Prince13
Child of darkness and light.
Hello I've been trying to write a little Horror story for a while now and would love some help. I've had trouble from cast to plot. So help is welcome 
Advice for Horror
- Thread starter Prince13
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Sombra Arcana
Wandering Vault Hunter
I would like to help, but I need some info on the theme, topic, ideas...
Beckoncall
World-Weaver and servant to the most-holy PC
If you've been trying... what have you come up with yet?
lucidnonsense
Junior Member
Something that can be interesting in horror, is to take the familiar and twist it, uncanny valley kinda stuff, the "not quite right" can sometimes be more frightening than a monster.
augmentedspartan
Surviving in the Metro
Really depends on what sub-genre you want to go with. Psychological horror, cosmic horror, survival horror, surreal horror. There's a lot to chose from. Do you have any specifics in mind?
ChiaRoseKuro
professional insomniac
Like most people here have already pointed out, horror is a pretty diverse genre in itself; you've got your typical plots where some crazed axe murderer runs around, hollering and slavering at the mouth to kill everyone dumb enough to get caught and then eventually get killed in a creepy old building, you've got fusions with other genres where, say, aliens invade earth and wipe out everyone, leaving a select few to fight and eventually die at the hands of said aliens, and then there's the negative answers to a very normal 'what if' situation (like, for instance, what if humans were fed a drug that removed all notions of empathy and morality in their minds?)... and I could ramble on and on forever. If you want something little, know that you'll have to prepare yourself for some degree of research (for instance, Stephen King's Survivor Type found him looking at willpower over human instincts and things about autocannibalism I'd never touch with a metre-long stick) and a way to originally twist ideas that probably have been done to death over and over again.
The first thing to do is figure out what interests you the most about horror. Is it the psychological stuff that look at human's minds and the very delicate components of it that you could twist and break for writing purposes? Is it the introduction of some sort of alien entity in an otherwise idyllic, closed-off location that would be boring but for that one anomaly? Or is it introducing something squicky, a type of personality that scares the socks off someone, a location that just reeks of ill will, or something else entirely? Look at what interests you about a plot and find a germ of an idea that allows you to grow a monster of an idea, and go with that.
Alternately, go with a sort of character that might interest you. What point of view do you want to write from? In my own experiences, I very rarely see people writing from the point of view of the stereotypical 'bad guy', the guy who's wielding that chainsaw or the thing that's wreaking havoc or that one nice kid who everyone likes but really shouldn't have trusted, so you could go from that sort of angle. What's going on in their mind, what can you write so that you send chills down people's spines and what exactly interests you about the person? They could have some sort of trauma or a mental condition (but you'll have to be very careful with that sort of thing; writing about depression, for instance, was only possible for me because I'd experienced it myself) or something else entirely that gives them reason to be evil. They could be a medium that you sympathise with most (though that in itself would probably disturb readers if they're too radical xD ). Or they could simply be the underdog and you wanted to show their point of view; the main reason why people write from the bad guy's point of view. But then, of course, there's nothing stopping you from writing about a 'good guy' or just having an omniscient viewpoint, so go for what works with you most.
And since you specified plot and character, I'll leave it at that for now; I've rambled on enough as is. I hope you found some of my stuff useful, and I wish you luck with that horror story!
The first thing to do is figure out what interests you the most about horror. Is it the psychological stuff that look at human's minds and the very delicate components of it that you could twist and break for writing purposes? Is it the introduction of some sort of alien entity in an otherwise idyllic, closed-off location that would be boring but for that one anomaly? Or is it introducing something squicky, a type of personality that scares the socks off someone, a location that just reeks of ill will, or something else entirely? Look at what interests you about a plot and find a germ of an idea that allows you to grow a monster of an idea, and go with that.
Alternately, go with a sort of character that might interest you. What point of view do you want to write from? In my own experiences, I very rarely see people writing from the point of view of the stereotypical 'bad guy', the guy who's wielding that chainsaw or the thing that's wreaking havoc or that one nice kid who everyone likes but really shouldn't have trusted, so you could go from that sort of angle. What's going on in their mind, what can you write so that you send chills down people's spines and what exactly interests you about the person? They could have some sort of trauma or a mental condition (but you'll have to be very careful with that sort of thing; writing about depression, for instance, was only possible for me because I'd experienced it myself) or something else entirely that gives them reason to be evil. They could be a medium that you sympathise with most (though that in itself would probably disturb readers if they're too radical xD ). Or they could simply be the underdog and you wanted to show their point of view; the main reason why people write from the bad guy's point of view. But then, of course, there's nothing stopping you from writing about a 'good guy' or just having an omniscient viewpoint, so go for what works with you most.
And since you specified plot and character, I'll leave it at that for now; I've rambled on enough as is. I hope you found some of my stuff useful, and I wish you luck with that horror story!
Blazinghookshot
The Fool
I'm just going to say. Make the character(s) helpless. This actually has a good affect and also horrors in the unknown. So make the reader unknown to what horrors lurk in the depths. And last add detail. Not a lot but enough to let the reader understand what the character is looking at. Not too much caus you also want there imagination to kick in and make a horrid thought in the readers mind.
Beckoncall
World-Weaver and servant to the most-holy PC
Horror as a genre is also more sensory... True you leave lots to the imagination, but let people know about SMELLS... Dampness... Try to find familiar things in total dark and try to convey that feeling.
Another popular convention is not necessarily to make players helpless (if you have a group willing to go with that GREAT) but some people get turned off of RPGs when they feel disempowered. The alternative is to make the power they have too precious or rare to use freely. One use items (like a Molotov) will have players agonizing about "wasting it" -- you could also have some threat that hates light but another that homes in on it. Difficult choices.
Also, change scenery when they backtrack, just a little. A doll that is NEVER where you left it? Creepy.
Have rivals or rescuers who exist in the story to make the danger visceral without always hitting the players. Npcs freaking out can set a mood. Two police cars pulling up to the eerie house that are seen later poking out of the lake? Stuff like that.
Another popular convention is not necessarily to make players helpless (if you have a group willing to go with that GREAT) but some people get turned off of RPGs when they feel disempowered. The alternative is to make the power they have too precious or rare to use freely. One use items (like a Molotov) will have players agonizing about "wasting it" -- you could also have some threat that hates light but another that homes in on it. Difficult choices.
Also, change scenery when they backtrack, just a little. A doll that is NEVER where you left it? Creepy.
Have rivals or rescuers who exist in the story to make the danger visceral without always hitting the players. Npcs freaking out can set a mood. Two police cars pulling up to the eerie house that are seen later poking out of the lake? Stuff like that.
Beckoncall
World-Weaver and servant to the most-holy PC
You could also have an npc that always is on watch... Looking out, or at monitors, the party stops seeing his face after a while. They'll check and be suspicious, but only when the time is right have them check or spin him around and state his face has been pulled off, or better yet has no face at all.
Kritikal
New Member
I always like to write my histories with music that combines with them. Horror? Listen to the OST of a good horror game, for example. And, plot? Just try to be as original as possible, avoid as many clichés as you can. For example, have you tried writting something in outer space? With tiny corridors, and a monster that isn't an alien?
And, of course, write it only if you like the idea. If the writer is bored, the players will get bored too.
And, of course, write it only if you like the idea. If the writer is bored, the players will get bored too.
Prince13
Child of darkness and light.
Not sure if space can be great with horror. Have you seen the movie Jason X? Second of all I'm not great at scifi ether. Horror is hard enough.Kritikal said:
Prince13
Child of darkness and light.
True there are many little things I could do. Though it's the side characters that give me some trouble. They always end up to similar you know?
Prince13
Child of darkness and light.
As much as I love mind games and showing the inner workings of Madness. I'm wanting to try something along Mad Doctor/Slasher like theme.
Fujiwara No Mokou
Life is a drag.
Go with something unexpected that have twists and turns. Make it surreal f*ck with readers or roleplayers mind give them detailed description of places and other stuff like how dead bodies hang from ceilings ect. Never go with cliche dude with axe and chainsaw make something that people least except i dunno shih tzu reincarnation of devil or something.
Beckoncall
World-Weaver and servant to the most-holy PC
Sci fi and horror can be done. Examples are "zombies in zero gravity" in the all flesh must be eaten sourcebooks, the movies ghosts of Mars, the games deadspace, doom and Martian gothic. Firefly added horror with the reavers, and "event horizon" is a perfect example of terror in space.
Prince13
Child of darkness and light.
Zombies in Zero G makes me think of Tales from the borderlandsBeckoncall said:
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