Horror

Alone in the dimly lit room of an old country house, your mind imagines a thousand horrors…. lots of great ideas for narratives!

The horror genre can be divided into a bazillion subgenres, but the one thing these subgenres have in common is their willingness to go to the edge of what is acceptable in terms of human decency. Somehow, they all probe scummy, nasty, evil, decrepit, immoral, repulsive, perverted, deviant, unsavoury, sleazy, vile, or downright unhealthy corners of the world. If you are delving into the realm of the horror genre, you better be ready to push the limits of your comfort.

Similar to the cheap thrill of the roller coaster or other edge-of-sanity amusement ride, the horror lets us vicariously “enjoy” things forbidden or dangerous and even sinful or lewd. Our wickedness can roam fictional worlds preying on innocent fictional characters through our profligate pillage, rape, and torture… all fictional of course. Things we would never think of actually doing in real life can run rampant in the scope of the horror genre.

Isn’t that nice.

If you dare go there, enjoy the ideas below, and follow any links that intrigue you, you sicko!

Horror Story Concepts

Your horror narrative needs a strong underlying concept so your characters cannot give up. Choose from the list below or go to the
CONCEPTS pages for even more choices. Also check out character MOTIVATIONS for compelling reasons character have to get things done.

• unleash, free, unlock, open a portal, pass through, cross over,
• save a child, loved one, partner, friend,
• rescue, free, escape, flee,
• explore, discover, experiment, hunt, find,
• make a deal,
• steal, purloin, poach, thieve, pirate, borrow,
• dispell, disenchant, reverse, neutralize, purify,
• curse, putrefy, hex, destroy, overthrow, oust,
• perform a ritual, rite,
• say a secret word, draw a sigil, form a circle,
• prove, disprove, validate, debunk,
• on a lark, for fun, as a prank, as a joke,
• banish, expel, exorcise, exterminate, shatter,
• vanquish, defeat,
• destroy the evil presence in your village, city block, house, school, barn, kingdom, castle, hotel room, mind, family, garden shed, tree fort, forest path, favorite toy,
• hunt down a beast, perv, murderer, serial rapist,
• open that box you were told never to open,
• make a deal with the devil, overlord, oracle, warlock, cursed emperor, dying friend or dying foe,
• challenge, dare, take on,
• renew faith, battle with doubt,
• investigate the strange phone call you keep getting, the odd sensation of someone watching from the woods, the last known whereabouts of your disappeared friend, the secret door in the closet of your new house,
• find out about the “research facility” near your small town,
• help your friend who has been possessed, infected, abducted by aliens, dragged into the woods, lost on a hike, taken by government agents, contacted by the dead, anointed by cultists,
• celebrate, commemorate, remember,

Horror Settings or Environments

• hospital, asylum, sanitorium, hospice, infirmary,
• battlefield, no-mans-land, trenches,
• tunnels, holes, caves, caverns, rift, chasm, abyss, channel,
• burrow, den, lair,
• cemetery, graveyard, vault, crypt, catacomb, ancient burial ground, ancestral bone yard, tomb, mausoleum,
• hill, mound,
• prison, jail, torture chamber, cell,
• sorcerer’s den, summoner’s castle,
• lair of a monster, burrow of a beast, hive of a creature,
• derelict spaceship, crashed spacecraft, alien planet, alien lab,
• lost civilization, forgotten village,
• lonely cabin, abandoned house,
• castle, fortress, outpost,
• forward observation post, scouting post,
• citadel, manor, plantation house,
• library, archives, museum, room of antiquities,
• forbidden forest, wasteland, out on the heath, moors, vale,
• alternate dimension, caught in a time loop, tesseract,
• illusory space, trap, trick, ruse, illusion,
• laboratory, institution, lab, test facility, research grounds,
• archaeological dig, ruins, buried city,
• bomb shelter, safe room, panic room,
• boy scout camp, summer camp,
• cordoned off areas, secure locations, guarded facilities, FBI or CIA or CSIS
• a town that doesn’t show up on any maps, one-horse town, dustbowl hamlet,
• lone gas station, service station, general store, way station,
• school, college, university, campus, quad, dormitory,
• temple, church, chapel, monastery, abbey, retreat, sanctuary,
• sites of: murder, accidental death, suicide, fire, violent death, drowning,
• pool, fountain, well, wishing well (careful what you wish for), fish pond, lucky pool, waterfall,
• park, playground, tree fort, sandbox,
• storage room, custodian’s closet, file room, evidence room, mop room,
• attic, cellar, secret room (see SECRET DOORS),
• twilight, dusk, long shadows, deep shadows, waning light, fading light, MORE LIGHT,
• wind, rain, storm, calm before the storm, eye of the storm,
• sounds: screaming, moaning, sinister laughing,
• feelings of foreboding, impending doom, anger, wrath, hatred, death,

Horror Characters

• vampire hunter, ghost chaser,
• occultist, paranormal investigator,
• detective, cop, officer, sheriff, marshal, captain,
• priest, exorcist, nun, holyman (or unholyman), village shaman, nun, abbot, pilgrim, missionary,
• grave robber, tomb burglar,
• explorer, adventurer,
• innocent, naive, open-minded child, moppet, poppet, infant, toddler, kid, (especially kids with cute little nicknames)
• the undead, risen, resurrected, possessed:
  • vampire, zombie, skeleton, ghoul, lich, tomb lord,
• lycanthrope, shape shifter, doppleganger,
  • werewolf, chameleon man, mimic,
• monster, beast, creature, giant bug, flesheater, anything with sticky tentacles,
• imp, simpleton, invalid,
• coma patient, someone in vegetative state,
• someone lost in meditation, trance, catatonic state,
• alien visitor, extraterrestrial warrior race, sky beings,
• fallen gods, devils, demons, wrathful god,
• homeless man, hobo, wanderer, drifter, bag lady, drunk, tweaker, drug fiend, street worker, concubine, prostitute, drug dealer, user, pimp, john, meth head,
• pervert, deviant, pedophile, psychopath, sociopath, rapist, sodomite,
• serial murderer, slasher, snuff film maker,
• psychic, medium, diviner, clairvoyant,
• hermit, recluse, troglodyte, hag,
• someone who has died and come back, a revenant,
• angel, messenger, diva, protector, muse, fairy,
• demon, Death, devil, evil entity, spirit, haunt, succubus,
• witch, warlock, summoner, conjurer, sorcerer, sorceress, occultist, voodoo priestess, spiritual dancer, shaman, channeller, medium,
• necromancer, scarlet mage, blood mage, death mage,
• pyromancer, dark scrollmaster, alchemist,
• assassin, poisoner, death-dealer, hashishin,
• devil worshipper, cultist, satanist, fallen priest,
• madman,
• serial killer, compulsive killer, impulsive killer, murderer,
• cannibal, flesheater, maneater beast,
• leper, diseased kid, contagious woman, fetid rotting man,
• grotesque, deformity, twisted being, mutant, homunculus, freak, circus freak, dwarf, conjoined twin, elephant man,
• Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Antichrist, a lost apostle,

Horror Stuff

• portal, doorway, opening, gate, passage,
• Ouija board, Tarot cards, divining rod, Hakata bones,
• crystal ball, orb, glass figurine, prism, crystal star,
• magic stones, beans, sand, gem, semi-precious stone,
• pendant, amulet, talisman, charm, brooch,
• deck of cards, dice, game board,
• candles, incense, smoke, brazier, censer, coals, fire, lantern, lamp,
• circle, pentagram, cross, star, moon,
• hole, crack, rift,
• fog, mist,
• doll, porcelain doll, voodoo doll, poppet, puppet, stuffed animal,
• religious items, vestments, candlesticks, prayer beads,
• altar, dais,
• books, bible, book of spells, tome, volume, encyclopedia or dark arts, leather-bound ancient book or rites, script, scroll,
• chalice, goblet, grail,
• coins,
• antique, relic, artifact,
• dried monkey head, gator claw, chicken foot,
• feathers, skin, hide, hair, claws, nails,
• beads, stones,
• wand, staff, mace, rod,
• holy sword,
• spike, stake,
• chain, manacles, locks, key,
• clown, mime, juggler, magician,
• mirror, oculus, looking glass,
• boxes: dybbuk box, Pandora’s box, music box, jewelry box,
• eyeball, fingernails, bones, skull, teeth, shrunken head, lock of hair,
• coffin, urn of ashes,
• model, replica, imitation,
• statue, statuette, bust, idol, wooden figure,
• carving, painting, sculpture, drawing, sketch, scribbles on the wall,
• birthmark, mark, mole, lesion, impression, growth, aberration, disfigurement, deformity, mutation,
• clock, timepiece, watch, pocket watch, grandfather clock, pendulum,
• chime, wind chime,
• harp, lute, flute, piano,
• numbers, lucky 7, unlucky 13,
• superstitions, black cats, broken mirror,
• crossings: ferry across a river, crossroads, bridge,
• phone call, the wind, whispers in the air, the babbling of the water,
• odour, smell, stench, acrid air, rotting,
• something falling over, bumping, thumping,
• the tide,
• full moon, moonlight, moonless night, eclipse,
• toys, swings, merrygoround,
• initials carved in a tree,
• help me sign, warning,
• shadows, mottled light, darkness,
• mask, costume, coat, robe, cloak, crown, hat, tiara, hair pin, spectacles, jewelry,
• lost book of the Bible, lost holy book,
• a shroud, veil, covering, wrapping, blood-stained cloth, bloody glove,

Actions in Horror

• protect, save, defend, prevent, block,
• curse, hex, bless, surround with magical field,
• contain, hold, bar,
• impale, stab, stake, pierce,
• torture, tease, taunt, tempt, terrorize, intimidate, threaten,
• invoke, summon, call, conjure, enchant,
• free, unlock, open, release,
• sneak, creep, stalk,
• trust, believe, follow, fool, dupe, trick, charm,
• drink, eat, imbibe, absorb, consume,
• crave, desire, lust after,
• endure, withstand, put up with, tolerate,
• jumping out, popping out,
• creeping behind, lurking,
• watching, leering, ogling,
• rape, fornicate, penetrate, manhandle, sexually assault, violate, despoil, grope, probe, feel, frisk, grab,
• pillage, ransack,
• abuse (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically), beat, mistreat,
• crush hope, destroy last vestige of humanity,
• freakish movement, loping, lurching, lunging, lingering, lumbering, twitching,
• barfing or coughing up strange objects: moths, hair, ooze, bees, blood, black bile, a key, a runestone, a ring, a gem, a gas, a spirit, an entire arm, an alien lifeform,
• go too far, go alone, go where it’s forbidden, go against the grain, go for it,

Horror Descriptors

• vile, sinful, morally perverted, lacking virtue, unethical, impure, dirty, base, obscene, unclean, pornographic,
• violent, vicious, agressive,
• villainous, terrible, wicked, horrible, nefarious, notorious,

Horror Subgenres and Related Genres

• psychological horror – the focus is on the growing terror and fear,
• slasher, gore – lots of violence and blood,
• monster horror – characters vs. some kind of great beast or demon
• supernatural horror – the devil, demons, evil forces fight the heroes of God, angels, powers of good.
• gothic horror – romantic Victorian look and feel, contains mystery, suspense, romance, fear, insanity, well-dressed formal folk,
• Lovecraftian or Cosmic Horror – old world beings encountered through modern day action and activity, similar to gothic in many ways,
• B-movie Horror – low budget feel, ray guns, blobs, giant bugs, alien beings,

Developments

• At a garage sale (church rummage sale, flea market, auction, estate sale) a character finds a unique antique and through experimentation or play releases an inkling of its massive malevolent power.

Notes and Ideas about Horror

• anniversaries are good times for the rising of old fearful pieces… bring back a loved one on the anniversary of their untimely death… and see how evil they’ve become (or whatever)
• warnings of DO NOT OPEN are simply invitations for horrible things to happen: caution, warning, beware, all ye who enter…, forbidden,
• consider the notion of the calm before the storm… extended periods of silence and darkness punctuated at the end with a sudden pop out or reveal. How can you narrate a campfire scene in the quiet dark with the feeling that things move beyond the veil,
• horror narratives make great use of the “misdirect” or the “red herring”. These are false clues or wrong paths that lead characters astray, so see if you can add some of these to your horror narrative.
• not sure how religious you are, but… tying in biblical or other religious elements to a supernatural horror adds to the creepy factor: second comings, four horsemen, Greek mythology, sun worship, idols, prophecies, holy sites, shrouds, relics,
• you could make use of the seven deadly sins as conceptual elements, especially if your main character has to deal with one of these doozies in addition to the other “horror” in your narrative… wrath (anger), sloth (laziness), pride, avarice (greed), gluttony, lust, envy (jealousy),
• making deals is horror bread-n-butter. Have your characters agree to something that sounds too good to be true… ’cause it is, and they will definitely pay in the end.
• bring back former elements later in a story that ramp up the tension and horror: a dead victim returns as an apparition, a jilted lover, a deal made in the past for undetermined favors, a perpetrator you let go when you could have stopped them, that note you hadn’t read yet that warned of something and now it’s too late, that fight you had and how you left angry,
• check out some ideas in Science Fiction or Fantasy that may bridge the gap to the Horror genre.
• check out our page on Creating FEAR here.