by David Barnett

Created on: November 09, 2007

The art of writing horror for the silver screen. Let's study just this first sentence for a moment? What is horror? The definition of horror is something either written or visual that would be considered frightening. What is frightful to some may not be to others, so it is the screenwriters job to make something frightening to all. How I write horror is a grueling process, first I come up with a basic concept for a film. Examples would be an escaped mental patient, an ancient creature returns from beyond. After I have the concept then I study some films from that genre to see if I can pick something out of it that appeals to me. I run with that idea and begin creating my lead character, giving them a sense of realism, their hopes and dreams, their fears. I take detailed notes on my characters before I ever write a outline for the script.

After the outline I write sample scenes to see what will work and what will not. Depending on what type of horror film you are writing some of the basic points on writing a compelling screenplay still come into play. Here are some helpful tips for someone wanting to write their first horror film.

1. Start off with a bang. Open with the inciting incident, what could be the cause of the monster or killer on his or her reign of terror. Called in screen writing circles "The Hook".
For example Halloween starts off with 6 year old Michael Myers slaughtering his sister Judith on Halloween Night 1963. There is the hook.

2. Make you hero. When you write your protagonist give him or her a flaw, ultimately you want your audience to care for your hero or there is no point in writing. Remember compelling characters.

3. Give your hero a fear. This is crucial in a screenplay, if your lead character is going to be believable he or she must have a fear, make sure this fear plays into the final confrontation with the monster.

4. Location. Place your characters in a remote location, this usually works for your typical slasher film. Stuck in a remote area with no escape will make the hair on peoples necks stand up but from that point on the story becomes predictable. Placing the characters in a basic location like suburbia will make for a frightening story.

5. Build the suspense. Having a cat jump through a window or wind blowing a window open is always a good way to give a shock scare. Have these shocks at least twice in your script.

6. If it is a who done it type film, never show the killer's face but do show how savage and brutal the maniac is. A fine point in writing your death scenes. Always remember less is more, you want your audience to be scared not running to the bathroom because your film is gross. Case in point, Halloween was scary due to the lack of blood in the death scenes, when Halloween 2 was released the shock value was not there due to excessive gore. Friday the 13th was the opposite where their large amounts of gore made the film what it is today it was not considered scary or suspenseful.

7. The showdown. You do not want your hero to match strength with the killer or monster rather have your hero use another method. Outsmarting the monster is always to go. In Friday the 13th part 6, Tommy the hero tricks Jason the killer into the water where he traps him under water till the next time the studio brings him back.

8. Leave an opening for a sequel. Most studios figure if it does well opening weekend then they can milk it. In writing though think of your script as one film only.

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