5 Ways To Scare Your Readers

Think about a book or story that has scared you. I mean, truly scared you. Like - a grown woman putting her book down at night because she is thinking someone is going to break into her house at night and kill her - kind of scared.

What about that book or story made you feel so on edge? Today we are going to talk about a few key elements that you can focus on that will help you write a truly suspenseful and spine chilling story.

1. Choose Your Scary

This one might sound obvious, but many people don't think about it before writing their story. There are many types of scary stories. The one you choose will depend on what you are trying to achieve with your book. Here are some examples:

Classic: This type of scare is what you see in classic slasher movies. Predictable and sometimes even cheesy-type of scary.

Gothic Horror: A beautiful mix of fiction, death and mystery. The key elements usually include things like a remote location or isolation, a sense of distrust of reality (e.g., memory loss), the threat comes from within, etc. Think Dracula, Frankenstein, and anything Edgar Allan Poe.

Paranormal Horror: They didn't make millions off of a franchise named paranormal activity for no reason. People tend to be freaked out by things they can't explain or control. All things ghost, aliens, creatures, etc.

Realistic: Based on events that could actually happen to most of us. Abductions, B&Es, violent assaults, losing a loved one, living through a natural disaster, etc. These stories scare because of their proximity to reality. Or, because of the potential they will happen to us.

Regardless of what you choose, taking some time to think about how you want to scare your readers is always an important first step.

2. Use Your Senses

It is important to consider how you are setting the scene when writing scary scenes. An important step to achieving the spine-chilling effect you want in a thriller is using your senses. We know about the two most used senses in writing: sight and sound - but touch, smell and taste can add valuable tension and detail to your scenes. Let's go through our 5 senses, and how you can use them when writing your scenes.

Sight: Visuals are incredibly important, as many readers play a mini movie inside their heads when reading (or is that just me?). Make use of the darkness, shadows, creepy settings such as foggy forests or run-down buildings.

Sound: Sound is another great tool when trying to create tension and thrill. Think of jump scares in horror movies - a lot less scary without the music, right? We can create this kind of effect in writing as well, although it requires a bit more work. Make use of silence, quiet unknown sounds, footsteps, and other subtle sounds to build tension. Then... BAM! Something unexpected: a scream, a whisper in your ear when you thought you were alone, someone pounding at your door.

Touch: This is one of my favourite senses to use in writing. Maybe it's because I'm extremely sensitive to touch myself, but I find it can be the best way to portray tension and discomfort when writing. Using textures and movement, we can make readers feel what our characters feel. Use temperature, softness, irritation, and other physical sensations to reel in your readers and build discomfort.

Smell: Ever thought about using smell as a way to create tension or scare your readers? Well, just think about it. How can you catch your readers off guard or create some anxiety with smell? Maybe your character describes the smell of decomposition before walking into a spine-chilling murder scene, or maybe someone smells fire in the distance. There are many ways to use smell to build suspense - play around with it and have fun!

Taste: I feel that this sense is underutilized to create suspense. First, the obvious. The taste of blood. Use it if your character is getting hurt for example. You can also use the taste of vomit - ew - when your character is so scared that they get sick. Don't be afraid to play around with it and try different things.

3. Staging, Staging, Staging.

I want you to think about a scene with two variations for a minute. In the first scene, a woman and her husband are arguing aggressively in their home. It's after dinner and they are in their living room. The husband is getting angrier, and he rushes up to the wife, grabbing her by the throat. OKAY. A little tense right? Now... let's try the same thing but change a few things: a woman and her husband are bickering. The wife is taking a bath upstairs, and the husband is next door in the bedroom getting ready for work. It's early in the morning. The wife whispers something under her breath, and the husband abruptly bursts into the bathroom rushing towards the wife. She gets up, and tries to back away, slipping. Her husband grabs her by the throat while her feet splash in the water, soaking the bathroom floor.

Which one made you feel more uneasy? Staging can make a world of a difference. Personally, I find the second scenario scarier. Why is that? For starters, the time of day. Certain times of day are used a lot in thrillers and horror novels, such as nighttime. Although this can work well for certain scenes, it is good to utilize other times of day to mix it up and throw some surprises in. Early morning is a time where your readers are less likely to expect a violent altercation; it feels safer. It's also important to consider how vulnerable your characters are. Naked and in the bath feels much more vulnerable than fully dressed in the living room.

Experience with staging, try different things. More importantly, have fun!

4. Give Some Hope, Then Snatch It Away

A girl is taken to an abandoned slaughterhouse, and after days of torture she gets away. She's almost free, and then something brings her back. The bad guy catches up, the accomplice is nearby... Whatever you prefer. Now, this one seems obvious. Almost horror movie cliche, but that's not always a bad thing! Horror movies are popular for a reason after all. Don't worry though, if you like things to be more unique you can always put your own twist on it. Why not extend the illusion for several paragraphs? Or the person who brings them back is someone the reader trusted DEEPLY. Whatever you choose, giving hope and taking it away is an effective way to keep your reader engaged and hooked to your words.

5. Don't Make It Predictable

Some predictability is fine, but not too much. Just make sure you don't exactly copy something that has already been done 100 times. The only exception to this, would be if you are writing a classic horror or slasher.

Think about it... If predictable isn't what you are actively going for, isn't it scarier when something that isn't supposed to be scary, becomes scary? Not only is this technique fun, but you can also be incredibly creative with it.