How to Create Scary Robots, Androids and AI (in Sci-Fi Horror Fiction)

My current work in progress, Meadowview, is about a woman who visits a mega-mall at Christmastime to retrieve her errant teenage daughter. While she’s there, the mall’s service androids turn murderous and begin attacking shoppers. What starts as a routine trip turns into a harrowing survival situation.

I’m telling you this because it relates to the theme of this article. While writing the book, I spent a lot of time thinking of ways to make robots, androids and AI scary (within the context of...