Hello, friend. I was wondering if you had any advice on adding a creep factor to a story? I’m trying to make a novella I’m writing creepy without it being obviously so. Like, you know how some things are unnerving and you can’t explain why? I want it sort of like that.
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TWO
THINGS TO ADD THAT EXTRA CREEP FACTOR IN YOUR STORIES
Hello, friend! The thing about
writing with “creep factor“ is the fact that different things creep different
people out. A person who might be terrified of old porcelain dolls is can be
completely unfazed by masked murderers and vice versa.
Keep this in mind whenever you write
scary stories, so that you know that it’s not going to scare EVERYONE. This
will help make sure that you’re not overwhelmed or daunted by making your story
eerie, since you know that it’s not going to please all of the people that read
it.
With that said, let’s launch into
two things that will make your scary story even scarier.
1.
Setting
Setting is key when it comes to
making your story extra creepy; a story set in an abandoned mental asylum
during a midnight storm is way scarier than a story set in a pretty garden on a
sunny day.
However, the setting of your story doesn’t
have to be the classic cemetery or haunted mansion. In fact, those settings in
scary/eerie stories are so predictable that they’re almost cliche by this
point.
Don’t be afraid to spice up your
setting! A part of your story that could make it eerie is that it’s set in a
place that isn’t normally scary but can be under certain conditions.
For example, a nursery school is a
nice, fun place with happy children, colorful walls and pictures, and arts and
crafts. However, it becomes an entirely different place if you’re locked in at
night and there are children laughing despite the fact that the last students
left over eight hours ago.
Places that seem benevolent during
the day transform at night or during a storm, when the shadows stretch across
the walls and manipulate what you see.
What places make the hairs on the
back of your neck stand up whenever you’re there? What places only freak you
out under certain conditions?
In this case with writing, I
encourage you to draw upon your own feelings. What factors would make a
seemingly harmless room turn into a horrorshow? If you get the chills reading
over your story, chances are that your readers will too.
Here are some settings/things that
personally creep me out and perhaps will creep you guys out, too:
– Long, dark hallways
– Antique mirrors
– Forests at night
– Abandoned paths
– Literally any fucking abandoned
place like highkey get me the fuck out of there
– A room that’s empty except for a
creepy thing sitting in the center like a doll or something
– Being alone in dark houses, even
if that house is your own
– Living room with the lights off,
nothing illuminating it except the TV that’s showing static
– Stuffed animals that have been
mutilated
– Footprints belonging to no one
– Disembodied voices
– fucking SCAMPERING like holy shit
on those let’s plays I shit my pants whenever I hear a little
kid/animal/whatever the fuck skittering around somewhere behind me
– Breathing that isn’t your own
– Old mansions that creak in the
wind
– Cemeteries, especially when you’re
standing over a grave and expect hands to reach up and grab your ankle
– Deserted streets and alleyways
– Dead end streets lit but nothing
but street lamps
– Empty parks at night
– Houses lit only by candlelight
– Normal rooms but you know someone
has died in there/ there have been hauntings in there before
– Things looking through the window,
especially humanoids with glowing eyes
– Footsteps running toward you in
the dark
2.
Company
Sometimes, the people within the
story can be the deciding factor on it being creepy. This includes both the
villains, the heroes, and the morally ambiguous peeps in between.
Some people are creepier than
others, and some people are unsettled by different things, and once again you
should choose what best fits your story and what creeps you out the most. Would
you be more scared of an axe-wielding man in a mask standing at the end of your
hallway or two black-eyed little girls holding hands.
Here are some people/characteristics
about people and creatures that would personally freak me out and may freak you
out, too:
– Large, empty eyes
-Open/gaping mouths
– Contorted bodies
– Fast skittering and crawling
instead of walking
– Stringy hair
– Sallow, shriveled faces
– Sharp teeth
– White eyes/ no eyes/ completely
black eyes
– Basically look at the
illustrations of any “Scary stories to tell in the dark” book and you’ll get
what I mean
– Suspicious/eerie dialogue
HOPE THIS HELPED!
Holy shit I’m writing this at night
and just had to go get up and close my door because it’s behind me and I was
afraid something was going to creep up and pounce on me. Thanks guys.
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