5 Tips for Horror Fiction Books

Writing horror books is a rewarding process if you approach it correctly. In order to know how to write horror, you need to adhere to certain principles or tips.

There are many tips on the subject, but I have whittled them down to what are the most important 5. These tips will transform your next horror writing into a masterpiece or I’ll eat my hat.

Joe Hill Tells You How To Write A Horror Novel.

What are the 5 tips? Here is an overview before I discuss them in more detail:

1. Use Common Fears
2. Craft the Ideal Background
3. Use Relatable Characters
4. Make the Narrator Unreliable
5. Maintain the Basics of Writing Getting the writing of horror books right will leave you with a feeling of accomplishment, and getting to that place of achievement has always been within your grasp.

Horror Clown

#1 Use Common Fears

The most vital aspect of any scare story is, of course, the dread component. People read horror to be emotionally affected and terrified, not just for simple entertainment. As a result, here are some aspects you can use to terrify the living daylights out of your reader.

Phobias

Phobias are so scary because they seem to be grounded in some element of truth. Fears of heights, spiders, enclosed spaces, etc. are all good starting points. Now find a way to entrap your victims in their fears.

A good example is an outbreak of a deadly flu in an isolated place like a health spa and your protagonist is a germaphobe. Make sure they cannot escape and work their horror.

Societal Fears

One way to capture the fears of your readers is to expose fears like racism and eating disorders. The movie Get Out is a great example of using racism to create a great horror story.

A young African-American pays a weekend visit to his white girlfriend’s parents, where his simmering dissatisfaction with their treatment of him eventually boils over. The build-up in the movie is one that will scare the living daylights out of you …

The Supernatural

Our unfounded fears of the bogeyman is a perfect example of unfounded supernatural fears. We do, however, remember that feeling of being afraid of the bogeyman from our childhood, and making the bogeyman or things like aliens real, will touch a nerve A twist to this is turning something lovable, like the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, into bloodthirsty killers. You can let your imagination roam free.

#2 Craft the Ideal Background

The background or setting in which your story takes place is of crucial importance. Using a setting like an insane asylum already triggers certain feelings of trepidation among your readers. You can also use a mundane background like a small village — then start making the inhabitants act weird. Build it up to a crescendo.

As I have just alluded to, once you have your background all figured out you can add spice to the mixture by deciding what type of horror you want to emerge. Do you want to

• terrorize
• gross-out
• scare the reader with classic themes
• or use insidious means to scare them?

The great horror writers know how to work things up to a climax. Timing is of utmost importance to have the story climax at the right moment. Your background is the canvas upon which you paint the horror story.

Woman Hair Upright

#3 Use Relatable Characters

When we relate to someone, we stimulate the vagus nerve, which links directly to our gut and emotional centers. That is where the term “gut-wrenching” comes from. It literally makes it feel like your stomach is twisting when you read the right phrase. This nerve can raise your heart rate as well, and that happens when you hurt or torture a relatable character.

Making characters relatable to your reader allows you to play your audience’s vagus nerves the way you want to.

You can put your relatable characters through hell — or you can turn the tables and make them the torturers. In that way, you totally surprise your readers and send shivers of horrible delight down their spines.

#4 Make the Narrator Unreliable

Unreliable narrators are utilized frequently in first-person narratives. The unreliable narrator either purposefully or unintentionally misleads the reader, making them doubt their reliability as a writer. The narrator leaves no space for safety for the reader.

As a rule, we trust narration and commentators as voices of authority. We tend to feel safe and believe what they say. When you use an unreliable narrator, build up to the point where the readers start to realize the narrator is getting things wrong.

Typical unreliable narrators are:

• Narrators who have a knack for exaggeration.
• Mentally unstable narrators.
• Liars.
• Innocent narrators, like children.

Each one of these brings their own dimension to the story you are weaving. You can either bring them into the story at some point or leave them out.

#5 Maintain the Basics of Horror Writing

With any book you write you have to retain the basics of outlining a book. With a horror story you need to consider having at least the following basic structure:

Act 1

1. The protagonist has a normal life
2. Something goes wrong
3. Warning of imminent doom

Act 2

1. The protagonist ignores the warning
2. The initial problem is either solved or it changes
3. You have a fake solution and/or a fake villain

Act 3

1. We reached the climax of your book

I would also suggest you heed the essential parts to any horror story. Those are:

• Fear
• Surprise
• Suspense
• Terror
• Repulsion

Include these aspects in your horror story and you may be the next New York Times Bestselling author. Especially now that self-publishing has never been easier.

Final Thoughts on How to Write Horror

Writing about horror is a beautiful art that if done correctly will keep millions of people spellbound reading your work. Even though it is an art you still need structure.

Following the tips I have mentioned will ensure you have gone at least most of the way towards creating a brilliant piece of structured writing. Use your imagination and find inspiration, but most of all, use the 5 tips above.

Happy writing!