Horror writing prompts

Horror writing prompts

So you want to write something scary, but you don’t know where to start. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Check out these nine horror writing prompts to get you started!

Parasocial. A fan wins a meet and greet with their favorite celebrity, and to their surprise, they have such a good time that their idol wants to stay in touch. Except soon their communication takes a dark turn, and the fan realizes that they’re being stalked.

The accident. A woman’s twin sister is in a serious car accident. After she gets out of surgery, the woman becomes convinced that her sister has been replaced with a nearly identical imposter. How does the main character react to this new reality?

The promise. A man promises his estranged, manipulative mother that he will fulfill her dying wish, spreading her ashes in a place of great meaning for her and great pain for him. When she dies, he neglects his promise, and strange, otherworldly things begin to happen. He feels he is being hunted, but is it by his own complicated sense of grief, or is it her vengeful spirit?

Fun and games. A couple saves up to take a once in a lifetime trip around the world to check things off their bucket list. The same creepy man keeps cropping up at every turn; hotels, planes, resorts, restaurants. At first it feels like a coincidence, but as horrific, violent acts start to follow them as well, they realize that it’s anything but.

That’s not how I remember it. Two siblings have wildly different recollections of their childhood; one of Dickensian misery, one of the perfect all-American family. When their mother calls them and says she is dying, they are forced back into their childhood home and have to reckon with their different perspectives.

Manifestation. In a modern twist on The Monkey’s Paw, a woman works hard to manifest her dream life, achieving everything she’s ever wanted. Except there’s a darkness lurking behind the surface, and she discovers that the magic she invoked is far more dangerous than she could have ever dreamt. 

Sticks and stones. A young boy tries to get back at his bullies. When he ropes some older neighborhood kids into his project, their tactics take a dark turn and soon he is caught up in a bloody, horrific crime that could ruin his life.

The haunting. When a family moves into a historic home, the parents are delighted, while the children are convinced that the home is haunted. Soon, they discover that there are no ghosts or spirits, but rather, the house itself is alive, and that it is slowly consuming them. Can they convince their parents to get out before it’s too late?

The collector. When their child takes an interest in biology, a couple allows them to start bringing home bones they found in the woods. Soon, however, the parents realize that their child is doing something far more sinister than they imagined; constructing a creature that has begun to suck the life out of them in order to live out its own nefarious purpose.