In book publishing, horror is a genre that brings out the strongest emotion in humans – Fear. Often, horror novel writing is included in the broader category of thrillers. But not all horror books have thrills.
Heart beating rapidly, hairs rising at the back of your neck, and sweat forming on your forehead as you anxiously wait for what happens next – the experience of reading a horror story book cannot be described in words, and that’s quite ironic. If you wish to bring out all these emotions and reactions in your readers, you must learn how to cook up content that taps into the reader’s paranoia. Unlike most other genres, writing a horror novel is tricky. So, without much ado, let us share how to write a horror story for book publishing.
The Ingredients of a Bestselling Horror Story Book
It’s the chase and the fear of the unknown that’s creepy and blood rising.
In book publishing, horror is a genre that brings out the strongest emotion in humans – Fear. Often, horror novel writing is included in the broader category of thrillers. But not all horror books have thrills.
To write a classic horror story book, you must tap into subjects that frighten humans the most, such as demons, ghosts, the devil, golems, etc. book publishing companies
However, Gothic horror is the trending genre in 21st-century novels where werewolves, vampires, zombies, serial killers, and other predicaments of supernatural play villains.
In Truth, The Closest Comparison to Writing Horror is Writing Comedy Books
Believe it or not, these two genres are closely related because both attempt to subvert relatable situations and familiar settings.
In comedy fiction writing, a relatable situation, like marriage, is humored by something incongruous. self publishing a book
On the other hand, when authors write a horror book, they subvert the familiar – such as a new house, an antique jewelry box, camping in old ruins, a hotel stay, a summer house, or riding through the wood at night – with terror.
The reader’s reactions when reading horror or comedy stem from the same place – surprise or shock at how a normal situation was destabilized.
The familiarity of these settings prepares the readers for the terror lurking behind the words.
So, you must ensure the leading character’s perspective or point of view reflects that of your readers. Only then will it be scary when the lead character encounters a moment of fear.
For example, it is more terrifying when a young boy walking home through a wood is snatched deeper into the forest by a faceless creature than when an alien encounters a faceless creature.
Elements of Horror Story Books You Shouldn’t Miss Adding
Whenever an aspiring writer consults us on how to write a horror story book, we ask them to include these four elements without fail.
Unabashed Fear: Creating something truly fearful for an adult reader is harder than you think. We all fear different things in life. But a classic horror story creates fear out of a situation that the readers would never expect.
For example, you might not have feared clowns before reading Stephen King’s IT.
Shock or Surprise: A common reaction after facing the unknown is shock and surprise. Therefore, adding elements of surprise, shock, and disbelief will work well in instilling fear in your readers’ minds.
Disgust: An excellent horror storybook will make readers feel repulsed over a situation or character, such as the orcs eating humans from J R R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Horror or Dread: Finally, writing a true horror storybook requires you to step up from other emotions. Combine all three elements of shock, disgust, and fear, and produce the final element: your imagination of true evil, which you must cultivate in your reader’s mind with words.
