1. Tips for writing in the Horror genre

2. Before you begin writing
Think of the things people are afraid of
Why are those things scary?
Harm
Madness
Things in the wrong place

3. Engage your reader’s imagination
Don’t give them everything right away
Scare them - tempt them with details
What should you give them?
Sound
Smells
Very little sight
Hold things back until the right moment
In a sense, torment your reader slightly

4. Establish your universe
Give your story a setting with a set universe
Within the first “act” of your writing, establish the rules of your stories universe
Foreshadowing is a GREAT way to establish rules in your story’s universe
Also - what’s the SETTING
Fantastical
Modern
Gothic age

5. Suspension of Disbelief
How believable is your plot?
You can make your story as fantastical as you wish
But make sure there’s logical sense to how your story progresses
I.e. if you have a character described as having no special powers or skills, they are pretty uncoordinated, then you probably should not have them wielding a sword with great force

6. Get your reader invested in the protagonist
Your reader needs to want your protagonist to survive - this ties into establishing what the FEAR is in the story
Your reader is completely safe - so they need to fear for the protagonist’s life
Spend some time at the beginning of the story to develop your characters
Make them complex; flawed; relatable

7. The narrator should know everything
You should know who or what the antagonist is
Figure out why they are evil (psychotic; actually Satan; toxic chemicals)
What powers do they have over the protagonist?
As the writer, you should know ahead of time what you want the ending to be (or at least have an idea)
Develop the “evil plan”
Decide how you want to build suspense

8. Get “inside your body” (what?)
It doesn’t matter what emotion you are trying to illicit…
You want your reader to feel the emotions of the character
Describe the emotions well
Don’t just say “He was scared...things got intense…”
Think about these things:
The pounding of your heart in your ears
The heaving of your lungs
The sickness in the pit of your stomach
The feeling of the hair on your arms standing straight up