relevance. Horror literature, films, and art have long been integral parts of human culture, reflecting societal fears, anxieties, and taboos. By delving into the genre through essays, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of its complexities and contributions to literature, cinema, and art.

One of the primary reasons for writing an essay on horror is to explore fear and its profound effect on human psychology and society. Horror confronts us with our deepest fears and forces us to confront the darker aspects of human nature. By analyzing horror works, individuals can gain insights into human behavior, emotions, and the human condition itself.

Furthermore, essays on horror allow us to understand the cultural and social dynamics that shape the genre. Horror often reflects the fears and anxieties prevalent in society during specific historical periods. By examining horror works within their cultural contexts, individuals can gain valuable insights into societal norms, values, and concerns.

Moreover, writing essays on horror provides an opportunity to examine the literary and cinematic techniques used to evoke fear and suspense. From Gothic literature to contemporary horror films, the genre employs a wide range of stylistic devices, symbolism, and narrative structures to create chilling experiences for audiences. By analyzing these techniques, individuals can deepen their appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship behind horror works.

Essays on horror also challenge assumptions and stereotypes associated with the genre. While horror is often dismissed as mere entertainment or dismissed as lowbrow, it encompasses a diverse range of themes, styles, and perspectives. By critically evaluating horror works, individuals can challenge preconceived notions and recognize the genre's artistic and intellectual merits.

Finally, writing essays on horror encourages individuals to engage in meaningful discussions about important societal issues. Horror often addresses topics such as power dynamics, gender roles, identity, and morality in thought-provoking ways. By analyzing these themes in horror works, individuals can contribute to broader conversations about culture, politics, and human nature.

Writing essays on horror is essential for gaining insights into the genre's significance, exploring fear and humanity, understanding cultural dynamics, examining artistic techniques, challenging stereotypes, and engaging in meaningful discussions. Through thoughtful analysis and reflection, individuals can appreciate the richness and complexity of horror as a genre and its enduring impact on literature, cinema, and art.

What makes a good Horror essay topic

When it comes to choosing a horror essay topic, it's important to consider what will captivate and engage your audience. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, start by considering your own interests and fears. What scares you? What keeps you up at night? These personal experiences can serve as a great starting point for a horror essay topic. Additionally, consider the cultural and societal fears that are prevalent in today's world. What are people afraid of? These considerations can help you choose a horror essay topic that is relevant and thought-provoking. A good horror essay topic should be intriguing, thought-provoking, and capable of eliciting strong emotions from the reader.

Best Horror essay topics

The psychological impact of isolation in horror films
The role of the supernatural in modern horror literature
The evolution of the zombie in popular culture
The use of sound and music in creating horror in film
The portrayal of mental illness in horror movies
The significance of setting in gothic horror literature
The cultural significance of urban legends in modern society
The symbolism of monsters in horror literature
The impact of technology on the horror genre
The intersection of horror and comedy in film
The role of gender in horror storytelling
The influence of folklore on modern horror narratives
The portrayal of fear in contemporary horror literature
The impact of censorship on the horror genre
The representation of trauma in horror films
The use of suspense in horror storytelling
The depiction of evil in horror literature
The role of religion in horror narratives
The use of body horror in contemporary cinema
The impact of social media on horror storytelling

Horror essay topics Prompts

Write a horror story from the perspective of the monster.
Imagine a world where everyone's deepest fears come to life - what would this look like?
Write a horror essay exploring the concept of "survival horror" in video games.
Create a horror story set in a haunted house, but with a unique twist.
Write an essay analyzing the role of the final girl in slasher films and its impact on gender representation in horror.

The Reflection of Society's Fears in Horror Movies

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The Use of Genre Theory in The Horror Genre

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Stephen King and His Legacy in The Genre of Horror

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Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.

Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs. Cinematic techniques used in horror films have been shown to provoke psychological reactions in an audience.

Body horror, Comedy horror, Folk horror, Found footage horror, Gothic horror, Natural horror, Slasher film, Supernatural horror, Teen horror, Psychological horror.

Relevant topics

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Short horror story essay 8 Models

Topics in English
December 29, 2021

Short horror story essay is one of the popular intimidation methods that help parents in correcting children and improving their behavior in many educational aspects.

Through this article, we will provide you with many models that talk about stories of horror and intimidation that may help or influence the behavior of children, show the goals of horror stories, and the extent of the impact of these stories on improving children’s instincts, and strengthening their personality.

Short horror story essay

The school plays an important and significant role in educating children and improving their behaviour. In a similar article that talks about horror stories, the student can learn about the dimensions of these stories, the extent of their impact and why they are used.

The student can talk about his fears and terrifying situations he went through. The teacher can take advantage of these events and try to address these fears by guiding him and talking to him, or by making him research more about the dimensions of the problem and the benefits that he benefited from despite going through a terrifying situation.

At the beginning of the article we will put several points that show the goals that must be present within the topic, and several models will be created using these points inside them, so that the articles are useful for the student in case he wants to present them to the school, or if he wants to know the aspects that he should talk about inside a similar article he talks about the horror stories and the bad situations he was exposed to.

Objectives of the article

1- To obey orders.

2- Giving up bad behavior.

3- Repressing the evil instincts that are inside every human being.

4- Controlling the child in the safety zone next to the parents.

5- Planting correct means and methods through intimidation.

Several years ago, my father told me a story about a boy who went out without telling his family where he was going. And this was late at night. After he left, he met some children and played a little with them and enjoyed this, but because of the late time these children left him, some of them returned to their home alone, and some of them their families came to to pick them up, and he found himself alone in the end.

He decided to walk around for a while, so that he might encounter other children and continue playing with them. But after walking for a long time, he found that all the streets were empty, and it was dark everywhere, and he could no longer discern where he was, and that he was far from home and lost his way.

And whenever he tried to return from where he came, he found himself in dangerous areas with street dogs, and in order to avoid them, he kept entering other streets, until he lost the way completely. So he sat crying and did not find anyone to bring him home because all the people of the town were asleep.

The time at night was getting hard for this naughty little boy. Every minute that passes feels like it’s a long time and he’s so afraid of darkness and loneliness. And whenever he heard the sound of dogs howling, intensified in crying. And whenever he called his father, he did not come to take him, because he was far from the house and did not tell them that he was going out, and did not tell them where he was going.

Then he learned that he had made a big mistake and that his father would not come to look for him because he thought he was asleep. And he decided to try to call for help and search for any place where there are people and tell them what happened.

And he kept walking in the dark crying for a long time until he found some people, and told them his name, where he lived, and the name of the neighborhood in which he lived. Fortunately for him, they weren’t bad guys, and they brought this guy home.

The father was very angry with him for this behavior and punished him for a week for this behavior. But the boy was happy that he came home and learned the lesson well and knew that this wrong behavior was dangerous and could have lost his family for life.

While hearing this story, I was very afraid and put myself in the place of this boy, and I found myself learning from him what to do. And that I must tell my family where I am going, and watch the time, and take care of myself and not stay away from home. When I finish playing, I go home.

In the early morning, I was very careful to memorize my full name, the name of the neighborhood in which I live, the name of my mother, and the house number.

Although the story was scary for me, I learned a lot from it and had a reaction to every event that takes place in it.

Dear student, a basic form was submitted for the topic on short horror story essay, In addition to many other models such as, horror short story essay, creepy short horror story essay, a short horror story essay, short ghost story essay, short ghost story essay, scary short story essay, scary experience essay.

If you prefer to add any other topic, you can contact us through the comments of this article and we will study your request and add it as soon as possible.

horror short story essay

At the weekend I went on a trip with my friends to the forest. We took camping equipment, some food and water. The weather was nice, the trees were leafy, the birds were flying from tree to tree, the landscape was beautiful.

We wandered in the woods and ate the fruits on the trees, and as we wandered, a huge bear appeared in front of us, looked at us and prepared to attack us.

We were all very terrified, but the instructions reminded us not to run, not to scream, and to act calmly. I took out of my bag a self-defense spray bottle, which should be used in this case. But the bear left quietly and none of us were hurt.

creepy short horror story essay

I get up early and sit in the garden of the house, enjoying the fresh air, listening to the sound of birds, watching beautiful flowers and other beautiful landscapes, but yesterday something terrifying happened to me.

When I sat on the bench in the garden and was enjoying nature I felt something moving under the chair.

I quickly looked under the chair and found a large black snake.

It moves slowly, I felt very terrified and could not move, I remained frozen in my place, the snake crawled slowly and I looked at it with horror, until it moved away several meters, I called the competent authority immediately and a trained man came and caught the snake.

a short horror story essay

Last week I went with my family to the zoo, the weather was nice, and we were enjoying the nature, where there are a lot of green leafy trees and decorated with beautiful flowers and large areas that allow us to run and play, everything was beautiful.

Then we went to the animal cages and watched the animals from a distance.

But there is a person who got very close to the lion’s cage, even though there is a sign on it that says Do not go near the animal cages.

He was not satisfied with that, but he extended his hand into the cage, and the lion grabbed his hand with force, and this person was unable to rid his hand of the lion’s fangs.

The man screamed loudly from the severity of the pain, and the guard came quickly and tried to give the lion a piece of meat to leave the man’s hand, but to no avail.

The veterinarian quickly intervened and gave the lion an anesthetic injection, and the man was able to get his hand out of the cage, but it had many wounds and was taken to the hospital. It was really terrifying moments.

Short ghost story essay

There are many people who feel terrified in the dark, and my brother is very afraid of the dark and feels terrified and imagines frightening things.

So when the electricity went out and the house became dark. I went to his room quietly without feeling, and stood in front of him, making some strange sounds.

My brother jumped quickly and came out of the room saying a ghost of a ghost, but he hit the wall and cut his head and bled a lot, it was a big wound.

At that time I was telling him don’t be afraid, I am your brother, but he was very frightened. I was very sorry for him and regretted that I had caused him to feel terrified and made him crash into the wall.

And I told him I was just trying to joke with you and I wouldn’t do it again but you should train yourself not to be afraid of the dark.

A Short Scary Story Essay

Last weekend I went with my friends on a fishing trip. We chartered a fishing boat with all our fishing gear and went into the sea for a long distance, so that we could see neither the beach nor the city.

We started fishing and we were very happy because there are many fish and they are also big, and the weather was nice.

Suddenly strong winds blew and the waves rose, and the fishing boat was swinging with us over the water, up and down, and we couldn’t control it.

At this time we felt so afraid that we would drown.The fishing boat cannot withstand these bad weather conditions.

But after a while the wind calmed down a bit and we miraculously survived.

Scary short story essay

Last weekend I went with my colleagues on a school trip to one of the archaeological sites, and we had some teachers with us organizing the trip and supervising our transfers.

We entered a museum that houses great antiquities and stood listening to the tour guide talking about the history of these antiquities.

I was fascinated and listened to the tour guide with great interest, so that I did not feel the departure of my colleagues and teachers, as they left the museum and got on the bus and left this place and did not feel my absence.

When I found myself alone in the museum, I felt very afraid and searched for them all over the museum, but I could not find them, so my fear increased and my crying became louder.

Suddenly I found one of the teachers entering the museum and looking for me, so I ran towards him and grabbed his hand and felt safe.

Scary Experience Essay

At the end of the year I had a frightening experience. I went to the beach and decided to snorkel, so I bought wetsuits, put them on, and dived into the sea. But it was not what I expected and almost drowned.

I was so scared when I found myself unable to dive, and could not swim to the top.

It was a difficult situation but one of the lifeguards on the beach saw me, knew I was going to drown and ran to save me.

Therefore, I advise others to learn before we do anything that might endanger our lives.

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The Deliverance true story: Where is Latoya Ammons now?

Lee Daniels' horror movie has been a Netflix hit.

preview for The Deliverance – official trailer (Netflix)

The Deliverance true story

Where is latoya ammons now, where is the house from the deliverance.

The Deliverance continues to be the most-watched movie on Netflix worldwide following its release on the streaming service on August 30.

Its opening weekend saw it scare up 14.5 million views , a number that's sure to rise as more people discover the much-talked about horror movie .

If it's not for that viral Glenn Close line , The Deliverance has been getting people talking about the fact that it's said to have been "inspired by terrifying true events".

While The Deliverance has changed names and locations from real life, it is based on the life of Latoya Ammons, even if director Lee Daniels took creative license with many of the details.

So if you want to know more about what happened to Latoya Ammons, we're here to help.

caleb mcglaughlin, anthony b jenkins, mo'nique, the deliverance

Latoya Ammons moved to a new house in Gary, Indiana in November 2011 along with her mother, Rose Campbell, and her three children, aged 7, 9 and 12.

Soon, the family reported strange occurrences, like hearing footsteps down in the basement, seeing shadowy figures around the house and finding boot prints on the kitchen floor.

In an article published by Indianapolis Star in 2014 (which had access to a detailed 800-page report including more than a dozen interviews with police, psychologists, family members and a Catholic priest), the family recalled seeing flies everywhere and hearing the "creak of the door opening between the basement and kitchen".

Ammons also described witnessing her children levitating above their beds, getting injured by flying objects and speaking in strange voices.

anthony b jenkins as andre, the deliverance

By March 2012, the alleged supernatural incidents had escalated so much that Ammons and her mother decided to contact the local churches, but most refused to help them.

Finally, one church official agreed to visit them and recommended cleaning the house with bleach and ammonia to get rid of the spirits. Ammons also used oil to draw crosses on every door and window, as well as on her children's foreheads. A clairvoyant told the family to set up an altar in her basement too, with an opened Bible on Psalm 91.

These measures lasted only three days before the possessions started again.

The Indianapolis Star article recounts numerous incidents that happened in the following days and weeks, from the kids being choked by an invisible force to the youngest one having conversations about death with a spirit in the closet.

Some nights were so bad the family slept at a hotel, reported the outlet, but they couldn't move out because of their difficult financial situation.

The Deliverance was inspired by these events, but the story leaves some alleged incidents out.

For example, the family's disastrous visit to their physician, Dr Geoffrey Onyeukwu. It was claimed that Ammons' children cursed the doctor in demonic voices, and their increasingly aggressive behaviour prompted someone to call the police.

Around that time, an agent from Indiana's Department of Child Services (DCS), Valerie Washington, started an investigation for a possible case of child abuse and neglect following an unnamed complaint.

Ammons later reached out to a local priest, Reverend Michael Maginot, who after extensive investigation of the case performed three exorcisms at his Merrillville church, in June 2012, and blessed the home to rid it of evil spirits.

In their joint investigation, they found the demons haunting them had names, including Beelzebub and other demons that torture and hurt kids, which Ammons felt explained everything that had been happening to her family.

By this point, Latoya Ammons had temporarily lost custody of her children.

"The story sort of sat with me for forever," director Lee Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter .

"We had never seen this story, through this lens of this African American woman, onscreen, and I just felt we're in such dark times, and I don't think people really know how dark of times we are in. And I felt like I needed to get reconnected to my higher power."

andra day, anthony b jenkins, the deliverance

After she was separated from her kids and Reverend Maginot performed the exorcisms on her, Latoya Ammons moved back to Indianapolis, out of the house.

In November 2012, Ammons regained custody of her three children. They kept being watched closely by the DCS to make sure the children were okay, until the case was closed over a year later.

The ending includes a picture of Latoya Ammons, but no details of her whereabouts or circumstances today.

Director Lee Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter that he talked with Ammons and her family during the making of the film.

"I did in the very beginning. [They were] so gracious. It's my interpretation of her life story. I purposely didn't want to meet her because I was nervous. But I spoke to her, I believe once or twice, in the beginning. And she's lovely. She was at peace.

"What I've changed a little bit is I made her mother white because I have so many mixed-race friends and [I wanted to talk about] what it's like to have a white mother and live in a Black girl's body. And the deliverance person was actually a guy and not a girl.

"But there are so many women that do this work too, that don't get recognised, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and such. I really wanted to separate as much as I could so I could make it my own story."

If you're talking about the house in the movie, then The Deliverance is set in Pittsburgh which is another change from the true story.

Ammons and her family lived in Indiana on Carolina Street, and as the end credits of the movie revealed, their house doesn't exist anymore: "The house remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016. Strange occurrences are still reported around the property to this day."

The house was bought by Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans in 2014 as part of a documentary he was making, which would also feature the demolition of the house in 2016.

"Something was inside that house that had the ability to do things that I have never seen before – things that others carrying the highest forms of credibility couldn't explain either," he told Indy Star .

"There was something there that was very dark yet highly intelligent and powerful."

Bagans's documentary Demon House is not available to watch in the UK, but you can stream it on Prime Video if you're in the US.

The Deliverance is now available to watch on Netflix.

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Deputy Movies Editor, Digital Spy Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over seven years, mostly for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas .

Her work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema in the UK.

She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service . During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world, and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. Now based in the UK, Mireia joined Digital Spy in June 2023 as Deputy Movies Editor.

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Reflecting on sharing my personal connection to 9/11 with the world, a year later

Last september, i shared a deeply personal event from 23 years ago that had a significant impact on my family, by gabriella ferrigine.

My mom is a 9/11 survivor, a title that, like survivors of most any traumatic occurrence, has no resplendent quality. It’s a weighty badge, earned from a day marred by fear, death and an irrevocable connection to something huge and horrible.

And yet, it’s a title that I felt I’d inherited in part through her experience. For as long as I can remember, the events of that day have been present with me, soldered deeply into my psyche, though I wasn’t there to witness them firsthand. It was a confusing amalgam of emotions, largely compounded by my mom’s general reticence to discuss the topic outside of a personal account she self-published several years ago to process her yearslong PTSD . I struggled to know if I had the right to grieve something that happened to her, and not to me.

Not exactly a secret, my complicated thoughts and feelings about my deeply personal connection to New York’s darkest day had always registered internally as something furtive. When the opportunity to publish my story in The New York Times arose, I still struggled with how to feel. On the one hand, I was overwhelmingly excited to have a byline in one of my favorite publications, a long-held dream of mine. Still, I wondered if sharing my conflicted emotions about how I should — and whether I could grieve 9/11 — would register as insincere, or worse, offend those whose friends and family didn’t come home that day.

These sentiments were further muddled by what I feel has been a prevailing cultural attitude toward 9/11 and other devastating events as the years unfurl. It’s true that while time can’t heal wounds entirely, it can assuage the pain they inflict. It can also numb us to the reality of how horrible something was.

It’s true that while time can’t heal wounds entirely, it can assuage the pain they inflict.

I recall a recent conversation among friends in which someone cracked a “9/11 joke.” A few brief, halfhearted laughs gave way to stale air, where the jest hung heavily as the group took mental stock of my presence. I wasn’t offended, per se. But the sort of memeification of tragedy, in which it's haphazardly cast into a nebulous scion of the “dark humor” genre, feels an altogether ethical sticky terrain.

On another occasion, the parents of a close friend, who are from the Midwest, candidly admitted to me that while they had been shaken by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center , they couldn’t begin to empathize with how it affected those from the greater New York area. In short, it’s not that it wasn’t a big deal to them, it just didn’t land as acutely as it did for those of us who lived in and around Manhattan in the late summer of 2001.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter , Crash Course.

On the day my essay was published in The Times, around 7 a.m. several days before the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, the first thing I did was read the comments. There are 364 posted, and the comment section is now locked. The majority of them were vignettes, in which NYT readers from near and far recalled their own 9/11 story: where they were, what they were doing, an anecdote about their family member or friend who survived, just as my mom did. Some offered condolences to me, my mom, and my family. Others openly affirmed my right to grieve.

In the days that followed, other readers wrote me kind emails expressing their appreciation for the piece. Some were the children of 9/11 survivors like me, who claimed my story had validated their own in part, projecting a version of the deep-seated tension in their own lives. Some were sufferers of different forms of peripheral grief — the sibling of a terminally ill person, the child of a Holocaust survivor.

I can’t say I had an ostensible goal when I set out to write my 9/11 essay, other than holding the hearts and pain of all those impacted in high regard and doing justice to those whose lives were claimed that day. As I look back on the process of penning those jumbled thoughts into a coherent package, I can say it was undeniably cathartic for me. Ironically, though, this therapeutic sensation — rooted in an intimate family story — came largely from the story’s broader solidarity. So much of my story is about me and my mom — how I’m forever grateful that she came home to our family that day when so many other mothers didn’t, how speaking with her at length about the generational trauma of 9/11 helped us to come to terms with our grief individually and together. But it’s also a narrative of collective grief, an entity so expansive that trying to capture its meaning in one story and one day alone would be entirely futile.

As my mom told me during my reporting for the essay, “For a long time, I didn’t want to share my 9/11 experience because I was humbled by the experiences of others. But after I wrote my memoir, so many people told me that they had seen themselves in a story that was distinctively mine. And that’s how I felt today — looking at images of women being carried by men in suits, seeing the fear on people’s faces, reliving it all. That was me. That was all of us."

After writing my essay and reading people’s reactions to it, I felt the same way. That shared sentiment reflected profoundly in the joint trauma my mother and I have around 9/11, made me only feel more strongly connected to others who also felt they didn’t have the license to mourn. It’s my sincere hope that when people encounter my story, it helps them gain a sense of clarity about their own grief, whatever it is.

I hope it helps them to never forget.

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Empty words: How Bush and Giuliani failed to capture the moment on 9/11
What I remember about the dust
How 9/11 helped define this generation’s new brand of patriotism

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

Gisele Pelicot recounts 'scenes of horror' as French trial is told husband drugged and raped her for a decade

Topic: Courts and Trials

An older woman with a brown bob wearing round sunglasses speaks into multiple microphones looking sad

Gisele Pelicot waived her right to anonymity in order to make the trial of her husband public. ( AP: Lewis Joly )

WARNING: The details in this story may be distressing to some readers.

Speaking slowly and clearly, Gisele Pelicot told the courtroom how her life as she knew it fell apart one day in 2020.

Local French police had invited her to speak to them after her husband was arrested for filming up women's skirts in the town of Mazan, where they had lived since 2013.

The investigators showed her an image of herself, unconscious in her bedroom.

A man who was not her husband was raping her as she lay motionless on the bed — a still from one of dozens of videos involving dozens of men.

"For me, everything is falling apart. Everything I have built up over 50 years," Ms Pelicot said.

A decade of sexual abuse orchestrated and filmed by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, is now the subject of a trial where Ms Pelicot waived her right to anonymity in order for the crimes to be made public.

Mr Pelicot has admitted to the charges against him.

"The police saved my life," Gisele Pelicot told the court in the southern city of Avignon, referring to her husband only by his last name, who is accused of repeatedly drugging her with a cocktail of medication before inviting men into their home to rape her while unconscious, and filming the assaults.

The trial, which began on Monday, will run for four months, with dozens of men including Mr Pelicot charged with a range of offences.

Ms Pelicot gave evidence for 90 minutes, recounting how she had begun to believe she had Alzheimer's after years of strange memory lapses and other health problems.

"For me, everything collapses," she testified. "These are scenes of barbarity, of rape."

'Scenes of horror'

At that initial meeting with police, Ms Pelicot was shown "barbaric" pictures of her being sexually assaulted by multiple men including her husband, taken at different times over a 10-year period.

Mr Pelicot, aged 71, listened to her evidence with his head bowed.

"Frankly, these are scenes of horror for me," she said, composed throughout her harrowing evidence.

An older woman wearing a white shirt over a red dress walks to a courtroom surrounded by people

Ms Pelicot was supported by her children throughout the first week of her husband's trial. ( AP: Lewis Joly )

"They treat me like a rag doll," she told five judges, adding she had only been able to watch the video footage in May this year.

She said that none of her abusers alerted the police.

"Even an anonymous phone call could have saved my life," Ms Pelicot said.

Lawyers for some of the defendants had questioned on Wednesday whether the couple had had an open relationship, or whether it was credible that Ms Pelicot had noticed nothing for the entire decade of the abuse.

"Don't talk to me about sex scenes. These are rape scenes," she said on Thursday.

After learning of her husband's crimes, she left their shared home with two suitcases, "all that was left for me of 50 years of life together."

Since then, she said, "I no longer have an identity. … I don't know if I'll ever rebuild myself."

'Speaking for every woman'

Ms Pelicot reiterated that she was "never complicit" and had never "pretended to be asleep" when asked by Judge Roger Arata, who is leading a panel of five judges.

During her testimony, she said she wanted to draw attention to the dangers of sexual crimes through drugging someone with malicious intent.

"I'm speaking for every woman who's been drugged without knowing it," she said.

"Many women don't have the proof. I have the proof of what I've been through," she said.

She also told the accused to "for once in your lives at least, take responsibility for your actions".

"I feel disgusted," she added.

"I've lost ten years of my life," she said, adding that inside she was a "field of ruins".

Ms Pelicot is in the process of divorcing her husband.

She was supported by her daughter and two sons, who accompanied her to court.

Speaking to reporters outside court, her lawyer said Ms Pelicot had received messages of support from around the world.

"A very important step has begun this morning," he said.

Folder labelled 'abuse'

Mr Pelicot documented his actions with meticulous precision on a hard drive in a folder labelled "abuse", lead investigator Jeremie Bosse Platiere said.

The investigators counted about 200 instances of rape, most of them by her husband and more than 90 by strangers, with 72 men taking part in total.

Fifty of those have been tracked down by police and are on trial alongside Mr Pelicot.

The other 21 men were not able to be identified from the footage taken during the crimes.

Ms Pelicot said she had recognised only one of her alleged rapists, a man who had come to discuss cycling with her husband at their home.

"I saw him now and then in the bakery, I would say hello, I never thought he'd come and rape me," she said.

The assaults took place between July 2011 and October 2020, mainly in the couple's home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 people in the southern region of Provence.

Most of the suspects face up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape if convicted.

Eighteen of the 51 accused are in custody, including Mr Pelicot, with 32 others also charged.

A medical expert said that the alleged rapists were not made to wear condoms and that Ms Pelicot had contracted four sexually transmitted infections as a result of the sexual assaults.

Outside court, Ms Pelicot spoke briefly to detail the pressure of the trial on her.

"This is not easy and there is also the pressure from all of the individuals who are behind me. I can feel when there are questions that are trying to trap me so I am trying to answer as best I can and we will fight until the end, of course."

Peep these 20 new scary movies for Halloween, from 'Saw X' to 'The Exorcist: Believer'

What scares you the most? Demon children? Serial killers? Aliens invading your home? Murderous animatronic animals come to life while you chow down on substandard pizza?

Well, this spooky season at the movies has got it all. Halloween's the time when folks start figuring out their costume situation, bundling up for the incoming chill (and chillers) and getting into the spirit by watching a whole bunch of horror films . There are many options for all manner of fear factor, including high-profile new chapters from "The Conjuring," "Saw" and "The Exorcist" franchises.

So while you weigh going full- or fun-size with your candy bars, here are 20 new movies to prepare for Halloween:

'Blood Flower'

The Malaysian horror film centers on a teenage faith healer and exorcist who's haunted by vision of ghosts and spirits from other dimensions. One of them gets too close and begins to make his life hell, and the kid has to utilize all his supernatural mojo to save his loved ones.

Where to watch: Shudder .

Director Pablo Larraín follows "Jackie" and "Spencer" with ... a horror comedy. The satire reimagines Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire (Jaime Vadell) who's tired of the bloodsucking and wants to end it all, though the people around him aren't ready to let go quite yet.

Where to watch: Netflix .

'El Conde': How director Pablo Larraín uses horror to add thought-provoking bite to history

'My Animal'

Here's a different sort of beauty and the beast situation: The horror romance stars Amandla Stenberg as an outcast teenage goalie who falls for the figure skater (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) new to their northern town. A relationship develops between them, which unlocks one's very primal side.

Where to watch: In theaters and on demand.

'The Nun 2'

The ninth installment in the "Conjuring"-verse, this period sequel catches up with heroic Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) as she's called in to help when it appears the demonic Valak (Bonnie Aarons) has returned. This time around, the haunting lady is tearing a bloody swath through Europe and seeking a powerful holy relic.

Where to watch: In theaters.

Ranked: All 'The Conjuring' horror movies, including new sequel 'The Nun 2'

'Satanic Hispanics'

Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month comes an anthology of shorts by five different Latino filmmakers. Police raid a house in El Paso, Texas, and find a bunch of dead Latinos and one survivor (Efren Ramirez). During questioning, he tells tales of demons, terrifying creatures, the undead and legends from Latin American folklore.

'Elevator Game'

Based on the real-life urban legend of the same name, a group of teens set out to debunk the online challenge, which if you ride an elevator in a specific sequence, you invoke a supernatural creature called the 5th Floor Woman. The kids play the game, don't follow the rules and the sinister spirit follows them home.

'It Lives Inside'

In this South Asian spin on the demonic thriller, Megan Suri plays a high school kid who rejects her Indian culture and family in order to fit in better, yet finds she has to lean into that tradition and heritage for salvation when a mythological spirit attaches itself to her ex-best friend.

Fall movie preview: 10 must-see films, from 'Killers of the Flower Moon' to 'Saw X' and 'Priscilla'

'No One Will Save You'

In this sci-fi psychological thriller, Kaitlyn Dever plays a young woman who's a pariah in her small town and almost never leaves the house. But that sanctuary becomes much less safe when extraterrestrials arrive and she has to fight to survive the night and avoid whatever nefarious plans they have for her.

Where to watch: Hulu .

'Deliver Us'

A team of priests is tasked by the Vatican to visit a remote convent when a nun (Maria Vera Ratti) claims she's pregnant with twins via immaculate conception. And for good reason: The church fears of an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to both the Messiah and the Antichrist.

In a new installment set between the first and second "Saw" films, John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka "the Jigsaw Killer," goes down to Mexico for a miracle cure for his cancer. It turns out to be a scam, and those shifty con artists become the latest victims of Kramer's signature sadistic torture traps.

It's a trap! All of the goriest 'Saw' horror devices, ranked (including new 'Saw X' movie)

'The Exorcist: Believer'

Fifty years after the original "Exorcist" scared the bejeezus out of everyone, director David Gordon Green's new direct sequel to the 1973 classic returns Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, who's called in to help when two young girls go missing in the woods and return days later with the devil inside them.

'It's not cheap scares': How 'The Exorcist: Believer' nods to original, charts new path

'Pet Sematary: Bloodlines'

Jud Crandall, the wise old neighbor from Stephen King 's 1983 novel and the 1989 movie adaptation, gets an origin story with this 1960s-set prequel based on a chapter of the original book. Young Jud (Jackson White) dreams of leaving his rural hometown, yet circumstances instead lead to him confronting a dark family legacy.

Where to watch: Paramount+ .

The 10 essential Stephen King movies: Ranking iconic horror author’s books turned films

'Totally Killer'

After 35 years, the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer“ returns on Halloween and 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) comes face to face with the maniac. While running for her life, she accidentally time-travels back to 1987 and gets help taking on the villain from an unlikely partner: her then-teen mom (Olivia Holt).

Where to watch: Prime Video .

The sixth film in the found-footage anthology series takes the scares back to the mid-1980s with five new tales by various directors, including "The Black Phone" filmmaker Scott Derrickson. The stories run the gamut from youngsters on a lake ski trip gone wrong, early virtual reality leading to something sinister, and a TV crew fighting a natural disaster.

In what is no one's dream first week on the job, a rookie paramedic (Elena Kampouris) becomes the target of a masked, spear-wielding serial killer in the midst of tearing a bloody swath through a paranoid city in the urban thriller, which also features Sean Astin and Jeremy Piven.

'When Evil Lurks'

Ezequiel Rodríguez and Demián Salomón star as brothers who discover a mutilated corpse with a demonic infection near their farmhouse that threatens their livestock. Unfortunately, they don't perform the proper rites of exorcism, leading to a supernatural plague breaking out in their rural community.

Where to watch: In theaters (and on Shudder and AMC+ Oct. 27).

'In the Fire'

Set in the 1890s, the movie stars Amber Heard as a New York doctor who travels to a remote plantation to help a boy with strange abilities. The special care doesn't go unnoticed, as the local priest ignites a war of science vs. religion when he believes the kid is possessed by the devil and the cause for many of the village's problems.

'Dear David'

After responding to online trolls, a comic artist (Augustus Prew) experiences sleep paralysis and chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences around his apartment via tweets, believing he's haunted by a dead child's ghost. He's encouraged by his boss to continue the freaky thread, even if it means losing his grip on reality.

'Suitable Flesh' (Oct. 27)

In an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Thing on the Doorstep," Heather Graham stars as a psychiatrist harboring an obsession for a young patient with multiple personality disorder that leads to murder, madness and occult weirdness linked to an ancient curse.

'Five Nights at Freddys' (Oct. 27)

Chuck E. Cheese and his furry crew seemed like a pretty shifty lot back in the day. But it's Freddy Fazbear and Co. who give a night-shift security guard (Josh Hutcherson) the willies during his first day on the job in the horror film based on the video game.

Where to watch: In theaters and on Peacock .

Ranked: The best horror movies of 2023 so far (from 'The Pope's Exorcist' to 'Talk to Me')

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In 'We're Alone,' Edwidge Danticat's essays extend an invitation to be together

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A photo illustration shows a paper airplane made of the U.S. Constitution crashing into the ground. It is against a colorful background.

Critic’s Notebook

The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?

One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.

Credit... Photo illustration by Ben Denzer

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By Jennifer Szalai

Aug. 31, 2024

The United States Constitution is in trouble. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, he called for the “ termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” Outraged critics denounced him for threatening a document that is supposed to be “sacrosanct.” By announcing his desire to throw off constitutional constraints in order to satisfy his personal ambitions, Trump was making his authoritarian inclinations abundantly clear.

It’s no surprise, then, that liberals charge Trump with being a menace to the Constitution . But his presidency and the prospect of his re-election have also generated another, very different, argument: that Trump owes his political ascent to the Constitution, making him a beneficiary of a document that is essentially antidemocratic and, in this day and age, increasingly dysfunctional.

After all, Trump became president in 2016 after losing the popular vote but winning the Electoral College (Article II). He appointed three justices to the Supreme Court (Article III), two of whom were confirmed by senators representing just 44 percent of the population (Article I). Those three justices helped overturn Roe v. Wade, a reversal with which most Americans disagreed . The eminent legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, worried about opinion polls showing “a dramatic loss of faith in democracy,” writes in his new book, “No Democracy Lasts Forever”: “It is important for Americans to see that these failures stem from the Constitution itself.”

Back in 2018, Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley’s law school, still seemed to place considerable faith in the Constitution, pleading with fellow progressives in his book “We the People” “not to turn their back on the Constitution and the courts.” By contrast, “No Democracy Lasts Forever” is markedly pessimistic. Asserting that the Constitution, which is famously difficult to amend , has put the country “in grave danger,” Chemerinsky lays out what would need to happen for a new constitutional convention — and, in the book’s more somber moments, he entertains the possibility of secession . West Coast states might form a nation called “Pacifica.” Red states might form their own country. He hopes that any divorce, if it comes, will be peaceful.

The prospect of secession sounds extreme, but in suggesting that the Constitution could hasten the end of American democracy, Chemerinsky is far from alone. The argument that what ails the country’s politics isn’t simply the president, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, but the founding document that presides over all three, has been gaining traction, especially among liberals. Books and op-eds critiquing the Constitution have proliferated. Scholars are arguing that the Constitution has incentivized what Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt call a “Tyranny of the Minority.”

The anguish is, in some sense, a flip side of veneration. Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us; a growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.

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132 Best Horror Writing Prompts and Scary Story Ideas
Although many horror writing prompts and scary ideas have been written, the following 132 horror writing prompts can spark great creativity in aspiring writers of the horror genre. A family is on a camping trip. The parents are walking with their two children, a daughter and a son. The little boy trips and falls into a dark river.
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