How to Write the Best Horror Screenplay
A Guide to Crafting Nightmares
I get it. You’ve had this idea in your head for a while. You watched a bad horror movie and thought, “I could do better than that.” And you’re probably right! There is probably a good horror movie in many of us, it’s just about bringing that out in a way that captivates audiences and tells the story you want to tell. Horror films captivate audiences by tapping into primal fears, offering thrills, chills, and a safe space to confront the unknown. But writing a horror screenplay that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll requires more than just jump scares and gore. Here’s how to craft a spine-tingling story that stands out.
1. Know Your Subgenre
Horror is a vast genre. There are as many different genres as there are fears in the world. Understanding the subgenre that you are going for can help you know the tropes and how to avoid them and how to lean into them. Don’t think of the subgenres as limitations; instead, they are sandboxes to play in. Explore the genre tropes and identify your niche to tailor your approach:
- Supernatural (e.g., The Conjuring): Leverage unseen forces and eerie atmospheres.
- Psychological (e.g., Hereditary): Focus on mental unraveling and existential dread.
- Slasher (e.g., Halloween): Prioritize tension and inventive set pieces.
- Body Horror (e.g., The Fly): Explore physical transformation and visceral disgust.
- Social Horror (e.g., Get Out): Weave in societal critiques.
Tip: Study classics and modern hits to understand subgenre tropes—then subvert them. Surprise your audience by flipping expectations.
2. Craft a High-Stakes Concept
Start with a unique, compelling premise. Ask: What if? (e.g., What if a family couldn’t make noise to survive? → A Quiet Place). Ensure stakes are life-or-death, emotionally charged, or existential. Take regular, everyday experiences and ask “what if”. This will also set rules on your world which guides the actions your characters can and cannot take. If this is a world where a car can get possessive, what does that mean for its driver? They would have to stay off the roads, not be seen with anyone else, or be run over. What if you got pregnant for the first time, but the baby belonged to the Devil? What if you lived in a world where werewolves existed? Even the most mundane situations can be turned to horror.
Exercise: Brainstorm 10 "What if?" scenarios. Merge two to create something original.
3. Build Relatable Characters
Audiences fear for characters they care about. Look at the people in your own life, what do you like about them? What do you like about yourself? Be honest, and explore your own idiosyncrasies. Think about the ways in which we are all ignorant of the things that make us human and imperfect. But also use that as a way to show how we are all human, even your antagonist is not all good or bad. Develop protagonists with flaws, desires, and arcs. Make antagonists terrifying yet layered (e.g., Hannibal Lecter, in Silence of the Lambs is terrifying but at his core he respects the protagonist, which is what the audience also wants).
Pro Tip: Use the “monster as metaphor” approach. In The Babadook, grief becomes a literal monster.
4. Atmosphere as a Character
Settings should heighten dread. Isolated locations (e.g., the Overlook Hotel in The Shining) trap characters physically and mentally. Use sensory details in your script: eerie sounds, oppressive darkness, or claustrophobic spaces. But think about everyday locations, try to find the horror in the mundane, like how the suburbs are used in movies like It Follows and Halloween, and how most of the horror in Midsommar happens in the bright, sunny fields of the day. There can be terror hidden in plain sight, what would it take to make that place terrifying? If it was secluded? What if it was full of people?
Exercise: Walk around your neighborhood and write down 5 locations to place a horror movie.
5. Structure for Suspense
A good scare is like a good joke, it takes the proper setup for maximum payoff. When you are working on your script, it’s good to master the three-act structure. Follow the three-act structure, but pace for maximum dread:
- Act 1 (Setup): Introduce characters, stakes, and the lurking threat. What are the rules?
- Act 2 (Confrontation): Escalate threats; let characters make flawed choices. How serious is the threat?
- Act 3 (Climax): Deliver a cathartic showdown or twisted resolution. Write ends to all the things set up in the 1st and 2nd act, if you can’t figure out how to tie up loose threads, consider getting rid of them.
Pacing Trick: Use quiet moments to build tension before explosive scares. Think of Alien’s slow-burn suspense.
6. Master the Art of the Scare
Many people might be afraid of falling into tropes. You may worry that if your work is cliche people will hate it and you need to reinvent the wheel. You don’t. The wheel is everywhere because it works. Master the basics so you can experiment. If you don’t know the basics you can’t move on to reinvention.
-Jump Scares: Use sparingly. Foreshadow with ominous cues (e.g., creaking floors, long silences).
- Psychological Fear: Let the audience’s imagination terrify them (e.g., The Blair Witch Project).
- Unsettling Imagery: Create visuals that haunt (e.g., the bear in Annihilation).
Rule: Show less, suggest more. The unknown is scarier than what’s seen. You might think that you need to explain something for it to be understood but human minds create more fear when we have less information than when we know what the threat is.
7. Twist Endings and Memorable Finales
Aim for endings that shock or resonate emotionally. It might be tempting to give your audience the most cathartic ending, bad guy - DEAD! But the ending of a movie often sticks the most with audiences (think: The Sixth Sense). It might also be tempting to completely alienate the audience and give them the worst ending for the characters (spoiler: The Mist). But really consider what you want the audience to walk away with, what message and feelings would you like them to take away.
- Ambiguous Endings (e.g., The Thing): Leave audiences questioning. Will an ambiguous ending feel more authentic? Does this mirror the real world?
- Bittersweet Victories (e.g., The Exorcist): Survival at a cost. Should all of your characters just walk away from this story? Is this the culmination of what a character has to tell? Is there a character whose sacrifice would be the most impactful to the audience?
- Full-Circle Moments (e.g., The Ring): The horror isn’t over. Don’t use this as a cheap way to set up a sequel, instead think about the nature of violence. Should the terror end, if the threat behind it can not be resolved?
Caution: Avoid deus ex machina. Earn your ending through setup. If you did not introduce something in the first act, by the 2nd or 3rd act it’s too late. If you want to have something come from “nowhere” for your audience, subtly introduce it in the first act.
8. Themes That Haunt
Infuse deeper meaning to elevate your story. Get Out tackles racism; The Babadook explores grief. Think about the root causes of the fear. It’s not enough to have a scary man walk around in a rubber suit anymore, audiences demand substance (like in The Substance which touches on beauty expectations). Audiences crave more meat on the horror bone to sink their teeth into. Something that leaves them with something to chew on for months and years to come. Use this to process something in you that is authentically you, something internally that you fear or have anxiety around.
Ask: “What deeper fear does my horror represent?”
9. Writing Tips and Pitfalls
- Show, Don’t Tell: Use visual storytelling over exposition.
- Dialogue: Keep it natural. Understate reactions to fear (silence can be powerful).
- Avoid Clichés: Creaky doors are fine—but add a fresh twist (e.g., It Follows’ curse as a metaphor for STDs).
- Revise Ruthlessly: Trim fluff. Every scene should build tension or develop character.
10. Test Your Script
Share drafts with horror fans. Does it unsettle them? Where do they predict twists? Refine based on feedback. Take the feedback, but understand not all feedback is good. You need to know what works for you, and what actually serves the message you are trying to make. Try not to take the critiques to heart and instead look at them objectively, as if you were examining someone else’s work. Also, feedback can come from all over, even people you think aren’t horror fans, might have the exact advice you need.
Final Thought: Embrace the Fear
Great horror screenplays blend originality, emotion, and primal terror. Write what scares you, and your passion will infect the page. Audiences are very smart these days and can tell the difference between a half-hearted cash grab and a film with authenticity. If you want to impact your audience, give them something real. Now, go haunt those blank pages—and leave your audience sleeping with the lights on.
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Bonus Exercise: Write a scene where fear arises solely through atmosphere (no dialogue or jumpscares). How can shadows, sounds, or pacing create dread?
By marrying structure, character, and innovation, your screenplay can join the ranks of horror classics. Happy haunting! 🖤
