The worst scares are the ones that bear a kernel of truth. Experience is a key ingredient to writing well and that includes brushes with uncanny danger.
When was the last time you felt spooked? For a lot of people, childhood holds the most eerie surprises. Then again, if faced with something inexplicable as an adult, that can be even worse.
It’s time to tap into that darkness…
The Workshop
Exercise 1 – Scary Anecdotes
Spend ten minutes writing a list of times in your life when you felt scared. Where were you? How old were you? Any unique sensory details? Try not to overthink it.
Exercise 2 – Telling the Truth
Spend twenty minutes exploring one of those ideas. Don’t be afraid to diverge from the exact truth. A little fiction can help make better sense of it all. If you like, even try blending two different anecdotes to maximize the creepiness.
Nick’s Example
Those eyes. I closed my own and tried desperately to think of something else – anything else. But always I could feel them, staring, watching. Rheumy red and milky with cataracts. Empty. Unblinking.
I opened my eyelids and squirmed with discomfort, bitterly wishing I could leave my hospital bed. Doris kept on staring from behind closed curtains, her dead gaze reflected in the metal rails. Again I tried to divert my attention elsewhere, tried turning my head to one side and fixing my sight on the machines monitoring my heart rate. It was elevated. Unsurprisingly.
My gaze returned to Doris’s reflection. There almost seemed to be a change in her now. I frowned. Her face was still slack, her eyes still devoid of life. But I couldn’t shake the feeling they were looking at me specifically, scrutinising me almost. I shut my eyelids again. Just four more hours. Then her family could come and say their final goodbyes and the nurses could take her away.
A clatter sounded and my eyes snapped open. The reflection. It had gone!
I turned to ring for the nurse, and froze. Doris leered back at me, her lips twisted in a rictus grin. Bony fingers latched onto my arm. I screamed.
Nick Stead – October 2024
“The true horror of Halloween – Broccoli” by Tim Green aka atoach is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Huddersfield Authors Circle 
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