Here’s what I’ve learned about scary stories in the nearly
three decades spent reading, writing, and telling them to thousands of middle school
students.
First and foremost, a good, scary story must have the basic
elements and structure in all good stories. Period. No exceptions. And, just
for the record, no
amount of ghostly elements or zombie gore will make up for a
story’s lack in other areas.
With that said, there are certain elements that lend
themselves to creating those spine-tingling, hair-raising moments.
Set the Scene
For eighteen years I worked as a middle school librarian, and
every Halloween I’d turn our library into an elaborate set using bulletin board
paper, fabric, paints, and whatever props I could buy, borrow, or get my
husband to make. Then, I’d tell scary stories to all the students in my school.
Yes, all of them. It took an entire a week. When I told Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein,
for example, I’d dress up as a mad scientist named Dr. Nefarious (no kidding) with
spikey white hair and science goggles. Behind me was a laboratory complete with
bubbling science beakers and a human-sized lab table with a dead body (aka an
old stuffed suit of my husband’s) covered by a white sheet. It did look very
realistic. I’m just saying. For retelling the Salem witch trials, I’d put on
some stereotypical witch costume with a pointed black hat and a witch’s broom.
The set was an old wooden cottage loaded with fake spiders, cobwebs, a black cauldron,
a few rubbery bats, and a stuffed raven. You get the idea. Setting is an easy
and powerful tool to create whatever spooky, creepy feelings you’re after.
Keep in mind, that some settings are overused or cliched, (like
the ones I used) so for older audiences consider other ways to bring on the
creep, such as a crowded city sidewalk, a child’s bedroom, a tight space, or
other seemingly normal settings where something’s off or not quite right. Remember,
I was dealing with eleven to thirteen-year-olds. They didn’t care or even know about
cliches, which segways nicely to my next spooktacular element.
Know Your Audience
If you’re a writer, I’m sure you’ve heard this advice
before, but it can’t be overstated. Knowing one’s audience is possibly the
most important piece of information to have in writing or telling any story but
especially scary ones, and here’s why.
By the time I became a certified K-12 Library Media Specialist,
I’d been teaching middle school English for twelve years, so I understood that
age-group very well. When Halloween rolled around, I knew exactly what kind of scary
stories the kids would like and could handle. They loved vampires, witches,
werewolves, ghosts, even rats. You name it! If it smacked of spooky, they wanted
to hear it; but they also appreciated the corny, silly, nonsensical stuff like
no other age group I’ve worked with.
So, I tempered the spooky with the corny, like the ghost who
was afraid of other ghosts or dressing like a witch named Griselda (which always
made the kids laugh), who couldn’t fly or cast spells like the other witches. And
it worked because I knew what level of “scary” my audience liked and expected. If
I tried to tell those same stories to older children or adult fans of hard-core
horror, it would have failed miserably. Likewise, a Stephen King adult level
slasher story would have traumatized some and upset parents.
So, you’ve got to know your audience and tailor your story
to match. Enough said about that.
Create the Atmosphere and Mood
Atmosphere in a story is the look and feel of the physical surroundings
or scene, like dark, menacing, oppressive, or bustling. Mood is the feeling created
in the reader (or listener) like nervous, sad, tense, or excited. A successful
story needs both. Hence, this was why I put so much time and effort into my costumes
and sets. By itself, however, setting is not enough. You’ll need lots of sensory
details like strange noises or an eerie silence, a freezing cold room or a hot
sandy beach with no wind.
Word choice also matters. What the narrator and the
characters say will either add to or detract from the story’s overall atmosphere
and mood, so choose your words wisely.
Pacing
Pacing is another excellent tool to have in your writer’s
kit. When telling stories out loud, I varied the speed and volume of my speech,
slowing down in places, speeding up in others to keep my audience interested
and engaged. Taking a longer time to get to the scary part created tension and
suspense, as everyone wondered what would happen next. You can do this in
writing by revealing imminent dangers or threats slowly over time and alternating
between moments of calm and terror.
So, if you’re up for writing a scary story or two, try using
some of these elements. That is, if you’re not too scared. I hope you find them
eerily useful.
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