10 Creepy Writing Prompts to Get a Jumpstart on Writing Horror

  

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 I know, I know. It’s early September. But what better way to get a head start on the spooky season then writing horror? I’ve curated 10 prompts, ranging from short paragraphs to one line hooks, to help fiction writers jumpstart their scary short stories, poems, novels, or any literary work. 

    Writing horror is an exercise in pacing, building tension, and imagery — skills that any writer, no matter their genre, should be fluent in. If horror isn’t really your thing, I’d recommend taking one of these prompts and trying it out, if only for 15 minutes! At the very least, it’ll help you appreciate the literary side of horror and might even help your non-horror writing.

1. The Road by Evercrest Lane
   
   There’s a road leading out of town that passes by Evercrest Lane. Tourists often confuse the name of the road itself as Evercrest — but really, the road has no name. Rather, “Evercrest Lane” is the name of the trees that press in on the road’s left-hand side. They’re a series of pine trees that seemingly stretch on forever. As one passes by it, the road curves ever so slightly that the driver feels he is almost...going in circles. The feeling always continues, until one becomes convinced of the fact that he is surely circling — and then Evercrest lane disappears in the rearview mirror with unexpected relief. It doesn’t help the trees arch higher than the mountains they fall in front of and, late at night, the trees seem to almost eat any light in the area. Really, “Evercrest Lane” aptly suits the place for its description.
   
   But it doesn’t begin to describe the odd happenings in the area late at night.
   
   
2. The Ringing of the Bells
   
   The moon is high and the air is still when all the safety bells on the graves start to ring. 
   
   
3. A Roommate Problem
   
   There is something wrong with your roommate. Not wrong as in he doesn’t put away dishes or he has some serious cough that won’t go away. No. Not that. You’ve asked others if they’ve noticed something wrong about him as well, but they’ve all shaken their heads. He seemed normal. To them. But when you look at him and stare ever so slightly at where his body meets the air — the outline of him, when you look at that.
   
   It shivers, ever so slightly.
   
   
4. Four words:
   
   A polaroid of violence.
   
   
5. Life Among
   
   Something almost living almost lives among the dead.
   
   
6. What's New?
   
   Five sips into my coffee, and I almost didn’t notice the giant hand at my window.
   
   
7. A Dog's Bark
   
   They say that dogs can detect danger before it happens. And its not hard to believe that; you’ve heard your dogs down the road howl before storms or tornadoes and seen countless videos of dogs barking to alert someone of an injured child.
   
   But what happens when all the dogs in your town fall completely silent — and refuse to bark again?
   
   
8. Backwater Leftovers
   
   The diner down the road, far too understaffed and far too little customers to be still running, is, after fifty years, still running. And why is that?
   
   
9. A Full Moon
   
   A full moon is often the background for many horrors. But why is that so? Surely a full moon lightens the shadows and brightens the darkness of the night.
   
   But perhaps that’s the point.
   
   
10. The River Strid
    
    The Strid is a part of the Wharfe River in Yorkshire. Its mossy stones and the beautiful green trees that surround it make the place almost a picturesque scene.
    
    It’s often described as the stream that swallows for it kills all that fall into it, and their bodies are only found as corpses days later.

And that has been ten writing prompts! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them. I’d be interested to see any works that you write off of it, so feel free to describe them or leave links to it down below.