Horror Writing Prompts

For me, the hardest part of writing is just… getting started. There are days where I sit down at my desk with a cup of coffee, ready to get to work on my latest masterpiece, and nothing comes out. Sometimes it’s that I don’t have a great idea. Sometimes I do have a great idea, but the words aren’t flowing. Often, I just need a little kick; a fun project to work on that can get my creative juices flowing before I move on to my big idea. There’s nothing I love more than writing horror, so that’s why today I’ve compiled this list of five horror writing prompts that you can try writing if you’re feeling stuck or uninspired.

 

Prompt one: Agoraphobia 

Completely frozen with fear by the world outside, one day, a woman who hasn’t set foot out of her home in 15 years is faced with her worst nightmare; she may be forced to leave. A disaster in the house (a gas leak, a fire, an inevitable roof cave-in or building collapse) forces her to decide if she will go outside, or “go down with the ship.”

 

Prompt two: House Guest 

The house has been in her family for generations. Sadie has been living here for years. It’s an old house that needs a lot of care, with lots of groans and creaky floorboards. People say it’s haunted, that too many unusual things happen to explain. Sadie is too logical to believe in the supernatural, but even she can’t deny something is… off. One day she goes upstairs to the attic, and there’s a mattress on the floor. Water bottles, empty cans of food, a cell phone charger.

It seems the neighbors were right. Sadie is not living here alone. 

 

Prompt three: Sun

A man wanders alone in the desert, lost beyond hope. He walks in vain as he makes his final attempts at escaping the desert, insanity slowly taking over as the sun slowly bakes him. We watch as he becomes more and more burned and dehydrated.

 

Prompt four: We Just Want Kate

A group of friends are alone in a cabin on a trip. They become surrounded by an unknown group of masked killers with one simple message: give us Kate, and the rest of you live. You have 5 minutes. The friends talk and try to decide what to do, Kate doesn’t know why these bad guys want her (or does she?) and they must find a solution.

 

Prompt five: The Drive

A young woman waits in the car for her boyfriend who popped into the store. She is shocked and alarmed when he returns from the car with a bag of cash, and a gun, and screams at her to drive. Out of fear, she puts her foot to the pedal, and they take off through the city. They have an intense conversation as they speed through the streets, and she has to decide what to do. Who is this man she’s been dating? Why would he do this? Why would he do this to her? How could she have not seen it?  

 

What do you think of these horror writing prompts? Do any of them inspire you to write a short story or a screenplay? Get in touch and let us know your thoughts!