Some advice on how to write horror for Halloween (and NaNoWriMo)

Rest in peace, Vice Dean Laybourne.

I had planned to write a longer post for Halloween, but to quote Vice Dean Laybourne: “I’m going through some stuff right now”.

Since I wanted to post something on this one day where people feel comfortable admitting they enjoy horror and scary stories, here are three blog posts of mine about writing horror:

I deconstruct Glen Hirshberg’s “The Nimble Men” as an example of effective horror writing in Horror Writing: How to Write a Scary Story.
In Creating Tension & Conflict in Fiction: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I look at how the different layers of human need can be tapped to build tension, create conflict and keep readers on the edge of their seats.
And the title of To Write Horror, You Must Be Horrified sums it up pretty well. If not, if you are going to write horror you have to know what horrifies you and tap into that primal reaction.

If you are gearing up for NaNoWriMo, kicking off tomorrow, I hope these can help you in your mad sprint.

I hope everyone has a scary, but safe, Halloween!