Scary Story Telling
Welcome, October!
There’s no better month than October to write a scary story. The long, chilled nights, the build-up to All Hallows Eve with ghosts and goblins lurking in every neighborhood set the mood for giving yourself and your readers a good fright.
When I want to create a spooky tale, I like to start with what scares me most.
darkness scares me royally, especially if it’s sudden and unexplained (Oh yes. I’m a sissy once the lights are out.)
shocking sounds that come from someplace nearby when I’m alone (One creak of a door or one snap of a twig brings my heart to attention.)
when my familiar and usually safe environment turns threatening (This is scarier to me than if I’m in a strange place and something is about to pounce.)
There are other things, but these will get my scary writing charged up to go. Then there are some technical strategies I like that help ratchet up the fear factor. If you’ve read my other posts, you won’t be surprised that pacing is one of my go-to tools.
I like to use long sentences and short, sometimes one-sentence or even one-word paragraphs. The first doesn’t let the reader have a chance to inhale. I’m hoping they experience breathlessness. The second moves them ahead into danger along with the characters, so they have a sense of plunging into something while dreading what they’ll find.
I’ve always been a great fan of Hitchcock movies, so the more I can keep the threat out of sight, the better. I like to focus on hearing and smelling before I bring in the sense of sight.
Here’s a stab at the start of something, using some of these strategies.
Caught between being awake and asleep, I shivered as something cold feathered across my forehead. I’d pulled the blanket to my chin when a door slammed so hard, I felt as well as heard it and shot up in bed. Clutching the book I’d been reading before dozing off, I sat unmoving. I wasn’t sure if I’d dreamed that gust of air and that sound, or if they’d really happened.
I reached for Tim before I remembered he was on a business trip.
I held my breath.
Listened.
But only the faint ticking of the antique clock downstairs broke the silence.
Bang.
This time I was sure.
That was the front door.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Shaking, I crept out of bed and pulled on my robe. I needed a weapon—something in my hand. Tim’s baseball bat leaned in the corner. I grabbed it and crept toward the hall.
I fumbled for the light switch, flicked it on, and as I stepped onto the landing, everything went dark.
My foot caught on the carpet and I toppled. Thump. Thump. Thump.
I lay on the newly installed Berber staring at the ceiling that swooped somewhat like a paper airplane and then settled into place overhead. The nerve endings in my head and left shoulder bunched into hot spikes of pain.
When I finally managed to sit up without the floor spinning under me, I turned on the entry light, relieved that it worked and that I was no longer standing in a dark house. And then I spotted what was on the stairs.
Like a rivulet of blood, a red chiffon scarf threaded its way down the hardwood treads.
I never wear red.
I don't own but one scarf --dark blue wool.
SO THAT’S IT! WAS IT A GOOD START TO A HALLOWEEN TALE?
If you’d like to read one of my spooky short stories, I’ll send you a free PDF. It’s written for a young reader, but my adult readers seem to enjoy it as well. It makes a great campfire story, I’ve been told. Request your copy of Tsantsa at cleemckenzieATgmailDOTcom.
I’m still posting on WordPress for the monthly Insecure Writers’ Support Group, and that’s also popping up on Substack, so stop by and say hello and see my opinion on this month’s question.
Question: The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?
I have a new book coming out one of these days, and it just happens to be a ghost story—my first novel-length one. OMG This is really scary!
So you leave us hanging... Nice descriptions.
Niiice!