Horror writing in Scots

Building tension You can build tension in a story by deliberately using only short sentences. Read the example on the next slide. How many words are used in each sentence?

Somebody’s ootside Somebody’s ootside. Ye hear it? At the windae? It’s locked, eh? The door? Ye locked it? Mibbe it’s nothin. The wund. Ken. Or thae trees. A dug. Or a tod. Or some eejit. Rattlin aboot. Ootside oor hoose. It’s no funny. Ah hate that. Folk bein stupit. Windin ye up. Wheesht! Shut it! Ye hear that? That’s nae dug.

Short sentences Practice writing in short sentences. Each sentence can be 1 word 2 words or 3 words long – but no more than 3 words.

Some 1, 2, 3 sentences Ah’m feart. Ah’m ragin. Ah dinnae ken. Dinnae dae it. Somebdy’s oot there. Wha is it? Ah cannae see. That’s pure boggin!

Time to scare your readers . . . Write a story which begins with an ordinary situation but quickly becomes terrifying. What scares you? What’s your greatest fear? Use these fears to help you write a scary horror story in Scots. Below are two examples to get you started.

DEID Somebody’s ahint me. I ken it. Follaein me. I hear fitsteps. I stap. They stap. I stert walkin. They stert walkin. I’m feart. Feart tae rin. Feart tae turn. Caw the polis. The polis. They’ll help me. They huv tae. Whaur’s ma phone? No got it. I’ve drapped it. Thae fitsteps. Gettin closer. I’m hame. At ma hoose. There’s a word. On ma door. Scratched oot. In the widd. Jist wan word. Deid.

BLUID On the flair. On the waws. Ma claes. Ma hauns. In ma hair. Bluid. Ivrywhaur. Aw ower. It’s no mines. Wha’s is it? I’m alane here. Naebody else. Jist me. I woke up. Opened ma een. And bluid aw- weys. Whit’s that? On the roof. Dreepin.

Thrawn Janet & Tod Lapraik Listen to two classic Scots horror stories by Robert Louis Stevenson read by Alan Bisset http://www.scotshoose.com/featuredstories. html