How to write Horror

Horror is escalation with rules: what the thing is, what it wants, what it can’t do. Track the hauntings and the foreshadowing so the dread compounds instead of repeating.

Includes

Horror, Gothic Horror, Cosmic Horror, Folk Horror, Haunted House, Slasher

Beats readers look for

  • Cold Open
  • First Scare
  • Foreshadow
  • False Dawn
  • Escalation
  • The Turn
  • Reveal
  • Aftermath
  • Dread Beat
  • The Thing Shows

Story structures that fit

  • Fichtean Curve: Crisis after escalating crisis, no gentle opening. Best for thrillers, horror and anything that must not slow down.
  • Freytag's Pyramid: Classical rise and fall, with the turn in the middle. Best for tragedy and stories that end darker than they began.
  • Three-Act Structure: The plain spine. Eight beats, no ideology. Best when other frameworks feel like too much scaffolding.

Worth keeping track of

  • Hauntings & Rules
  • Foreshadowing Ledger