I am writing a horror mystery novel. What are some ways that I can make it scary without making it bloody?
Like mentioned, I am writing a horror mystery novel. It’s about a boarding school that a murderer breaks loose at and wants revenge for a horrible secret that the school holds.
How can I make it scary without it being gory or bloody?
Thanks in advance.
- danobou
Tags: Boarding School, Horror, Murderer, Mystery Novel, Scary
December 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
play up the psychological side of it
get into people’s minds
have a stalker
or someone hiding in people’s houses and killing them
make it something that could happen to the reader so it feels real to them
when i think of the movie SAW (the first one) there really wasn’t that much blood
but the psychological part just made me skin crawl
and for that reason i LOVED the movie
December 18th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Have you seen a movie called The Descent? It’s about some friends (all girls) stuck in a cave with these cave-dwelling creatures hunting them down.
I personally didn’t find the actual monsters scary. The freakiest element of the plot was the fact that stress, horror and past mistakes trigger the girls to pit against each other, so that they become the monsters to each other. Also, the suspense (are the monsters going to get them or are they going to kill each other) element was also frightening.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Have a stalker, that knows everything about the rest of the characters. I thinks movies and novels like that are creepy.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
ask people what scares them. The unknown is pretty terrifying to most, I’m not good at this, but the scariest shows i’ve ever seen were not gory but psychological.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Getting inside of people’s minds. Know what scares them.
Get to people’s fears.
December 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Blood and gore are less frightening than the anticipation something is going to happen. That’s why going up the creaking stairs in the dark when there probably IS a murderer in the house is so effective. Once done, the deed is done. Leading up to it raises the goosebumps.