Writing Dark Stories

Learn to haunt your readers with powerful, chilling tales. Make their spines tingle with anticipation and their skins crawl with delicious fear. Disturb their world-view and invite them to look into the dark corners of their own souls.


This book gives you a wealth of tools and techniques for writing great short stories. It is part of the acclaimed Writer's Craft series.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

1. FEED YOUR FICTION WITH YOUR FEARS

Places. Weird Shudders. Phobias. Childhood Fears. Dreams. Human Attitudes. Ordinary Things.

Assignment.

2. WHY THE TITLE IS A STRONG START

Gathering Ideas. Assignment.

3. WRITING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS

Now Write. Prompts. The Freewriting Experience. Assignment.

4. FIFTEEN MASTER PLOTS

Plot Ideas You Can Use. Assignment.

5. DARK FICTION AND HORROR GENRES

Horror. Splatterpunk. Extreme Horror. Psychological Horror. Dystopian. Lovecraftian. Thriller.

Mystery. Dark Fiction. Supernatural. Paranormal. Paranormal Romance. Dark Fantasy. Urban

Fantasy. Gothic. Erotic Horror. Horror Comedy. Romantic Suspense. Steampunk. Ghost Stories.

Slipstream. Speculative Fiction. Weird Fiction. Flash Fiction. Slice-of-Life. Cross-Genre.

Collection. Anthology. Assignment.

6.  POINT OF VIEW

Deep PoV Techniques. Serial Point of View. Omniscient Point of View. Other Point of View Styles.

Assignment.

7. MANAGING TENSION

Goal. Raising the Stakes. Conflicts Among Characters. Peaks and Troughs. Assignment.

8. BUILDING SUSPENSE

Pose a Question. The Ticking Clock. Pacing. The Door Opens. Assignment.

9. HOW TO SCARE YOUR READERS

Darkness. Sounds. Chill. Isolation. Meet the Monster. Get Visceral. The Gory Bits. Assignment.

10. CREEPY LOCATIONS

Select the Setting. Inspiring Pictures. How to Describe the Setting. Practical Research. Setting

Research Checklist. Assignment.

11. MAKE THE MOST OF THE WEATHER

Create Atmosphere. Deepen the PoV. Make it Difficult for the Characters. Strained Tempers. Mood

and Foreboding. Beware the Pathetic Fallacy. Collecting Descriptions. Assignment.

12. HOW TO OPEN YOUR STORY

Opening with Setting Description. Opening with Dialogue. Opening While All Seems Well with the

World. Assignment.

13. HOW TO END YOUR STORY

Endings to Avoid. Seven Possible Endings. Leave Questions in the Reader’s Mind. Assignment.

14. VILLAINS AND MONSTERS

Human Villains: Clichés to Avoid. Motivation. Depth. Describing the Villain. Monsters: Reveal it

Bit by Bit. Keep it Plausible. Assignment.

15. GHOST STORIES

Plot and Backstory. Setting and Mood. Characters and Point of View. Assignment.

16. VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES

Vampires: Sparkling Versus Traditional. Vampire Tropes. Fiction Ideas. Werewolves: Werewolf

Tropes. Questions to Consider. Zombies: How Zombies are Made. Zombie Tropes. Fiction Ideas.

Beware the Bite-Hiders. Assignment.

17. RELIGIOUS HORROR

Horror in Holy Books. Faith Versus Fear. Religious Historical Horror. Unbelievers Meet Scary

Gods. Stories Presenting Religion as Evil. Writing About Other Faiths. Controversy. Assignment.

18. Why Do People Read Horror Fiction?

Seven Psychological Reasons. Assignment.

19. MARKETING AND PUBLICATION

Traditional Publishing. Markets. Rights. Payment. Self-Publishing. Trends. Assignments.

20. SAMPLE STORIES WITH COMMENTS

Burning. Seagulls. Only A Fool.

DEAR READER



British English.