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Writing Genres

How to Write Gothic Fiction

Last Updated: May 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 361,413 times.

Gothic fiction is a subgenre of horror, exemplified by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Wilkie Collins. Gothic horror consists of moody landscapes, supernatural experiences, and an atmosphere filled with dread. You can write your own piece of gothic fiction if you know about its conventions. Keep reading to learn how to write a gothic fiction story.

Developing Ideas for Your Gothic Fiction

Step 1 Choose a time when your story will take place.

A story about the past can make supernatural events and strange characters seem more real to your readers.
Or, you can write in the present but include lots of elements that hearken back to an older time. Bram Stoker includes modern technology and ancient things in Dracula. He describes typewriters and trains, but he also includes vampires and an ancient castle.

The Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining is an excellent example of such a location. The Overlook was once a gleaming vibrant vacation spot occupied by many people, but now only Jack and his family occupy it. [1] X Research source
The mood of the environment will influence how the characters act.

Hero or anti-hero. There should be at least one character in your gothic fiction that readers will like, even if he or she has some dark tendencies. Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein is a great example of a hero who is good, even though he creates a monster.
Villain. The villain in gothic fiction stories often plays the role of a tempter, who leads the hero down a dark path. A good villain should be both evil and fun to read about. Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula is an excellent example of an interesting, yet evil villain. He does terrible things (like murdering people) and is portrayed by Bram Stoker as the epitome of foreign corruption that threatened Britain's society at the time. Since this fear of invasion was common at the time 'Dracula' was published, it was a very popular Gothic novel.
Woman in white. Many gothic fiction novels feature a doomed bride or damsel in distress character who never gets her happy ending. Elizabeth from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a good example of a woman in white. [2] X Research source
Woman in black. Other gothic fictions include a woman in black character like a widow. Miss Jessel of Turn of the Screw by Henry James is an example of a woman in black. [3] X Research source

For example, in Bram Stoker's Dracula Mina redeems herself with the help of her friends.

Making Your Gothic Fiction Unique

For example, young William Frankenstein wanders off and Frankenstein's monster murders him. [5] X Research source

For example, a prophecy haunts the family in Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto. The prophecy says that the castle will pass from Manfred's line. The prophecy seems to have come true when Manfred's son dies. [8] X Research source

Matilda is in love with one man, but another man lusts after her, which puts her in danger throughout the book. [10] X Research source

Step 5 Consider using a found material or true story framing device.

For example, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker both use found material framing devices. They present their stories through character letters and journal entries.

Writing Your Gothic Fiction

Find continuous ways to engage the reader. "I end each chapter with a cliffhanger, resolution, a turn, a reveal, a new wrinkle ... something that will make you want to read the next chapter of that character."

Step 4 Incorporate descriptions of heightened emotions throughout your story.

For example, Roderick descends into madness in Edgar Allen Poe's “Fall of The House of Usher.” His decline intensifies the story and makes it scarier.

Step 6 Kill off some of your characters.

For example, a giant helmet crushes Conrad in Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto. Conrad was on his way to get married. [16] X Research source

Edgar Allen Poe includes twists at the end of his stories that lead readers to question the finality of death. Poe includes one of these twists in “Fall of the House of Usher” when Madeline appears in the doorway and falls on top of Roderick. Roderick had believed that Madeline was dead.

Gothic Fiction Template

Expert Q&A

Read gothic fiction for inspiration and to learn more about the genre. The better you understand the conventions of the genre, the easier it will be for you to contribute your own work of gothic fiction. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
Going online to research all your information, like places for your setting, may also help. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
Share your work with supportive friends and family when you are finished. Ask for feedback on what they like and how you can improve your story. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

Be patient! It may take days before you get a good idea on what to write about.
Read gothic books/blogs to get inspiration for your own writing.

↑ https://www.sgasd.org/cms/lib/PA01001732/Centricity/Domain/553/Frankenstein%20Gothic%20and%20Romantic%20Notes.pdf
↑ https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/oct/28/halloween-top-tips-gothic-writing-chris-priestley
↑ https://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Chars/william.html
↑ https://owlcation.com/humanities/How-to-Write-a-Curse-or-Prophecy-in-Your-Fiction-Writing
↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zyp72hv
↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm
↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/improve-my-writing/10-ways-to-start-your-story-better
↑ https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/gothic-tropes-madness/
↑ https://study.com/learn/lesson/the-castle-of-otranto-horace-walpole-summary.html

About This Article

To write a great piece of gothic horror, start by setting your story in a strange, decaying place with a creepy atmosphere, like a crumbling castle or a haunted house. Then, spend plenty of time developing your characters. Create a main character that has some dark tendencies but is still sympathetic, and a villain who tempts the hero towards a dark path. If you need some inspiration, look for examples in the works of the great gothic horror writers, including Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe. For more writing tips from our Literary co-author, like how to develop an engaging plot, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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100 gothic fiction writing prompts

November 28, 2023 by Richard Leave a Comment

Here are 100 gothic fiction writing prompts that go bump in the night. Shadowy figures are lurking in crumbling mansions. Ominous family curses and disturbing secrets. Welcome to the macabre world of gothic fiction. With its atmospheric tales of horror and suspense, this haunting genre never seems to die.

And now, you can let your dark imagination run wild thanks to these 100 spine-tingling gothic fiction writing prompts. Inside, you’ll find story ideas involving haunted sanitariums, possessed dolls, vengeful spirits, bizarre experiments gone wrong, unsettling wax museums, and so much more.

Creative inspiration awaits on every chilling line, from creepy portraits and abandoned opera houses to agents of the occult and sinister doppelgangers. Not for the faint of heart, these prompts pull back the veil into spaces where the darkest dreams and nightmares dwell just out of sight.

Venture forth, if you dare. Let the ghosts and shadows guide your pen to weave deliciously dramatic tales to make readers shiver. Just be warned—once you immerse yourself in these macabre realms, you might never wish to return to the comforting glow of the light again. The spirits will eagerly await your next visit to their darkened domains.

An old mansion hides disturbing secrets and supernatural forces in the attic that slowly take control of a new homeowner.
A family curse causes a daughter to transform into a ghostly spirit every night, haunting the ancestral castle.
Gargoyles and stone figures seem to move when no one is watching in an ancient monastery turned hotel.
Mysterious scratching and cries can be heard within the walls of a creaky old plantation house at night.
An innocent mother is accused of witchcraft in 1600s Salem and condemned to death for her occult “crimes.”
A widow uncovers her dead husband’s strange double life after finding his hidden portrait stashed away in a forgotten attic.
A mental patient believes a possessed doll talks to her at night, urging her to commit violent acts.
Strange marks and blood keep appearing on a daughter after she becomes obsessed with communicating with spirits using an antique Ouija board.
A decaying sanitarium still bears unsettling traces of its horrific and bizarre medical practices on abandoned patients.
Villagers suffer violent sleepwalking fits that coincide with rumors of a vampire stalking the night.
A daughter tries to figure out if she’s going insane or truly haunted by the vengeful ghost of her dead mother.
A perilous staircase within an abbey spirals into unknown realms below.
A pallid masked ball conjures macabre visions of the past that hint at an unsolved murder.
A family becomes increasingly corrupted and haunted after moving into an ancestral home their new baby inherited.
Dogs around a village go mad after a meteor crash, savaging their masters at night.
Mysterious medicinal tinctures at an asylum seem to only make patients exhibit worsening fits of insanity.
A gravedigger realizes the corpse he just buried seems oddly still sentient and desperate to escape.
Villagers are plagued by a daemonic specter leaving behind inexplicable nocturnal phenomena like imprints of cloven hooves.
An innocent girl is abducted into a convent as punishment for her mother’s sins but discovers the nuns secretly practice witchcraft at night.
An accursed cask of Amontillado wine drives its victims murderously insane.
A troubled widow uncovers her home’s accursed foundations are strangely shifting every night.
A shadowy cabal seeks occult texts and artifacts for mysterious rituals from the catacombs below a corrupted monastery.
In the candlelit rooms of an abandoned Gothic manse, ghosts endlessly recreate a tragedy.
A prisoner is spirited away every night from his cell to a ghostly masked ball even as he awaits execution.
Sinister medieval torture devices are revived to torment victims of an obsessive cryptic society within a dungeon.
Glimpses of fatal visions in ornate mirrors drives the viewer slowly mad.
An eccentric gentleman scientist conducts deranged experiments bringing corpses to life with disastrous consequences.
A remote island filled with exotic flowers breeds an opiate-like scent that draws visitors only to never let them leave again.
A silver bell that rings unexpectedly in the night signals another soon-to-be victim marked for death by a vengeful spirit.
Eerie doppelgangers take the place of loved ones, deceiving everyone except one person who knows the truth.
A crumbling gothic tower imprisoned artists driven mad trying to capture visions of a beautiful muse who tragically perished.
An asylum patient speaks a dead language to mysterious entities living within the walls.
Sinister satanic rituals take place in the catacombs below a remote monastery.
An eccentric widow performs bizarre elaborate funerals for her dead pets left to wander restless on the grounds of her decaying estate.
Terrible secrets fester behind the boarded up windows of a foreboding Gothic manse sinking into a swamp.
A cursed ancient artifact causes a strange wasting plague to rapidly age victims until they become desiccated ghoulish remnants.
Phantasmagoric illusions plague a masked ball, showing omens of tragedy within the mirrors.
Witch hunters accuse women in a village of secret satanic pacts causing children to dance madly to macabre magical flutes only they seem to hear.
A miserable masked carnival performer transforms into a real grotesque creature when offstage after being born malformed.
An old wooden marionette begins subtly manipulating its puppeteer.
Mysterious locked rooms once used for occult rituals drive the curious to obsessively seek ways to see inside.
Winged vicious creatures stalk the elaborate stone halls of crumbling ancestral castle.
Unmarked graves in family cemeteries disturbingly sink every year even after exhumation.
A vampiric contagion spreads from rats boldly biting citizens in a shadowy slum.
A wretched foundling child suffers violent fits and harbors a cruel second soul those in the workhouse strangely indulge.
A portrait’s eyes seem to hauntingly follow you as if the spirit remains trapped within.
An intricate puzzle box found in the ashes of an old burned down asylum proves maddeningly impossible yet sinister to solve.
A masked stranger seems to mysteriously die multiple violent deaths before your eyes at the same masquerade ball over centuries.
A sleep experiment induces ghastly nightmares that continue to haunt waking victims.
A wax museum’s strikingly lifelike figures seem prone to subtly shifting when unobserved.
Mourning paintings morph the dead’s faces into cadaverous skulls if stared at too long.
Disturbing eerie echoes of macabre theater scenes continue to repeat within an abandoned Opera house attic even without players.
A widower’s pained artistic attempts at revival seem to succeeding at resurrecting his deceased wife into an uncanny creature.
A sentient schizophrenic house’s architecture keeps fantastically warping.
A broken antique kaleidoscope filled with tainted bone fragments shows macabre visions of death to owners.
An inhabitant of opiate dens seems to project their delirious dreams of a haunted palace.
Gargoyles mysteriously take the place of landlords thought to be away on extended trips.
Elaborate startling illusionist tricks at a theater inexplicably shift into real supernatural manifestations.
An ornate hand mirror shows the viewer’s face aging rapidly or glimpses their own gruesome death behind their shoulder.
Ghostly debutante dancers endlessly waltz together unable to stop until dawn breaks the spell binding them to the ballroom.
A widow uncovers her husband’s secret obsession with building uncannily perfect wind up automata replacements of recently deceased townspeople.
A physician teaches his unusual nervously sensitive ward to enter a trance to retreat from reality’s disturbing stimuli into the meticulously crafted rooms of a haunted mind palace.
Corpses of the recently deceased are stolen from cemeteries before materializing days later woven into elaborately posed configurations on church pews.
A troubled writer frequents the sprawling haunted ruins of an alchemist’s strange estate, inspiring her wildly imaginative yet disturbing stories seeming to manifest elements into reality the more she writes them.
A masked stranger haunts the private theater box night after night to bizarrely mentor an actress until she embodies her dead lover reborn onstage.
Ghostly echoes of macabre deaths plague a murderer forcing them toward the scene of their crimes for a reenactment on every anniversary.
Eerie music box melodies woven from metal pins and blood guide the imaginative inside a labyrinthine mechanical puzzle house.
A widow trapped in perpetual mourning painstakingly applies her dead daughter’s preserved face to lifelike doll effigies.
Disturbing unseen presences seem to forcibly puppeteer vulnerable drug addicts into recreating bizarre depraved theater shows.
An intricately decorated artifact using human bones and teeth seems to promise supernatural visions yet also extract sanity as payment.
A troubled detective frequents the bizarrely maze-like halls of his inherited family estate which seems to ominously shift and transform to mirror his fractured mind.
A strange idol causes bizarre uncanny doppelgangers to manifest when studying your mirrored reflection too closely by candlelight.
An ominous ancient grandfather clock always seems to countdown toward the hour of a person’s eventual mysterious death.
Eerie echoes from a deceased twin haunt a surviving sister while her parents seem obliviously content to pretend the deceased child never existed.
A troubled magician able to manifest realistic illusions finds the appearances slowly becoming autonomous entities no longer under their control.
A melancholy doll somehow houses the soul of a drowned child submerged from a past tragedy mysteriously able to animate itself.
A comatose woman’s nightmares seem to cross over into waking reality the longer she remains unable to wake up.
A grieving eccentric covertly captures apparitions on antique photographic plates by stealing close keepsakes from dead loved ones to haunt the images.
A drug addict watches a doppelganger slowly take over their life leaving them behind like a forgotten hollow shell.
An heiress who haunts a decaying mansion seems to enchant guests into staying longer each visit until they waste away becoming dusty relics imprisoned by her loneliness.
Death masks crafted from wax conceal a bizarre way for the wealthy secretly achieve eternal life by encasing souls.
An intricate puzzle box found in an asylum’s ashes proves disturbingly irresistible yet maddeningly impossible to solve.
Faded unnerving portraits hide being them twisted decaying corpse faces revealed by candlelight.
An artist’s miraculously revived daughter rapidly becomes a bizarre inhuman creature.
A grieving mother uses bodies of the recently deceased as bizarre life size macabre doll replacements for her dead daughter.
Unmarked patient graves in an asylum’s cemetery subtly sink deeper when no one watches.
A haunted portrait’s subject seems to possess those who gaze upon their beauty for too long.
An intricate anatomical theater hides disturbing occult ceremonies deep below.
A twisted sculptures garden filled with contorted stone bodies seems to come alive at night.
Ghostly debutante dancers haunt an abandoned dilapidated ballroom unable stop waltzing even as the room crumbles.
A magician’s transformative stage illusions become an addiction yet irreversibly distorts their appearance when not on stage.
A troubling ornate music box plays seemingly random eerie melodies that prove to sadly match the tune of imminent real life tragedies.
A grief stricken eccentric attempts increasingly deranged experiments to revive dead loved ones.
An intricate mechanical puzzle house ensnares victims inside its constantly shifting labyrinthine rooms and halls.
A haunted asylum’s disturbing experimental therapies leave victims in an eternally childlike regressed state even after death.
Unearthly cries emerge from the boarded up ruins of a decaying estate no one dares gets near at night.
An intricate mosaic floor patterns itself from the powdered cremation ashes of deceased institute residents.
Mourning paintings hauntingly transform to show the dead’s faces become cadaverous skulls if stared at too long.
An intricate clockwork automatons that perfectly resemble the newly dead seem to creepily enact aspects of their former living behaviors.
An intricate artful anatomy theater hides disturbing occult ceremonies deep below its secret trapdoors.

We hope you enjoyed this list of Gothic writing prompts. There are many other writing prompts on our site you may enjoy. If you have any questions or concerns please leave them in the comments below. Feel free to leave us any work you want to share that was inspired by these prompts.

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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Writing Gothic Fiction: Tips To Craft An Effective Story

by Madeleine Rose Jones | Apr 17, 2020 | General Fiction , Writing Tips | 0 comments

Gothic fiction has the power to disturb and enrich the reader.

In this blog post, I’ll share my best writing tips on crafting gothic fiction. Not only will I address the misconceptions people have about the genre, but I’ll add a unique perspective that will inspire you.

This blog post contains very light spoilers and affiliate links.

Need a word processor? I recommend Scrivener .

Tip 1: Juxtapose The Darkness With Light

The Gothic is associated with gloom. And that’s why it is tempting to make your story utterly depressing and dreadful. Yet, it is beneficial to add ‘light’ to the darkness. If your novel is one bad event after the other, and there is no ‘pause’ or brief escape, then the tension in your story won’t stand out. This is a problem I have with modern gothic fiction, such as Lars Von Trier’s film Antichrist . The endless misery.

Yet a sophisticated writer knows the power of juxtaposition. They can make the sad moments sadder by adding light in select times. No, you don’t need to ‘lessen’ the horror in your story. ‘Light’ can mean a sympathetic character, or even a cheerful conversation among friends.

Consider A Series Of Unfortunate Events . The moments that stand out to me aren’t the misery or the pain. However, the pleasant conversations among siblings and friends do. Those moments make the tragedy more tragic, because we know it’s happening to characters we care about.

Tip 2: Use Metaphors to Add Depth

The Gothic loves metaphors, and often uses imagery (such as ghosts, vampires) to convey a deeper meaning. That could be political, sexual, or emotional. Either way, metaphors, when done right, add a new level of terror in your story.

Take Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . The monster is not just a blank slate. He’s representative of birth and creation, and God. However, what makes Frankenstein effective is that Shelley is vague. She does not directly say any characters represent someone or something. She leaves it up to the readers’ imagination.

Metaphors can be done poorly. Yet if you remain subtle and clever, your gothic story will be richer. Think long about what ‘metaphors’ you want to use. It’s a field that requires care.

Tip 3: Add Romantic Elements

‘Romantic’ doesn’t always mean a love story. No, ‘Romantic’ refers to Romanticism, the art and literary period of the early 19 th century. Defined by beauty, nature and medievalism, romanticism celebrates what the modern world often forgets. Consider the ‘inner world’ your characters experience, and flesh it out with romantic details.

Romanticism is heavily subjective, as is the Gothic. Filmmakers such as Guillermo Del Toro acknowledge that and use it as an excuse for more originality. Remember: romanticism is not tame. It’s a movement that encourages you to be outlandish and unique.

Look into Romantic literature. It will add inspiration to your story and offer you fresh perspectives on how to convey exciting ideas.

Tip 4: Have Rich Characterisation

In my previous review for The Phantom Of The Opera , the novel by Gaston Leroux, I praised the characterisation of Eric. To me, it added to the gothic experience. It also helped the novel seem more real and was therefore more poignant.

When authors craft Gothic stories, they must focus on character. Not every character needs the same attention. However, the Gothic is a thrilling opportunity for fantastic character study. In The Picture Of Dorian Gray , Oscar Wilde’s commentary on vanity and youth work because Wilde focuses on character.

In our modern world, we believe that focusing on character comes at the expense of plot. Not true! You can have both. That’s why I love Dracula and a lot of gothic fiction, because it proves that fiction isn’t dictated by a silly binary.

How you write your characters is up to you. But focus on them. Figure out their motivations, their strengths and their weaknesses. Allow them to be vulnerable. By doing so, you’ll increase the ‘gothic factor’ of your work.

Tip 5: Work On The Setting

Gothic writers are experts at crafting the perfect setting. There’s something enchanting and dangerous about a medieval castle during a thunderstorm. With The Castle Of Otranto , Horace Walpole creates a labyrinth of intrigue. He utilises his setting to the full extent, and the novel is better for it.

Often, in contemporary fiction, authors treat setting like a ‘backdrop’ and not an active player in the plot. This is a mistake. Settings influence, character, action and thought. They can dictate the novels events, and can shape the ending. Take advantage of that! Develop the ultimate setting for your story. It can add to the memorability factor of your novel, and your readers will appreciate it.

Tip 6: Add Mystery

The Gothic is unsettling, it’s a madness hymn to horror. That’s why when you write gothic fiction, it’s best to have elements of mystery. It’s a good idea to have a few characters where you do not reveal all the information about them. Or, with H. P. Lovecraft, you can inject mystery to absolutely everything.

The opening lines of his famous short story, The Call Of Cthulhu , are:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”

This is the perfect statement on the Gothic. By leaving things mysterious and unsettled, the reader’s mind is free to develop the rest. And as you’ve geared the reader to a horrifying place, they will add their own fears and anxieties to your story. Isn’t that creepy!

Writers do not have to give easy answers. They can leave things up to the imagination. And I’d argue they should.

Tip 7: Inject Emotion

Gothic fiction has characters with heavy hearts, strong burdens, and prone to dramatic declarations. This is a trait in Romanticism literature, and it’s still present in the Gothic today. The film ‘ Edward Scissorhands ’ is a terrific example, as it is genuine in its attempts to pull heartstrings.

Likewise, the novel ‘ Wuthering Heights ’ by Emily Bronte is fond of emotionalism. This adds a dramatic gravitas to the novel that makes it that much richer.

Similar to point one, the way to implement effective emotionalism is through contrast. Not every scene has to be life or death. Just a select few. Pick wisely, and you will have strong moments that your reader will remember.

Tip 8: Don’t Worry About What Others Think

Gothic fiction deals with the dark side of the human soul. That means, at times, depicting rape, murder and torture. Other times, the gothic writer will deal with death and depression. These examples are controversial, and potential readers may assume the very worst about your intentions.

For authors, that is distracting and worrying. We craft our fictional worlds, and fleshing out our characters. It’s unfair to assume that we endorse the banality we depict.

The solution is simple. Defend your writing. The gothic is all about the mysterious, the unsettling and the horrifying. Please do not sanitise or make your writing ‘safe.’ I’m a huge advocate for dangerous, upsetting fiction that disturbs the universe. Is defending your writing hard? Yes, it is.

But it’s necessary.

Tip 9: Play With Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a powerful device in fiction. It ‘earns’ the big moments in the story. Also, when readers revisit the book, they will have a fulfilling experience rereading it. My example of this point is a movie. The Prisoner Of Askaban , the third Harry Potter movie, is a brilliant example of foreshadowing in gothic cinema.

We have the motif of clocks ticking throughout the story. This gives dramatic weight to Hermione’s time-turning device. Also, the divination lessons with Professor Trelawney are effective. The scene where Harry’s cup has ‘The Grim’ printed on it, and the appearance of one in a Quidditch game, makes Sirius Black’s appearance near the end of the film satisfying.

Although a few examples of Alfonso Cuarón’s skill, I think I’ve made a solid case for foreshadowing. It can also be a wonderful way for the author to engage with darker themes, such as death.

There are many ways you can use foreshadowing, such as prophecies. Not all of them will suit your gothic tale equally, and I recommend ‘testing’ out different forms.

For further information on foreshadowing, I recommend this video by Hello Future Me. It goes into significant depth about the different foreshadowing, and what stories they suit.

Tip 10: Consider Tragedy

All Gothic fiction has elements of tragedy. That means tragic endings, characters or relationships. Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a terrific example. The three main characters: Quasimodo, Esmerelda and Claude Frollo, are all tragic in their own ways. This heightens the emotional reactions readers will have of their arcs. With Quasimodo, the readers will be empathetic. However, for Frollo, they may be frightened or enraged.

Tragedy does more than ‘make you feel sad.’ It’s an opportunity for empathy, greater engagement from readers, and a chance to explore darker themes. That is a strength of gothic fiction.

People are drawn to tragedy, and it makes for memorable endings and characters. I’d argue that tragedy is essential to the Gothic. That’s because gothic fiction focuses on the macabre and the unusual. And a strange existence often leads to a tragic tale.

To conclude this point, consider tragedy. If you do not want to end your story disturbingly, then I’d use a mysterious or vague ending instead. (Like the final book of A Series Of Unfortunate Events ). Remember: The Gothic is unsettling. Don’t be afraid to disturb.

I hope this blog post will assist you in crafting your gothic story. What’s terrific about gothic literature is that it can both disturb and delight. Although initially challenging, it is possible to write gothic literature. All it takes is work, and the ability to see the darker side of our humanity.

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21 Gothic Fiction Writing Prompts

By Rebecca Parpworth-Reynolds

In this post, we’ve included 21 Gothic fiction writing prompts to give you some ideas for your scary novel. Scroll down to read the prompts !

1. The Lighthouse Keeper

On a stormy night, a shipwreck survivor seeks refuge in an ancient lighthouse on a desolate island. Inside, they discover the journal of a former lighthouse keeper who mysteriously vanished, leaving behind chilling accounts of ghostly apparitions.

2. A Haunting Muse

A reclusive artist moves into a long-abandoned, Gothic-style mansion to find inspiration for their next masterpiece. However, as the paintings take form, they begin to reveal haunting visions of the mansion’s tragic past.

3. In Loving Memory

In a forgotten cemetery hidden behind an overgrown and abandoned church, a young woman discovers a mysterious tombstone with her own name on it. As she investigates further, she uncovers a family curse that has plagued her ancestors for generations and could soon claim her, too.

4. By Any Means Necessary

A renowned scientist becomes obsessed with the idea of conquering death and begins conducting forbidden experiments in his secluded laboratory. As he delves deeper into his research, he unleashes dark forces that threaten to consume him and challenge how far he will go to achieve his goals.

5. Anything for Love

A rich mogul loses his beloved wife to an illness. Instead of having her buried, he instead decides to try to bring her back to life at any cost, while maintaining the illusion that she is still alive to visitors. However, does this goal truly stem from his devotion or truths that he needs to conceal?

6. Sinister Reflections

A lonely boy, ignored by his affluent parents, begins speaking to the mirror in his room. When the reflection in the mirror starts talking back, what will it start to reveal about himself and reality?

7. Inspired by Real Events

An acclaimed writer seeks inspiration for their next gothic novel and accepts an invitation to stay in a supposedly haunted inn. As they spend the night, they begin to experience ghostly visitations and uncover the inn’s tragic past.

8. An Otherworldly Dilemma

An archaeologist unearths an ancient tomb containing an ornate, mysterious key. The key is said to unlock the gateway to a hidden realm inhabited by malevolent entities, and the archaeologist must decide whether to explore the otherworldly secrets or seal the tomb forever.

9. To Heal or To Harm

In a remote village, a doctor stumbles upon an ancient medical text with forbidden knowledge. Driven by the desire to heal the sick, they unwittingly unleash a malevolent force that feeds on human suffering. How far will they go to keep the malevolent force satisfied while still being able to save lives that would otherwise be lost without the tome’s help?

10. Dark Devotion

Deep within the heart of a dense forest, a group of explorers discovers an abandoned abbey. As they venture inside, they encounter unsettling signs that the abbey was once a site of dark rituals and unspeakable horrors, and may not be as abandoned as they first thought.

11. A Life in Pictures

A young woman wakes up in a lavish Victorian mansion with no memory of how she got there. As she explores her surroundings, she discovers paintings of herself depicting events she cannot remember, with each one more unsettling than the last.

12. For the Greater Good

A village appears to prosper despite the odds, even when other nearby settlements suffer from disease and poor harvests. A traveling missionary visits the village and learns that their success seems to come from a darker allegiance and that he is the next sacrifice.

13. We are the Freakshow

A carnival freakshow comes to a Victorian town. However, instead of the expected exhibits, the townspeople find that each of the “freaks” represents their deepest and darkest fears and secrets.

14. Shelter from the Storm

A weary traveler caught in a vicious storm enters a seemingly abandoned mansion in search of shelter. However, as soon as the doors creak open, he realizes that the house and its inhabitants have been eagerly expecting his arrival.

15. The Pursuit of Knowledge

In a search for knowledge, a budding academic works their way through dark and dusty library shelves. One particular tome draws their interest, although they soon find that in order to unlock the book’s information, heavy prices must be paid. How far will they go in the pursuit of knowledge?

16. The Clockwork Coup

An eccentric inventor working in a dilapidated warehouse creates lifelike clockwork dolls. As he brings them to life, they display emotions and a desire for freedom, leading to a chilling battle for control as he reassesses what makes someone truly human.

17. In Her Dreams

A young woman starts having vivid dreams of a mysterious manor. The dreams become so lifelike that she decides to visit the manor in reality, only to find that the line between dreams and real life is far more blurred than she could have imagined.

18. Encroaching Moonlight

A powerful curse plagues a quaint village, causing its inhabitants to transform into monstrous creatures every full moon. The townspeople must unravel the curse’s origin before they lose their humanity forever, especially as civilization and technology draw ever closer to their community.

19. The Greatest Show on Earth

A famed Victorian illusionist performs his greatest show yet in a grand theater where the line between illusion and reality becomes increasingly blurry. As audience members start to disappear during the show, it’s unclear whether it’s all part of the act or something far more sinister.

20. Not Just an Act

A Victorian fraudster poses as a medium in order to con grieving families out of their money for a chance to be able to commune with their loved ones, using elaborate tricks and props to fool them into thinking that they are there. However, they soon realize that the spirits are real, and out to seek vengeance for their living relatives.

21. A Sharp-Fanged Truth

A young woman has long romanticized the idea of vampires, reading every legend about them and secretly wishing that she was one. However, when she is turned by one of the creatures that she idolizes, she soon finds that the reality is far more unsettling than her dreams.

Key stage three

KS3 Introduction to Gothic Creative Writing

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An introduction to gothic fiction going over the conventions A timeline of gothic fiction Introduction to the describing gothic characters through analysis of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster This short scheme of learning could span 6 lessons

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November 13, 2020.

Creating a Spooky Gothic Atmosphere – Student Creative Writing Examples + Feedback

Just in time for Halloween, we have two examples of creative writing for you, which are centred around the idea of creating a gothic atmosphere, precisely through language and imagery. The first is a descriptive piece with the teacher’s feedback. The second is the opening of a story.

Thanks for reading! You can check our Descriptive Writing course for more in-depth content by clicking here .

For all our English Language and Literature courses, click here .

Try the two tasks yourself, and then compare and contrast your own work with the student examples below.

I was first in a state of disbelief when my grandfather told me that supernaturals actually exist. I had then ignored that fact. My grandfather just grimly smiled and told me that one day, I will see.

Of course, that didn’t bother me then. But now, I stood at the Forbidden House, hesitating deciding whether or not should I go in. Now you may be thinking, why the heck are you hesitating in a situation like this? Obviously, you should turn around and go home! The main reason is, many people in my neighbourhood had started to go missing. The police were also having a hard time investigating this. I had volunteered. Why? Because out of the few people that had gone missing, including my sister. I had bawled my eyes out, and then I had weirdly decided to offer to go. Now, the only clue they had was the Forbidden House. So here I am.

I tested the handle and flinched because the handle was slightly warm. It was already November. It must mean someone was here recently. I shivered. The harsh wind blew scratchingly across my already dry skin. I opened the door half scared and determined. The scent of mould blasted me in my face. I wrinkled my nose and groaned. This was going to be hard. I looked around, and there was a circling staircase that went up and a door possibly leading to other rooms. The House itself wasn’t very big, but from the inside, I was already overwhelmed. I closed the door behind me, and unintentionally the door shut with a bang, and I had goosebumps. Then, I tentatively sneaked up the stairs. I flinched when the old worn stairs creaked. Finally, I turned on my flash light.

The walls were covered with stained paintings. Stained in faint brown? Perhaps. After getting to the top, I went down a hallway with lit candles. I froze.

What…. Although I suspected the house was occupied but, it was much more different in reality. I hurried back down the house with my heart pumping fast. I didn’t want to stay here any longer, no matter what. My heart rate increased when I felt rushing footsteps behind me as well. I panted hard, and tried to make the front door open. It wouldn’t open. The stairs groaned behind me. Fear was taking hold in me. I struggled with the handle and yelled in frustration. Oh no…

It was the holidays, and I and my close relatives and family were jubilant, and we had bought a copious amount of snacks and food.

Great! This is an excellent piece of work containing a range of Gothic horror tropes, so I particularly love that you start out with the supernatural. You have your own writing style that has a clear voice and personality to it. Your punctuation variance and use of italics is excellent too – it gets a lot of energy and clarity across in your writing.

To improve, here are some grammar/ style points:

It was much more different in reality. > it was different in reality
There are a lot of rhetorical questions, so try various other devices instead
Try to avoid repetition unless it’s on purpose e.g. ‘flinched’ is repeated here

How to Prepare Yourself for a Descriptive Writing Exam

Gray storm clouds flushed into the blackened sky, like ashes spread upon burnt out charcoal. Not one sound, no swishing of the long grass, no birdsong, or even the caw of the crows can be heard. The grayish grass covered the hills, dead trees scattered all over the moors, like the shrivelled souls reaching out from the deep depth of hell, only to perish on the threshold. A low wooden fence spanned the farmland, which was just a patch of dirt with no grass. No animals, nothing but that the vacant world stretched across – each time you scale a hill, hoping to see a mountain or two, there will be two more hills looming ahead, and one you’ve turned back then back again, they seem to have been replaced.

In the middle of the small crescent valley of the hills stood a dilapidated farmhouse, its window all boarded up, its doors swinging without even a single creak, so the blackness that seemed to crawl out of it was seeping into your very soul. Ed stood in the middle of the farm plot, looking into the distance with vacant eyes, his gaze seemed to pierce trough reality, his eyes gray with a faint hint of bluish green, blended together.

He stood there, waiting, for absolutely nothing. He has mastered the art of stillness, for not one dis he twitch, move, or even blink, he seemed like a ghost, hence there is no impossiblity that he isn’t one. Purpose seemed to vanish here, nothing mattered, life, nor food did. Pleasure or Anger seemed to fade away, into a void of nothingness, calling, beckoning to all, and none here did resist. It wasa surprise when Ed turned around, his eyes, yet vacant still, focused into the farmhouse. It was a dilapidated farmhouse, it seemed ancient, archaic, yet so modern.

There were no cars, no gas, no electricity, nothing. Consequently, a Ed stepped towards the farmhouse, he trod across two crosses of pebbles, marking the graves of his parents, his father buried his mother, and he buried his father, never has he ever left the crescent valley, he lived on the leaves and berries growing outside, time to time he would have a treat of carcasses of wild fowl, but it has been days, or weeks since there were no harvest or food, it was time for him to leave. Even here, death is feared, even Ed’s emotionless father feared it – he tried everything to stop it, but had to give in.

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14 of My Favorite Short Stories for Teaching Gothic Literature

the best short stories for teaching gothic literature

Gothic short stories have always been a favorite with my students. From the mystery and suspense to the old creepy buildings, to the heightened emotions and the hints of the supernatural… there is just something about the gothic genre that kids gravitate towards.

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury

This modern day “science fiction” gothic tale will certainly give your students the shivers. George and Lydia let the virtual reality world do everything for their children, from bathing them to entertaining them. Soon they begin to notice that the virtual reality scene is continuously stuck on the African veldt, and the lions are devouring a carcass at the edge of the screen. Concerned, the parents send their children Peter and Wendy to a psychologist, who suggests turning off the virtual reality entirely. The parents do not heed this advice; this tragically results in their death when their own children feed them to the lions.

This gothic tale is rife with suspense and horror, and students love the altered vibe as they read, and the way the characters communicate so poorly. My students find the virtual reality aspect utterly relatable with today’s technology becoming so advanced. Many great discussions can come into play about our dependence on technology. And although there is no old castle, the African veldt provides the equivalent of secret doors and the supernatural, which lure the reader in a gripping way.

“Luella Miller” by Mary Wilkins Freeman

Luella Miller, through a series of roommates who end up withering away while Luella herself thrives, is a new world vampire in an old world town. Though a little bit longer than the other stories on this list, the unsettling development of person after person losing their lives after being with Luella is very gripping for students. After marrying Erastus, he soon died. And although Luella was a teacher, one of her students did most of the work. The student soon deteriorated and died too. They are not the only casualties.

The entire story is filled with unease, and students love to wonder about what is really going on. Make sure to point out the inexplicable events in the story and how they relate to the gothic theme of gloom and horror. Luella is a vampire and seems to be sucking the life out of those around her. This is also a great story to use to delve into the vocabulary of the gothic.

“Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In this unsettling tale, an unnamed narrator is locked in a bedroom on the second floor of a mansion her husband John rented. John is a doctor and claims his wife has a nervous disorder, but readers can infer she has depression, possibly postpartum depression. The yellow wallpaper mutates in front of her eyes, and she is certain she sees a woman crawling behind the intricate design, so she decides to strip all of the wallpaper down in order to free this woman. When her husband finds her, she is scuttling around the room in a crazed manner and he promptly faints. She continues to crawl around the room and move around her husband’s unmoving body.

This psychological thriller is the epitome of a woman being overtaken by a tyrannical abusive male, and students will appreciate this vivid example. Make sure to point out the elements of the supernatural with the questionable maneuvers of the wallpaper itself, as well as the gloomy mood and setting of the story. This tale also lends itself to a great conversation on the importance of mental health.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving

The private glen where the story is written is known to be haunted, which adds to the mysterious atmosphere of this story. Many people who live there are overcome by supernatural happenings, and strange things are known to occur. The story surrounds Ichabod Crane, who comes to the town to help out and is courting a woman named Katrina. Losing her hand to Abraham Van Brunt, he is riding home through a dark swamp region, a place ripe with superstitions, when he meets the Headless Horseman, who throws his head like a rocket at Ichabod while Ichabod is trying to escape. Ichabod is never seen again.

Students love to wonder if Van Brunt is the Horseman who drives Ichabod away, and the whole story is high on the creep-o-meter in my class. Teaching this story is a good chance to show how history and superstitions relate, and to talk about the elements of a gothic landscape.

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

When a cursed talisman (a monkey’s paw) falls into the hands of the White family, Mr. White is tempted to make any three wishes come true. Curiosity and greed get the best of him. He tries to remain somewhat modest and wishes for 200 pounds. That night there is a knock at the door with news that the Whites’ son, Herbert, died at work and there is a 200 pound goodwill payment. The second wish is used to wish Herbert back to life, but when he appears at the door as an undead creature, Mr. White quickly wishes him away, and the family is left broken-hearted.

My students love connecting to the three wishes motif and sharing what they would choose if they had a chance at three wishes. The elements of the macabre when the “creature son” appears at the door adds to the mystery. This is a great time to teach students about theme, foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism. It is ironic that three wishes are meant to bring you happiness not despair. Students will also recognize the number three is repeated throughout the story and realize its symbolism with misfortune.

“The Mark of the Beast” by Rudyard Kipling

The main character Fleete—in a drunken stupor on New Year’s Eve—puts out his cigar on a temple of Hanuman the monkey god, setting a chain of events into motion. A leperous priest bites him in retaliation and casts a spell which causes Fleete to begin acting crazy. After forcing the priest to reverse the spell, Fleete finally returns to normal.

This gothic tale is gripping for students who can also learn some history of the time about lepers and rabies. My students delve into other stories of curses and spells as we discuss this story. The ancient prophecy and high emotion is also definitely part of the appeal for the students in my class. Doesn’t every kid enjoy a good werewolf story?

“The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft

In this psychological thriller, the narrator is ensconced in a castle surrounded by trees and cannot remember the last time he has encountered a human. The narrator struggles to free himself by climbing to the top of the castle. As he arrives, the crumbling stairs lead him somehow to a basement where there are many people terrified of a beast. He joins them in their fear, running from the castle, as the reader understands he has seen the beast in the mirror, which is himself.

The crumbling castle is a huge symbol in this piece and mirrors the crumbling narrator himself. My students love the heightened emotion as the man struggles to free himself from the beast, when all along the beast was himself. Point out the gloomy vocabulary and descriptions of the castle, as your students can enjoy debating whether he will ever recover from being an outsider.

“A Vine on a House” by Ambrose Bierce

For a very short gothic tale, turn to the story of Matilda Harding, a one-legged protagonist who goes to visit her mother and never returns. Her husband and sister are left behind in the house, but eventually they too disappear. A larger-than-life vine grows on the house that is strangely reminiscent of Matilda. When townspeople later try to pull up the vine, they realize it looks just like Matilda. No one wants to go to the house after that.

This story has the gothic element of gloom and suspense and a feeling of unease for the reader. This also reflects the women in distress motif, though in a mysterious way that makes the reader wonder what is going on. The giant vine is otherworldly and adds to the sense of mystery. Students love to debate what could have happened to Matilda, and what the giant vine represents, especially with the way gothic stories often portray women.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

Students love this tale of the very creepy, depressed Roderick who calls his boyhood friend to his dilapidated house because he needs some help. Once the unnamed friend/narrator arrives, Roderick’s sister Madeline falls into a death-like trance and the two men entomb her in the walls, supposedly alive. The men spend their time listening to somber music and looking at Roderick’s art. Eventually the entire house falls into the lake, and the Usher family is no more.

This classic tale has it all: the family is falling apart, as is the house. Although not quite a castle, the house is dark, mysterious, and decrepit. There are definitely supernatural events and the overall other-wordly feeling that pervades the story. Another gothic element is the intense emotion of Roderick and the “woman in distress” angle, and my students love to point out the foreshadowing clues that show Madeline’s distress as they read.

“The Body Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson

In this macabre tale, Doctor Wolfe Macfarlane and his friend Fettes become reacquainted after a long time apart. They had previously worked together cataloguing bodies for dissection, and supposedly covered up a murder to avoid being implicated themselves. When Fettes is certain Macfarlane has murdered their friend Gray, he again keeps his mouth shut while they destroy the evidence. The story ends with the body of Gray put back together and sitting in the front seat of the car.

Students love to hate this ambiguous ending as they decide how a chopped up body could end up whole again in the front seat. This supernatural event is at the heart of the story, as are the elements of mystery and suspense peppered throughout. The gloom and darkness keeps the mood gothic, as well, and this is another story that is excellent for teaching gothic vocabulary.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Last but not least is “The Tell-Tale Heart”—arguably one of the most popular gothic short stories ever taught in school. An unnamed narrator, who claims he is not insane, makes a plan to kill an old man under the belief that this man has an “evil eye.” After stalking the old man and watching him sleep, he finally commits the crime that rids him of evil and makes the world a better place. Right?

The police stop by after someone reported a scream, but the narrator is unphased. Although he dismembered the body and hid the limbs under the floorboards, the narrator arrogantly invites the officers in to search his home and even sit above the very spot the body is concealed. The narrator succumbs to his guilt and confesses the crime after believing he can still hear the old man’s heart beating from under the planks.

This story is a staple for a reason. Mood, suspense, symbolism, theme, and figurative language all are perfect literary elements to teach students while reading this classic gothic story. Students are excited by the concept of an unreliable narrator and the bizarre motivation behind the crime. I love to have my students debate whether or not the narrator should be charged with first degree murder for his premeditated crime or if the narrator should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, since he clearly is a person that requires serious psychological help. Attachments area

“The Hand” by Guy de Maupassant

In this embedded narrative, M. Bermutier, a judge, tells credulous listeners about the mysterious murder of Sir John Rowell. Rowell was an odd man who kept to himself in the mountains. He liked to go hunting… man -hunting. In even more peculiar fashion, he kept a severed hand chained up in his home, as if it could break away at any moment. A year after Bermutier’s encounter with Sir Rowell, the hunter is found dead, strangled… and the hand… missing!

In this unnerving tale, let your students decide… is it mere coincidence or is there supernatural elements at play?

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe

From his prison cell the night before he is set to be executed, the narrator shares how his whole life fell apart. Once a gentle, loving man and husband, the narrator is overcome by alcoholism. He began divulging into atrocious and perverse acts. His love for animals dissipated. After brutally killing his dear cat Pluto, the narrator’s house sets fire… but mysteriously, an apparition of a cat is left behind. The horror does not end there.

The police arrive on scene after the narrator’s wife disappears. They are shocked to discover what they find! You’ll just have to keep reading to find out the rest. You have to love Poe’s creative take on unreliable narrators! Is the narrator insane, or is he telling the truth?

“The Landlady” Roald Dahl

In this story, your students will learn to be careful who they trust! An old, helpless woman who runs a cheap bed and breakfast has a dark, sinister secret. When you first read the short story, it may seem like there’s no imminent danger, but that would be naïve, just like the protagonist Billy Weaver. Two words about what’s happening behind closed doors in this tale: human taxidermy.

This story is so engaging for students because all the gruesomeness is implied and Dahl leaves readers with a suspenseful cliffhanger. Your students will love to go back into the text and realize all the clues that led to Billy’s fate.

Gothic vocabulary bank

Extend the vocabulary of your English students with this list of Gothic words. It’s ideal as a creative writing prompt to help students when writing atmospheric gothic stories, and can also support with choosing more engaging synonyms for creative writing tasks.

The vocabulary list is sorted into eight handy categories, for example, 'words to describe characters' and 'words to create atmosphere'.

If you are exploring the gothic genre, you might also like our KS3 Gothic teaching pack , which features a range of gothic literature and gothic writing activities .

Example words from the vocabulary bank:

Words to describe the unknown:

an amorphous creature

it appeared to …

opaque water

something moved

unintelligible sound

Words to create atmosphere

desolation/desolate/barren/bleak

dreary/grey

fog/mist/cloud/darkness

ominous/menacing

suffocating

Words to describe emotions

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50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas

If you’re looking for scary story prompts or horror writing ideas, you’ve come to the right place! These are great Halloween writing prompts, and some of these could also be used as suspense story prompts or dark fantasy story ideas.

These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More . The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing.

If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one. And anyway, just remember it’s all nonsense that I made up while I was exercising on the treadmill or sitting in bed.

Some of these are skeletal (ha) plot ideas, while others are images or suggestions. And if you’d like a spooky soundtrack to inspire you, be sure to check out my scary music playlist for writers ! Be sure to pin or bookmark the post for future reference. After all, when autumn rolls around, you might find yourself looking for Halloween writing prompts!

A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.
Frightening events in a small town lead its citizens to dig up the grave of a deceased inhabitant.
Someone gets on the elevator by himself and is never seen by his friends or family again.
The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again.
A collector buys an unpublished manuscript by an obscure writer that describes a terrible historical event a year before it occurred. The collector learns the writer wrote many unpublished stories…
Creating a hybrid of a human and this particular animal turns out to be a bad idea.
A person has the ability to make other people very ill.
The dead walk out of the sea.
An individual begins seeing and hearing from someone who looks just like her – and learns she had a twin who died at birth.
A killer places an advertisement for a willing victim and finds one.
A basement contains jars filled with unusual specimens.
A person finds new photos of herself on her cell phone that she didn’t take.
The spirit of a brutalized slave or prisoner of war wants revenge on his tormentor’s descendants.
A couple vacationing in a remote area begins having the same nightmares.
All of the circus performers were killed in the train wreck.
The television switches to another station of its own accord and plays footage of something horrible that happened long before the technology existed to record it.
A spouse or sibling dies. He or she begins to take over the body of the surviving spouse or sibling.
Weekend adventurers explore a cave and can’t find their way out again. Then they encounter something terrible…
Authorities go through the cluttered apartment of a deceased man who lived alone with no known friends or relatives for decades and find something disturbing.
A group of teenagers trolls everyone else in an online group by telling made-up stories about terrible things they’ve done. Things then get out of hand.
It’s bad luck in the theatre to call the Shakespeare play Macbeth by name, but someone in the company keeps doing it anyway… and the superstition proves true.
Every exhibit in this carnival sideshow is fake. Except this one thing.
An individual develops a terror of water – drinking it, touching it, or even being near it. There’s actually a good reason why.
The grandfather clock starts running backwards.
People in this neighborhood begin having freak accidents that involve normal appliances and machinery, such as blenders, weed whackers, and garage doors.
The cure for a new deadly epidemic is almost scarier than the disease.
He locked the doors and shuttered the windows; it came in through the roof.
A woman is happy when her dead loved one comes back to life… but he’s changed.
This centuries-old beauty secret is effective but horrifying.
A killer toys with his victims by orchestrating a series of false hopes for them.
She wakes up in the middle of the night and runs out to a certain tree.
Tourists on a ghost tour, along with their guide, fall into the hands of an evil presence.
A young woman is impregnated by her handsome new boyfriend, who turns out to be something other than human.
The empty swing is swinging.
A bride on her honeymoon discovers she’s not her new husband’s first wife… not even close.
Long ago, when he was a baby, a man’s parents made an unwise deal in order to bring him back from the dead.
Members of a family or people in a town begin sleepwalking and doing strange things in their sleep.
A young man confesses to a killing that hasn’t happened. The murder he describes takes place while he’s in custody.
Grisly events happen after the arrival of a hypnotist in Victorian London.
An author’s fictional villain stalks him.
Fraternity hazing goes way too far.
It always happens when he’s alone in the car.
A patient in a mental hospital encounters a malevolent ghost, but nobody believes her.
A mother’s young child may or may not be a changeling.
Swarms of insects appear in various places in a town, always followed by an untimely death.
The ghost at the movie theater wants everyone to watch one particular snippet of film.
A child’s imaginary friend starts to cause real trouble.
When putting together a slide show for a wedding or funeral, someone notices that for decades, the same man, dressed in the same fashion, has been appearing in the background of photographs taken in public places.
A politician, religious leader, or celebrity exerts mind control over the will of his or her followers.
The fairy godmother isn’t the good kind of fairy.

Okay, I creeped myself out a little with these spooky writing prompts! If you’re writing a novel and want a step-by-step guide to planning, writing, and editing, be sure to check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts .

5,000 WRITING PROMPTS: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More | BRYN DONOVAN |

Do you have questions or suggestions about horror story ideas? We’d love to hear them in the comments section! And don’t miss future posts about writing. Follow my blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place you can sign up below. Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

a notebook, scissors, pens, paper clips and other school supplies

Great prompts for the coming season and for those who write about the supernatural all year round. A friend of mine and myself send photos to each other as prompts and most of the time, mine stories lean toward the macabre, supernatural or fantasy. I love it! Many of these set my thoughts in motion (the gears are turning). Thanks!

Cheryl, that’s so cool that you and your friend send image prompts to each other! So glad you liked these. Thanks for the nice comments!

Those are delightful ideas and I thank you for them. Did you hear, by the way, about the writer of bizarre tales whose stories were typed using the blood font.The one that leaves an occasional trail of blood down the background image of the screen. Isn’t technology a delightful addition to this lexicon?

Hi Robert! Holy smokes, I had not heard of that use of text. That’s amazing! Thanks so much for commenting, and for the kind words!

I really like the first one: A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.

My character plays the violin and she’s blind, so imagining something like that happening is kind of scary.

Oh geez, Cinthia, that would be scary. That one was my favorite one, by the way. Thanks for commenting!

The reasons why crime features so heavily in media coverage are many and varied. In practical terms crime stories are often easy to cover, relative to other issues. Police make appeals for witnesses, ‘tip off’ journalists (sometimes in ethically problematic ways), court hearings are easy to access and scheduled long in advance.

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nice stories……..give me the creeps

Haha, thank you so much Jayitha!

Thanks so much really helped me.I have to write a short story for english so thanks!

So glad it helped, Neveah! Hope your story turned out (or turns out) great!

who are you?

That was amazing, I am 11 years old and I looked up writing prompts for fun but now I want to write a whole story! Thank you!

Thank u for these ideas. Good suggestions. I am actually writing a horror/thriller story right now and I’m almost done with it. It may be my first story to publish. At least I hope so. I hope that if it does get published, people may like it. I try to make my stories as unique as possible compared to the fantastic horror books already written.

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Great article…So, I have a very sketchy idea (comments welcomed).Newly married couple, husband starts having night terrors about being trapped/lost in a cave (the type extreme potholers go down). He suffers from claustrophobia, specifically potholing. The terrors become more and more violent until one day/night he wakes up inside a shaft, wedged between the walls by his broad shoulders…can’t go forward, can’t go backwards. That’s as far as I’ve got. Apart from skipping to a potential sad ending. You may have guessed that this is a fear of mine!!!

That is unbelievably terrifying!!

ps. You may also guess that I am attempting to write my FIRST book!!!

Thank you Ember Jay

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can you have more scary stories and pin them on pinterest? If you want my email for anything its [email protected] . Thanks

lisette isabelle

Isn’t the last one the plot of Shrek 2?????

yessss broooo

Broooo thats my fav movie!!!!!

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I like #4 The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again. I’m currently writing a story about a demon and a school girl the story is call Her name was Misaki

This sounds like a a great story!

I used the first one to get me started on brainstorming, and I warped the idea into a feature screenplay that was very fun to write. Thanks for the awesome help!!!

Yeah boiiiiii

I was sitting by the window watching the snow slowly and silently fall. Suddenly, outside, a snap of a branch and a stutter of leaves, a sad old man leaves his house over the road. I watch him as he slowly strolls down the driveway with his brown old wooden stick. Is this a good story starter?

Thanks for getting my imagination running. I needed that. J

Aw, thanks. Thanks for reading, John!

heyo…. I’m 13 years old and i want to write a horror story…..this is helpful!!! I want to be an author when i grow up…whats it like being an author???!!! i have so many ideas , too many that i actually have no idea what to write this gave me some good ideas too thanks. oh, and i love your eyes they are so pretty.

Hey there! I’m so glad you liked the list! It sounds like you have an amazing imagination. Being a writer has challenges, but it’s fantastic making up whole characters, stories, and worlds…and when readers love your stories, too, that’s a great feeling. I hope you have great success as an author. Thanks for the compliment, too!

idea 48 is probably the ex boyfriend of the girl getting married and getting revenge on the husband hehe

I love all these prompts! They give just enough detail but also leave a great amount of imagination! I am doing a spooky story contest and now I have a wonderful idea! thank you so much! -Charlotte

Love this list! I plan on entering a short story contest, and this is very helpful! I lean more towards lengthy fantasy (particularly magic or medieval related) stories, so coming up with ideas for a scary short story is not exactly easy. I now have a solid idea combining bits and pieces of a few prompts (for example: #13 and #16) plus combining my own twists. So thank you!!

Thank you so much I really needed this for English

My story Wrote by 11 yrs old girl (no name, sry) The Mystery Of The Unexpected Ghost: As my grandfather lies on his deathbed, he told me of a terrible crime he committed many years ago and got away with. He also told me that his freedom was the result of a spell someone performed and that I should expect a visit from a ghost. “He will come out from the shadows,” are his last words. Hi, my name is Naomi. I am 21 years old and I love to read ghost stories especially Mr Midnight. I love spooky things like ghost but I do not wish to meet one, until one day, an unexpected man came and it changed my friend, Ruby’s and my life, FOREVER. It all started when I woke up one morning, “Hey! Want to hang out today? Let’s start working on our club, Daring Devils!” I called my friend, Ruby, over the phone. “Sure! I have no plans anyways…” Ruby answered. “Yay! Come over now!” I hung the phone and waited for Ruby to come. Moments later, “Ring… Ring…” The doorbell rang. I thought, ‘Yay it’s Ruby!’ When I opened the door, I saw Ruby and pulled her to my room. Then, I got super serious and asked her for cases to solve. “Nah, I have none, you?” Ruby said. I replied, “Actually, I do have one, but I think ghosts aren’t real…” “Wait, this case is about ghosts? Woo hoo! This just got a little more exciting!” Ruby exclaimed as she waited patiently for me to tell her the case. “Ok, so, before my grandfather died, he told me that I should expect a visit from a ghost.” I responded. “What, that’s not fun!” Ruby complained. I continued, “But that’s not all, after that, my grandfather told me that the ghost will come out from the shadows.” After hearing what I had said, Ruby’s face lit up and imitated a ghost, “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… So this is a mystery! Did your grandfather tell you when will the ghost appear?” “No…” I replied. “O…K… So we must predict when the ghost is coming…” Ruby said, trying to think when the ghost will come. I thought really hard that I thought my brain was going to explode and I suddenly said, “At night! Ghosts always appear at night!” “Ok, then, I’ll meet you at night, got to go, bye!” Ruby replied as she ran home. I sat patiently on my bed and waited for Ruby to come at night. I kept trying to sleep but thinking about the ghost kept me awake. “Ring… Ring…” the doorbell rang. I ran to the door, drag Ruby to my room and exclaimed, “Yay! This is going to be so fun!” Ruby answered, “Naomi, I’ll not get too excited if I were you…” “What, you scared of ghosts, I don’t even believe in them!” I responded. “Naomi! The ghost might be listening! Stop making fun!” Ruby warned me. “Whatever!” I blurted. Little did I know that the ghost was spying on us, listening to every word I said. “Let’s get started on the case!” I exclaimed as I turn on my computer and typed, ‘Ghosts that can perform spells.’ “Enter!” I said as I pressed enter. Once I pressed enter, lots of information from the internet popped up on the screen. I slowly browsed through each website. “Not this, not this and not this either! At this rate, we’ll never find out about that ghost” I whimpered, feeling hopeless. “Search, ‘Visit from a ghost who performs spells’.” Ruby replied immediately. I typed, ‘Visit from a ghost who performs spells.’ “Enter.” I uttered. Suddenly, there was only one website. I click on the website and it says: The Chancer * His real name is unknown. He is believed to be the ghost of a boy who never had a second chance. This ghosts helps humans in life. He gives chances to those who have a kind heart. If this ghosts visits you, you are lucky. But… if you do not have a kind heart, you will die! If you want to risk your life, then call him… Say, “Chance, chance, give me a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance.” If you did not call him but he came to you, means someone you knew had called him before… Beware of your surroundings, he will come out from the shadows. If you do not want him to come near you, say, “Chance, chance, I don’t need a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone but me, I’m done…” If you are expecting him to come, he will say, “Second chance, second chance, second, second, second chance… What would you like for your second chance? Tell me now, tell me now…” * (BOHH) “Gosh! Naomi, quick! Take a picture of it!” Ruby shook me. “Chill! ‘Kay, ‘kay!” I grumbled. I quickly took my phone and took a picture of it. “Anyways, what’s BOHH?” Ruby questioned me. “WHAT! You don’t know!? It means Blood On His Hands. He has taken a life. You should read Mr Midnight!” I responded. “So if you are not kind hearted and you called the ghost or if someone you know has called the ghost, you will die?” Ruby asked. “Yup!” I replied. “But I don’t need a second chance, do I?” I wondered. “I guess…” Ruby murmured. Unexpectedly, the lights suddenly off. “Second chance, second chance, second, second, second chance… What would you like for your second chance? Tell me now, tell me now…” said an unknown voice. “Who are you?” Ruby hollered. “I am The Chancer, would you like to have a second chance?” The voice said. “Uh… uh…” I stammered. I quickly turn on my phone and looked at the picture I took. I took a deep breath and said, “Chance, chance, I don’t need a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone but me, I’m done…” Once those words left my mouth, I heard a loud scream and the lights suddenly turned back on. “What just happened?” Ruby asked. “Am I dreaming? Pinch me, Naomi!” Ruby said. I pinched Ruby as hard as I could to get my revenge for her pinching me in the past. “Ouch! Stop!” Ruby screamed. “So, I’m not dreaming…” She said under her breath. Weeks past as I tried to forget the memories that haunt me. After a year, I called Ruby and asked, “Have you forgotten about The Chancer?” Ruby stammered, “I…I…I…I…” I asked impatiently, “So did you forget ‘bout it?” Ruby stammered again, “Ok, Naomi, I have to tell you this, don’t… freak… out, ‘kay?” “What is it?” I asked her curiously. “The Chancer… The Chancer has visited me…” Ruby answered me with a frightened look. “WHAT DID YOU SAID?!” I asked. “How many times must I repeat? The Chancer visited me!” Ruby shouted. “Oh! I understand everything now! If someone you know saw The Chancer, he will go to someone you know or someone you are really close with, or even you! I get it now!” I explained to Ruby. Then, I asked curiously, “But, what did you do when you saw The Chancer?” “Uh… Naomi, I forgotten what to say when The Chancer come, so I said I want a second chance!” Ruby replied me, feeling frightened. “What!” I hollered. “What is your second chance?” I asked. “My second chance is to be pretty!” Ruby answered, curling her hair and blushing at the same time. “But, you know that, err….” I said. “I know what?” Ruby asked. “You know that a second chance means, A SECOND LIFE, right?” I told her. “Oh no! I’m going to die? Please tell me I’m dreaming! Pinch me, please!” Ruby shouted. I pinched her cheek as hard as I could and she shouted. “Yup, definitely not dreaming!” Ruby said, as she touched her cheek. “HOW?!” Ruby shouted in horror. “Don’t ask me! Ask yourself!” I answered her with a furious look. “What am I supposed to do at this stage?” Ruby complained. “We’ll see… Let’s observe what will happen next…” I answered, feeling worried for Ruby. “We can have a sleepover at your house, YAY!” Ruby squealed. “Ugh…” I grumbled. “It’s midnight!” I said. “Be ready for what’s going to happen next!” I continued. Suddenly, Ruby was glowing. After a few moments later, she disappeared! Feeling afraid, I tried to sleep, but as expected, I could not. It was dawn and my eyes were still wide open. Unexpectedly, I heard someone screamed, “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” I shut my eyes and covered my ears. When I opened my eyes, I saw a very beautiful girl in front of me. “Get away from me!” I screamed. “Naomi, it’s me, Ruby!” she said. “Liar, then tell me something only Ruby and I know!” I screamed, feeling afraid. “There is someone called The Chancer and he came to visit me and you.” She continued. “Oh gosh, Ruby!” I hugged her and cried. “What happened to your face? You somehow became, prettier!” I asked curiously. “Oh… About that, err… The Chancer said it is only temporary. He said if I did not use this chance correctly, I will have consequences. But if I use it properly, I can keep it forever.” Ruby explained. “You sure? This doesn’t feel right.” I said, thinking about why The Chancer would let her keep it if she used it properly. “Stop talking nonsense… Do you always act like this?” Ruby talked with a little bit of sassiness. “We need to change your name to something prettier…” I suggested. “I agree. I kind of want to be named Naomi…” Ruby said. “Let me think of a prettier name than mine. Hmmm… How about Alexi?” I suggested. “That is so nice! Ok…” Ruby Alexi replied. The next day, I went to school with Ruby Alexi. When we entered, many people were staring at Alexi with their mouths wide open, even the prettiest girl in our school, Cindy. “Hey girl, what’s your name?” Cindy asked with A LOT of sassiness. “Ru… Alexi” Alexi said. “Why you hanging around with this nerd… What was her name again? Oh yes, Naomi.” Cindy said, pointing at me. “You are the real nerd! Stop being so mean you ugly girl and don’t act like you are so pretty, because you are NOT!” Alexi screamed at the top of her lungs. “OMG… I can’t believe such a pretty girl like you to be so mean,” Cindy flipped her hair and sashayed away. After Cindy left, a lot of guys started crowding around Alexi, asking her stuff like, “Are you single?” and “Want to hang out with me?” When Alexi saw them, she started flipping and curling her hair. “Psst… Remember to use your second chance properly. Stop flipping and curling your hair and get away from this crowd,” I reminded her. “Oh sorry people, I got to go… See you guys later!” Alexi told them and sashayed away. “Ugh…” I whispered under my breath. Many days past and Alexi acts the same every day. Until one day, something odd happened to her. She stopped doing the stuff she normally do. When we walked back home together from school, I asked her, “What happened to you?” “Something is about to happen… Something bad! I know it… The Chancer is going to remove my chance! Am I going to DIE?!” She answered, feeling afraid. “No you are not! Can you stay over at my house for today? I need to observe you…” I asked her. “Ok…” She immediately agreed and plastered a fake smile across her face. We reached my house and we waited until it was night time. “What now?” Alexi asked. “We’ll see,” I replied, staring at her. “This is getting awkward… I’m going back,” Alexi said, walking away from me. When she was walking, she suddenly fainted and disappeared, AGAIN! “Ugh… Not again!” I complained. This time, I thought she was dead as she did not appear for the past few weeks and her parents said she did not return. One night, when I was about to turn off the light, the light off itself. When I was about to scream, someone covered my mouth and I immediately fainted. When I woke up, I was tied up. I took a closer look at where I was and noticed it was a cemetery. “Mmmm!” I tried to scream but my mouth was taped. Suddenly, The Chancer appeared. “I mean no harm… I just have to warn you something,” he said. “Ruby… She… Is dead!” He continued. “It’s Alexi!” I reminded him. “You can’t call her Alexi!” he warned me. “Why?” I asked. “Just don’t.” he replied. “But why is she dead?” I asked. “I tried to warn her about something but The Devi got her!” He explained. “Who is The Devi?” I asked curiously. “She is my sister, or should I say, she was my sister. She has changed. She used to be a kind girl but now, I’m not really sure what has happened to her.” He said, staring at a grave. “Her grave, is at this cemetery. It is over there,” he said, pointing at the grave he was staring at previously. I looked closer at the name at it said, “RIP DEV ‘LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE’ MAY GOD BLESS MY FAMILY” “Oh, so that’s her grave. But, why would she kill Ruby? I mean what did Ruby did? And, how do you know Ruby is dead?” I asked curiously. “You will know soon… I must get going!” The Chancer disappeared after saying that. When he left, I started feeling dizzy and lied on the floor. Moments past and I woke up after dreaming of Ruby. I immediately went to my computer, went to the internet and typed, ‘The Devi’. When I press enter, there was lots of websites popped up. I clicked on the first website and it says: The Devi * Her real name is Dev. She is believed to be the ghost of a girl who was murdered. Some say she was murdered because of her doing something ridiculous. The story goes, when she was born, she was ugly. When she grew up, she realised that other girls were prettier than her. So she went to this ghost and asked the ghost to make her prettier, but unfortunately, the ghost killed her. The Devi kills people who asked The Chancer to be pretty for their second chance. Some survived her as The Devi thinks that they are not very pretty. If you survived her, you will be unlucky for the rest of your life! But if you are lucky enough, you will be lucky for the rest of your life. Beware of what you asked from The Chancer! If The Devi wants to meet you, you will glow and suddenly disappear. If you disappear once, you will definitely survive from her. If you disappear twice, it depends if The Devi wants you dead or alive. If you disappear thrice, you will definitely die from her! * (BOHH) The Chancer, click here “Oh no… So did Ruby died or what?!” I asked myself confusedly. I took out my phone and took a picture of it. Suddenly, I heard the same voice, “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” ‘Ruby! Are you there?” I asked. Ruby appeared again. I saw a lot of blood and scars on her body. “Oh my… What happened to you?” I asked her. “Hel… Hel… Help… Me… I-I-I a… am…” After saying that, Ruby fainted. After a few days, Ruby finally woke up. “What… What happened?” she asked curiously. “You disappeared as The Devi caught you.” I explained. “Who is The Devi? I only remember there was this extremely pretty girl talking to me.” Ruby asked, scratching her head. “What did she said to you?!” I asked her, waiting for her answer. “I only remember part of what she said. She said, ‘You will disappear again and it’s up to me to decide whether you should live or die… Hmm… I guess you can…’ Then I forgot what she said.” Ruby said, trying to remember what The Devi had said. “She would either said die or live.” I told Ruby. “How would you know?” Ruby asked. I took out my phone and showed her the picture about The Devi I took before Ruby appeared. Ruby read and screamed, “AAAAAAAHH! Oh no! She said I will disappear again, means I will definitely die!” “We might not know if the internet is true…” I said. “Yeah, you are right,” Ruby said. “I guess we have to wait until I disappear again…” Ruby continued. “No… I have a plan, but I’m not sure if it would work. But we might now know unless we give it a try!” I said. “So, what’s the plan?” Ruby asked. “Ok, we have to make Dev come out.” I said. “Err…” Ruby said, feeling confused. “We have to say something to piss her off.” I explained. “Like?” Ruby asked. “Just try to think… Let’s do it now.” I answered. “Hey Dev! Are you really that ugly? If you are, come out!” I shouted. “Err… Oh yeah, come on out unless you are afraid!’ Ruby shouted. Suddenly, Ruby was glowing. I hold her hand and we disappeared together. “Where are we?” I moaned. “Oh no! Naomi! Hel…” I heard Ruby said. I looked around and realised that I was in a cemetery, AGAIN! “Ruby?” I hollered. I looked around and spotted Ruby lying at a grave that said, “RIP DEV ‘LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE’ MAY GOD BLESS MY FAMILY” “Uh oh…” I whispered. I ran towards her and carried her up. Suddenly, The Devi appeared. “Wow, you guys are the first who dares to say cruel things to me, other than my brother and… and… wow!” she said. “Err…” Ruby and I said, feeling confused. “I saw that you, Naomi, searched about me on the website. You did not believed the internet and that is very smart of you… It is all a lie. Let me tell you my real story. So my real name is Dev. I was murdered by The Chancer, my brother, also known as Chace. He murdered me because I had something he did not have, popularity. The story goes, when I was born, I was extremely beautiful. A lot of boys always hang out with me but he was not popular. Chace was extremely jealous of me, so he killed me one day.” “Then…” I gasped. “Chace is evil! Oh my!” I screamed. Immediately, Chace appeared and slid Dev’s throat with his knife. “You betrayed me! You evil little creature, you will never get a second chance to live your popular life!” Chace screamed. “Look what we have here… Two girls. Well, Ruby, you want to be pretty right? Then you shall die too!” Chace continued, taking a sword about to kill Ruby. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” I screamed. I shut my eyes, thinking of how helpless I am right now. “Don’t you worry and thank you for being so kind to me…” I heard someone whispered to me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Dev jumping in front of Ruby and defend her from the sword. A lot of things happened in a blink of an eye. Dev was sliced into half, Ruby fainted and Chace screamed, “DEV!” Chace ran towards Dev and sob. “I’m so sorry.” He said to Dev. “Oh no! Dev is dead!” I screamed and ran towards Chace and Dev. “Why did you kill her!? You are crazy!” I screamed at Chace. “I’m sorry.” He said with tears dripping off his face. “Since young, I have this illness. I will turn into someone crazy when I am jealous. But now, when I’m a ghost, I will turn into someone crazy when I give someone a second chance to be prettier.” He explained. “Then just remove the chance you gave Ruby!” I suggested. “Oh yeah! You are right!” he said with his eyes lit up, twinkling with delight. “Second chance, come to me, come to me and you shall die.” He said. After saying that, Ruby was glowing and her face turned to her own face. “Yes! It worked! Ruby, you are back!” I screamed. I took a look at Dev and she was also back to her normal self. Dev cried and thanked me then face Chace and apologise, “I’m sorry, I did not know…” “It’s alright!” Chase said. After that, life was back to normal and now, everyone is wondering where Alexi went, even Cindy. Before I sleep, Dev and Chase would always come and visit me and you will never guess what happens when they visit me…

Although James did not believe in ghosts, it was hard to dismiss the appearance and Disappearance of the girl in a white chiffon dress.

As my brother lay helplessly on his deathbed, I would only recall the memories of him talking about the tree of death. His last words were ‘beware of the undergrowth’.

Days and weeks passed since the tragic accident until I had enough of keeping the secret all to myself. From that point onward I knew both my life and Ella’s life would change…

It all started in the morning when I was deciding on which book from the series ‘GHOST OF MURDER’ I should read again. Then before I could tell what I was doing, I was moving automatically towards the telephone. Unknowingly, I started dialling the numbers 07345967781, it then came to my head that I was dialling the phone number of my friend Ella. Within seconds, the phone was received and that was when I started blabbering about the new club we started, called Devils Dare. Just like I expected she agreed enthusiastically.

Soon after Ella came, fully packed with all the necessities for the club. “Ugh…” I complained it was so annoying when Ella does not understand what I wanted to say. Then I started ambling towards her and started to mumble under my breathe” GHOSTS”! Then out of the blue “AAAAHHHHhhh”! screamed Ella in her usual high-pitched voice. Grabbing her by the wrist we fledged to my room.

There, Ella started complaining about how her wrist is broken and that its paining horribly. “What a cry-baby she is”. I said under my breathe ignoring and trying focus on what I called her here for. Ella stop, I did not mean to scare you. And do you remember my brother…. “Yeah of course I do”. Ella said in a very intense voice. Well before he died, he told me about a tree near Midview meadow was the tree of death. “WOW!!!!” whispered Ella.

Within a blink of an eye I saw Ella opening her laptop and was typing (exceptionally fast) about deaths occurring near the tree. My face then drained out of colour. I felt dumbfounded that I did not think of that earlier. We then only found one website which had the title DEATH…. the ghost of eternal darkness. It then occurred once we started reading the second paragraph, that each time someone dies at that very spot, they have a leaf fall on them and that is when they will evaporate into thin air.

Stunned by the news, we were really wanting to see if it was true. However, just before my very eyes Ella was being taken away from me by the shadows. Suddenly RING…. RING! OH! PHEW, I was dreaming.”. At one point, I had thought that all this a real dream until I realised that it was true, Ella had been taken! Running around in my room just like a headless-chicken I was really frightened until it came to me that my brothers last words were ‘beware of the undergrowth’.

It came to my mind that the undergrowth are the ghosts guarding the tree from the kind and letting the leaves on the ones who have a cold heart. Hurrying up to the tree I went to the very spot where the very people named on the website died. However, I never realised there was a test to pass. Although there was just one question (and that to the question being quite easy I quickly answered it).

As I slowly walked, there was a loud thud, which had made the ground make a little sound of pain. Running towards the core of the loud sound, I found Ella tied up with a misty rope. Fear took over me and without thinking, I noticed that I was at the exact spot where the ghost called death killed its victims. Hoping a leaf would not fall on me, I closed my eyes and wished. Though I unfortunately failed and I evaporated into thin air…

Within seconds I understood Deaths intelligence of luring me to be one of the victims. Abruptly, I found myself floating, I was a ghost!

“OH please, ghosts aren’t real and are never going to be”. James stammered. Who would believe in that. Though little did he know that he would be seeing the exact person at that exact place. Alas, the day arrived he then went with all his bravery to the Midview meadow and to his astonishment saw the last victim of the ghost Death. The next day back at school he started telling everyone about the disappearance and appearances of a ghost he had read, and he saw about. Though no one would ever believe him…

Title: The Stalker “Ring…” the bell rang. “Class dismissed!” Mrs. Ng said. “Amelia! Amelia! Wait for me, let’s walk home together.” Ari shouted. Amelia agreed and they walked home together. On their way home, “Creak…” Amelia turned behind and saw nothing but heard the wind blowing in the air. “BOOM!” When they heard the loud noise, they shouted and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. When they thought they were safe, Amelia stopped running and said, “What a relief! I could hear the loud boom just right beside my ears!” Ari panted and said, “Let’s just walk home and forget that just happened.” Amelia agreed and they continued walking home. Just when they were about to reach home, there was an unknown voice that whispered into Ari and Amelia’s ears. The voice said, “I’ll set you free when I get what I want.” Amelia shouted, “Reveal yourself!” So, the stalker revealed himself. He had spiky hair, tattoo all over his body, long claws as finger nails, a weird smile on his face and a scar on his eye. “My name is Klaus!” “Oh My Gosh!” Ari said it shockingly. Feeling afraid, Amelia whispered to Ari, “Let’s run away!” Ari nodded his head and they ran away. Before they could even move, Klaus use a metal pole and knocked them down. Klaus brought them to an abandoned house, tied their hands with ropes and taped their mouth with duct tape. When Amelia woke up, she mumbled, “Mmmm…. Mmmmm!” When Ari heard Amelia mumbling, she woke up. When Klaus saw Amelia and Ari woke up, he said, “Finally, you’re both awake. I’ve been waiting for an hour!” When he saw both of them were trying to talk, he removed the duct tape on their mouth. “Hey! What do you want?” Amelia shouted. Klaus said, “Money, obviously. Everyone wants money!” “Fine! Take it, release us and go!” Ari said. Klaus asked, “You sure?” “Yeah!” Ari replied. When Klaus was about to take the money, a siren sounded. Klaus shouted, “You called the police?” Amelia giggled and said, “Yeah, I called the police!” After hearing what Amelia had said, Klaus ran as fast as a cheetah. Ari asked Amelia, “Did you really called the police?” Amelia laughed and replied, “No, silly! That was my alarm! I am prepared for anything… Come on, let’s walk home!” s the saying goes, ‘Once bitten, twice shy’, Amelia taught Ari to be prepared for anything.

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Creative Writing: Gothic Fiction

Subject: English

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

8 October 2017

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miss_sawyer

Fantastic resource, which I'll be using with my L/A year 9 class. Thank you.

virginiaFordAttia

Thank you. Very helpful!

Some nice focused tasks for the students especially with regard to improving other students' writing with a specific AF in mind. Not sure if the Power Points are in the right order and not sure about the word documents and what we are supposed to do with them. However, I like the range of activities for the students to do and the focus on sentence structure and figurative language. Thank you for sharing your resource.

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Creative Writing - Gothic Horror

Gothic Horror.

I walked cautiously up towards the grand old house, where I read the name aloud ‘Hollow Manor.’ It had the look of a gothic church with the arched stained glass windows. The doors and windows reminded me of the ancient gothic houses that were so popular in London at the moment. I breathed in deeply smelling wet oak wood reminding me of winter fires and roasting chestnuts.

The area was in an old abandoned town by the forest and the old lake, as I went into the house the door creaked open suddenly as if swept by some unseen shadow of a figure. As I ascended through the main archway into the main house, I was me by the sweet smell of fresh baking but, at the same time something deeper like rotting flesh was hidden under the pleasant aroma as if the house itself was human. I soon forgot the smells of the house, when I saw the three gigantic chandeliers and the vast amount of doors all facing into the main hall all made out of willow wood, of which I was fond.

As I walked up the stairs they started to creak as if the life was being pulled out of them. There were about a hundred old photographs and ancient portraits hanging on the dully coloured walls, clearly someone with very little imagination decorated this house. As I lit the chandeliers the whole room gleamed with life and I saw that the ceiling was of marble with strange but wonderful pictures and patters on it. As I carried on up the stairs, I saw a door at the top and went in.

As I went in, I saw a huge four poster bed loom out at me from the shadows. I lit the candles and curiously looked around; I saw that in one corner of the room there was an old wardrobe dusty from the ravages of time. As I turned to go out I felt a cold chill brush against my back, and then as if all the warmth had gone from the world, the candles went out. A second later, they lit up again and everything was alright and I was just in a normal room.

As I went to go out back down the stairs, I fell over as if something had tripped me up but as I got up and looked around there was nothing there, so I went out and shut the door and then proceeded to go down the stairs and into the living room where I met my grandfather who owned this house; Lord Ben Rose and his wife (my grandmother); Lady Shalamar Rose and you may be wondering who I am, my name is; Chihiro Kobayashi. I first came to this house when my parents died mysteriously just after coming here so, after they died I had to come and live with my grandparents.

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That evening as I was sitting in the library reading in the west wing, I thought I heard someone walking along behind me but, when I looked around there was nothing there. So I carried on reading the book that I had in front of me; it was about a girl who was scared because she had spirits following her everywhere she went. Later, whilst I was sleeping I woke suddenly and thought I saw a shadow in the corner of the room. However, when I asked my grandfather about it in the morning he wouldn’t speak of it. After breakfast my grandfather suggested I go adventuring round the house as long as I didn’t go into the East Wing.

Later, on in the day I realised that I had somehow ventured into the East Wing, the one place my grandfather had strictly forbade me to go into, I don’t know why he objected to me going in here so much. However, there was something about the place, as if earthbound spirits were all around you and you could just reach out and touch them. As I turned to go out I noticed a light in the library, so I went in, it was exactly the same as the one in the West Wing but this one was much larger with a bigger bookcase and it also had a big door at the far end of the room, which was shining in the light. Somehow I don’t know why but I was drawn towards the door and so I went through it. And I found myself back in the main house, but it was as if I had gone back in time, because everything was a lot darker. And it came to me suddenly and I realised that I had gone back in time.

Your probably wondering how I could possibly know this, it was because I could see my parents arguing with my grandparents on the day they died. But, then I saw a different figure lurking in the shadows, of a corner of the room, just standing there staring at my mum and dad, the figure started approaching them from behind knife in hand, I tried to scream a warning but no words came and then I suddenly felt weird again as if my soul was being ripped out of me and then I woke up back in the main house.

I decided that I had to tell someone, so I told my grandmother; she said that it was bad of me to go into that part of the house and disobey my grandfather even if it was by accident, but she also said that she wouldn’t tell him, so my secret was safe for now. That night my grandmother hung herself, but the weird thing was that her face was completely distorted and horrible; the coroner also said that she didn’t die from the hanging, but she died as if the life was sucked out of her somehow, but there was no blood or anything, she was completely alright, with the exception of her face.

The next day at the funeral, something weirder happened, it was as if I could hear her speaking to me, but the only person speaking was the vicar and it wasn’t his voice, so who else could it have been? As we left I wouldn’t think about it, so I tried to forget, but then I wondered if my grandmother had killed herself because of me or because of what I had said to her about the East Wing library.

That night, I had a dream where, I could see my grandmother and she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear what I was. Suddenly, I woke sweating and crying, so loud that my grandfather came in and told me to go back to calm down and go back to sleep, so I did as I was told and calmed down and then went back to sleep. In the morning I told my grandfather what I had told my grandmother and he was flabbergasted that I didn’t say anything earlier to him and so I explained why I had not said anything and then he said that he would never had screamed at me for disobeying him, but that he was amazed that I did disobey him, because I had never disobeyed him before ever.

When I went to bed that night I had another dream but this one was about me and I saw myself die an unnatural death like the one of my grandmother. A few days later, I went back to the East Wing, but this time I went up to the tower where I had seen a light, at the top, but when I looked up towards the top the only thing I could see was my grandmother or at least it looked like her, so I went up there, but when the person saw me they jumped off and disappeared, but then it was me falling and as I was about to hit the ground.

I woke up and felt someone touching me, it was my grandfather he said that I hadn’t been well for 5 days. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t say anything, he just looked into the corner of the room, where I had seen the shadow, and then I realised that there was someone standing there, the same person I had seen before and just as they were coming in to the light, I woke up and this time for real, I hoped. It turned out, that I had been in a coma like state for the past 2 months and also that I had talked about of things happening.

Then I asked where my grandmother was and I was told she was dead. I burst into tears and then my grandfather came in with the man, I had been seeing in my ‘dreams.’ I was told that he was a doctor, until he tried to kill my grandmother, but she was dead, wasn’t she? Later, on in the day I went to the East Wing with my grandfather and said about the door but when we went in to the library, I saw that the door wasn’t there anymore.

So, I went to the top door of the main house spiral staircase, as I had done before, but this time when I went in I saw the spirits of the house trying to kill the maid of the household, they succeeded then came after me. I ran and ran down the stairs and then I ran straight into the maids’ dead body hanging from the archway and I screamed and screamed, until my grandfather came in, only to see me crying my eyes out at nothing.

But, then something happened and suddenly he could see her too. The look he gave me, afterwards, it was as if he blamed me for her death but how could he when none of it was my fault, but he thought that it was.

Then, he phoned the police and they asked me some questions and I answered them. They thought I was mad staying in that house and I asked why, their answer was because a young girl, a maid, once stayed there and she was killed by the spirits of the house. I asked if they knew where she was killed and they said the very top room of the house, then they asked why and I said that I saw her relive her death.

I don’t know why my grandfather blamed me, when it wasn’t actually my fault, even though he thought that it was. The police didn’t know what to think, they were just amazed that I knew every aspect of the case about the maid girl.

Later that day, as I went back into the house, I felt a cold hand run down my back, but as I looked back there was nothing there, but the same person who killed my grandmother, I don’t know how I knew this, but I just did, he was just standing there and he took me away through the walls of the house into the room where my grandmother had died. I looked around and suddenly, I looked in the mirror and saw me hanging myself and a cut going down my back and then a minute later, I was dead and with a message in my hands.

My grandfather was looking for me and then he came in only to see me there hanging from the ceiling and he screamed and burst out crying, then he saw the message in my hand that I had left for him, it read; ‘GET OUT OF THE HOUSE IT ISN’T SAFE FOR YOU HERE, GET OUT NOW!’ And so the next day, he moved out and had the house destroyed.

You may be wondering what happened to me, well my spirit found it’s way to heaven and my parents. You may also be wondering what happened to my grandfather well he moved out and had the house destroyed and then about 5 years later he re-married to a beautiful lady and lived happily till the end of his days. And that is the end of the story of Chihiro Kobayashi.

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay.

Laura Gater

This piece attempts to focus on description at the beginning of the writing but unfortunately this disappears quite quickly and the writing becomes dull and lacks imagination. There needs to be more of a focus on careful planning and executing this plan rather than the telling of the actual story. The reader needs to know more about the characters and settings so they can feel a deeper connection with the story. 3 Stars

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Word Count 2067
Page Count 6
Subject English

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My NC State Story: Brian Riddick (English ’08)

I started at NC State as a political science major but transferred to study English (LWR) with hopes of entering law school. I’ve always loved writing, but truly found my niche while studying at State. Dick Reavis was a professor of mine twice and also my adviser. He became a thought partner for my career planning as I neared graduating at the height of the recession. When I thought that studying English was just a way for me to prepare for law school, he helped me see that writing was a natural talent that I could grow into a career. Between my conversations with Reavis, studying African American literature with Dr. Sheila Smith-McKoy, and a creative writing class that I took as a junior, I rediscovered my love of literature and creative writing. In 2017, nearly 10 years after graduating, I finally self-published my first short story, “Rick Jr.” which is the first installment in what will be a series called Rich Little Poor Boy.

Brian Riddick is dean of college counseling at the Noble Network of Charter Schools (Chicago).

This post was originally published in College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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And Then? And Then? What Else?

By Daniel Handler Liveright: 240 pages, $26.99 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission form Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

To begin, a confession: I’ve never read much Lemony Snicket, neither the 13-book sequence “A Series of Unfortunate Events” nor the four-volume follow-up, “All the Wrong Questions.” This is not a matter of aesthetics but pragmatics. When my kids were young, their tastes ran in other directions: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, “Twilight.” Although we read “The Bad Beginning” and perhaps part of “The Reptile Room” — I can’t remember — they never warmed to the author’s gothic sensibilities or allusive style.

This, I fully accept, represents a parental failing on my part.

Let me admit, too, that I had a little difficulty at first with “And Then? And Then? What Else?” by Daniel Handler, the writer behind the Snicket franchise — “aka Lemony Snicket,” he identifies himself on the cover. This has to do with the nature of the writing, which can feel diffuse before it grows into one of the enduring charms of the book. The reason? “And Then? And Then? What Else?” is a bit of a grab bag, starting in the middle and ending in the middle, while telling a series of stories that both connect and overlap.

That something similar might be said of the Lemony Snicket novels is the whole idea. Handler is skilled and nuanced as a writer, with a developed voice and point of view. He has never fit the categories, so why would we expect him to start here?

Book cover for "And Then? And Then? What Else?"

As an example, there’s the question of form or genre. “And Then? And Then? What Else?” comes positioned as a memoir, but that’s not quite accurate. Neither is “craft book,” although there are a lot of notes on craft. More accurately, it’s what I want to label a process book, walking us through the author’s process as writer and reader. It is also a book that means to tell us how to make a life.

Handler gets at this from the outset: “What am I doing?” the book begins. It’s not a rhetorical question but a reflective one, and it opens a line of free association, of opinions and observations, that push back against our expectations. Yes, the author recognizes, we will have preconceptions; how, after all, could we not? Regardless of whether we’ve read the saga of the orphaned Baudelaire children, Handler’s reputation, the work he’s produced, carries its own cultural weight.

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“I’m hunched over, headphoned,” he explains, describing himself writing on a legal pad in a cafe not far from his San Francisco home, “I look like a lunatic, which is likely the wrong word. It feels right, though.”

There it is, right from the get-go, a conditionality that might feel like a gimmick were it not also true to life. Likely the wrong word but it feels right? Here we get a glimpse of how Handler works. Throughout “And Then? And Then? What Else?” he highlights the tension between thought and feeling, the way we can infer something without fully knowing it. That’s a sensation familiar to every kid who reads “A Series of Unfortunate Events”: What adults are saying and what they’re doing are very different things.

For Handler, such suspicions didn’t disappear with childhood. Early in “And Then? And Then? What Else?” he recalls a party he attended where “real estate and traffic were the mandatory conversation topics,” all the boredom of the grown-up world. Eventually, he met a 6-year-old “and asked him what was up, in the hopes of a better conversation.” The child answered: “Last night I dreamed I was a horse.”

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It’s an instructive anecdote, Handler insists, because children “generally have a firmer grasp on what is interesting to say.” By way of elaboration, he continues: “If you had to sum up lasting literature in a single sentence, you could do worse than ‘I dreamed I was a horse’ — prophetic dreams and animal transformation appear much more frequently in the old epics than, say, which neighborhoods have the best schools.” A perception of the world, in other words, as magical, as inexplicable, as full of wonder, fear and awe. Isn’t this the reason so many of us started reading? Isn’t that what we look for most when we pick up a book?

In “And Then? And Then? What Else?” (the title, fittingly, comes from Baudelaire), Handler returns repeatedly to this notion, whether he’s discussing his books or the details of his life. He is frank without being overly revealing and always seeks out some larger integration, a place where thought and feeling might intersect. As an undergraduate, he suffered from recurring nightmares, populated by ghost-like figures, “naked, bald, painted or powdered white.” The resulting sleep deprivation led to seizures, as well as hallucinations in which these characters began to appear in the waking world.

Or perhaps, Handler conjectures, “hallucinations” is not the proper word. “Nabokov,” he writes, “famously said that reality was ‘one of the few words which means nothing without quotes,’ and this was an idea that kept visiting, bringing me comfort and bliss.”

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What he means is that we never know anything, not truly, and that what we think of as the real world is just another construct, built out of our desires and preconceptions (that word again), as subjective as the angle of our minds. That’s the craft lesson here, and the life lesson also: Be curious. Accept nothing at face value. Why couldn’t the figures from his dream exist — an acceptance that ultimately frees Handler from their influence — even if most of us don’t see them?

Of course, to believe that requires a creative leap. That disposition, that openness leads Handler to an especially acute critique of the pieties of cancel culture, with its distrust of work that some might suggest is “problematic” — a word, he explains, that “describes the entire human condition, which is to say it describes nothing.” Given the subjects and scenarios of his fiction, Handler has found himself in the cross-hairs of various self-appointed cultural guardians on more than one occasion, but while he shares some of those details, that is not what interests him. Rather, it is the question of human personality, human weirdness, which is, as it has ever been, the only source of art.

“The peculiarities of individual works,” he argues, “come from the peculiarities of the individuals who make them. All these peculiarities — all of them — are problematic to somebody or other. Luckily, your own choices about preferences, dictating what you decide to read, are problematic, too.”

If that’s the case, “And Then? And Then? What Else?” counsels, why not opt for joy? This, Handler wants us to understand, is the most important component of storytelling — of reading and writing — and of living too. I keep thinking of the conversation with the 6-year-old at that stultifying party, and the unalloyed pleasure of both the teller and the listener as they discover in the moment their own shared humanity.

“ Last night I dreamed I was a horse . You don’t say. Tell me more.” That is everything and all we need to know.

David L. Ulin is a contributing writer to Opinion. He is the former book editor and book critic of The Times.

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clock This article was published more than 1 year ago

Parkland mom hopes gruesome picture book on shootings jolts politicians

Patricia Oliver walked into Rep. Tony Cárdenas’s D.C. office last week and handed the California Democrat a new book she had written.

The colorful illustrations on the cover looked like those of any other children’s book: A smiling boy walking off a school bus holding daisies. But the title, “Joaquin’s First School Shooting,” revealed the horror that awaited inside. The Os in “Shooting” are holes, representing the bullets that killed Oliver’s 17-year-old son, Joaquin, and 16 others in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in 2018.

In his office, Cárdenas stared at the book in his hands for more than 10 seconds before retrieving tissues from his desk, video of the encounter shared with The Washington Post showed. He told Oliver through tears that he has a grandson named Joaquin.

“You made me realize that I pray that Joaquin never has his first school shooting,” Cárdenas told Oliver.

Since the Parkland shooting, Oliver and her husband, Manuel, have advocated for gun control, attending protests across the United States and founding Change the Ref , an advocacy group against gun violence. But as mass shootings continue, they created a children’s book in hopes of sharing their message in the simplest way.

The short book describes, through detailed illustrations and rhymes, the experiences of Joaquin and his high school classmates after a gunman entered their school.

“This is a specific way to raise to politicians and let them know in a very simple, childish way how important it is for them to take action,” Oliver, 56, told The Post. “It’s very powerful in the sense that the illustrations that you can see inside the book, the vocabulary that we use, the narrative that we use, it’s very simple and very hurtful. We believe that in this way, politicians will be touched by the need of doing something.”

After the May 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex. , creative directors at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, an international communications firm, developed the idea for a book about school shootings and asked the Olivers to collaborate.

For Oliver, the decision was easy. Joaquin had told his parents he wanted to make a difference in the world through writing. He often awoke in the middle of the night to pen love poems to his girlfriend, Victoria Gonzalez, and jot down his thoughts on gun and immigration issues.

The Olivers wanted readers to follow scenes from inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. The book’s title is meant to convey that school shootings have become normal for kids — like their first steps, first word or first vacation.

“This book is Joaquin’s story, but Joaquin’s story is everyone’s stories,” said Fede Garcia, Burson Cohn & Wolfe’s chief creative officer. “We all can be the face of the book.”

On the day of the shooting, Joaquin brought daisies to school for his girlfriend. On the book cover, he’s wearing a shirt with an avocado print — to represent his love for guacamole — and a black beanie he often sported. While many children’s books include finger holes to turn the pages, the holes used to progress through “Joaquin’s First School Shooting” are located on children’s bodies to simulate bullet holes.

“It’s the hardest book I’ve ever had to draw,” María Lavezzi, who has been an illustrator for 13 years, said in Spanish. “I cried and cried. It’s impossible for it not to spark something within you or at least make you question: What do we have to do to put an end to this violence?”

The first page sets the book’s tone. It displays an illustration of Joaquin lying dead on the floor with a Valentine’s Day card and paint surrounding him. Joaquin was in his creative writing class, composing cards for his girlfriend and his friends, at the time of the shooting.

“THE END OF THE DAY, WAS ALSO MY OWN. BLED OUT ON THE FLOOR, AND NEVER GOT HOME,” the page reads.

The other illustrations feature more dead children and bullets shattering a window. One picture shows crying kids running through a hallway next to colorful lockers.

Many words are printed in red to represent blood. The final illustration displays a protest in D.C. with the message: “WE MUST NOT FORGET, OR I’VE DIED IN VAIN! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, PLEASE … NEVER AGAIN!”

This year, 21 school shootings have occurred in the United States, according to The Post’s data .

“We went for the full impact because that’s what this situation needs,” said Garcia, the chief creative officer. “You need to sometimes grab politicians by the collar.”

Within a week of shootings in Cleveland, Tex. , Henryetta, Okla. , and Atlanta , the book published May 5 . The next day, a shooting occurred in an Allen, Tex., mall . The Olivers asked anyone who buys the book to send copies to politicians.

Still, Oliver said looking at the book is painful.

“But I immediately go back to normal,” Oliver said. “Because I have a duty in front of me, and I have to hold it very hard because that's what Joaquin wants from me.”

Last week, Oliver shared the book in D.C. with about 25 politicians representing both parties. Early in the week, she met with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), who stopped and cried while reading the first page.

“Meeting with Joaquin’s parents just literally steels me to say, ‘We have to do something about this,’” Dean told The Post.

On May 10, after Oliver met with Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), Clark read the book on the House floor, directing her message to colleagues who she said “continue to prioritize guns over our children.”

“Let us remember all of the victims and remember that this is a choice,” Clark said after her reading . “We have solutions. We can end gun violence in this country.”

During Oliver’s meeting with Cárdenas, when the congressman told her that his grandson is also named Joaquin, Oliver apologized.

“I’m very sorry that I have to do this,” Oliver told Cárdenas. “But I have to.”

Placing a hand on Oliver’s shoulder, Cárdenas responded: “No, please don’t say that. You have to do this only because you care about everybody else.”

Oliver left D.C. on Saturday, uncertain whether the book changed gun supporters’ opinions. On Monday, as she prepared for another week of advocacy, she received an alert on her phone: A gunman had killed three people in Farmington, N.M.

“That’s why we have to keep working hard,” Oliver said. “Because this is killing us.”

María Luisa Paúl contributed to this report.

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COMMENTS

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Here are THREE Gothic-inspired writing assignments… great for anytime of year, but especially October! "Diary of a Madman". This writing assignment takes inspiration from the spooky stories entitled "Diary of a Madman"— three ways— by Gogol, Guy de Maupassant, and Lu Xun. In all three versions of the story, there is a disturbed ...
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1. Choose a time when your story will take place. Decide if your story will take place in the past or present. Many gothic fiction stories take place a century or even further in the past. A story about the past can make supernatural events and strange characters seem more real to your readers.
Writing and Understanding Gothic Literature [With Examples]
Gothic literature is a genre of literature that combines dark elements, spooky settings, conflicted and disturbed characters into a whimsically horrific, often romantic, story. It's the darkest portion of Dark Romanticism, emerging soon after the Romantic literary era. Brief history lesson for gothic literature: Romanticism deals heavily with ...
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100 gothic fiction writing prompts. An old mansion hides disturbing secrets and supernatural forces in the attic that slowly take control of a new homeowner. A family curse causes a daughter to transform into a ghostly spirit every night, haunting the ancestral castle. Gargoyles and stone figures seem to move when no one is watching in an ...
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Elements of Gothic Fiction. There are at least six basic elements to keep in mind when writing Gothic short stories. Any of them can be a great starting point. 1. The Setting. Generally, Gothic fiction is set in a house or castle that's more than what it seems. It is its own character altogether.
Writing Gothic Fiction: Tips To Craft An Effective Story
The solution is simple. Defend your writing. The gothic is all about the mysterious, the unsettling and the horrifying. Please do not sanitise or make your writing 'safe.' I'm a huge advocate for dangerous, upsetting fiction that disturbs the universe. Is defending your writing hard? Yes, it is. But it's necessary. Tip 9: Play With ...
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1. Pick your time and place carefully. In gothic novels, the setting acts almost as a character in its own right. Early gothic writers set their books in the medieval period and abroad, because an unfamiliar setting allowed their readers to believe in the impossible. Authors have been doing similar things ever since.
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Which leads to tip two: Ensure that the past intrudes on or colors the present. A huge part of crafting a Gothic work is that the events of the past continue to haunt and guide the present. This can be looked at as a curse or more commonly the butterfly effect. One fateful act or decision made by a grandparent affects the lives of generations ...
Gothic Story Openings and Gothic Writing Techniques (4 lessons, ready
This resource takes students through some of the techniques used in Gothic writing (e.g. pathetic fallacy, descriptions of monsters) and uses notable Gothic texts to model. It also demonstrates how to hook a reader by inviting students to analyse a series of Gothic openings, and to write their own. Creative Commons "Attribution".
PDF Creative Writing Gothic and Horror Introduction to Gothic and Horror Genres
Creative Writing Gothic and Horror ... • What someone would expect to find in a gothic or horror story or film related to the heading. • Use the questions below, the extracts from task 1 and your own knowledge to help you. • Have at least 7 points for each mind map.
KS3 Introduction to Gothic Creative Writing
Description. An introduction to gothic fiction going over the conventions A timeline of gothic fiction Introduction to the describing gothic characters through analysis of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster This short scheme of learning could span 6 lessons.
Creative Writing Student Example: Gothic Atmosphere
Just in time for Halloween, we have two examples of creative writing for you, which are centred around the idea of creating a gothic atmosphere, precisely through language and imagery. The first is a descriptive piece with the teacher's feedback. The second is the opening of a story.
14 of My Favorite Short Stories for Teaching Gothic Literature
For a very short gothic tale, turn to the story of Matilda Harding, a one-legged protagonist who goes to visit her mother and never returns. Her husband and sister are left behind in the house, but eventually they too disappear. A larger-than-life vine grows on the house that is strangely reminiscent of Matilda.
Gothic vocabulary bank
Extend the vocabulary of your English students with this list of Gothic words. It's ideal as a creative writing prompt to help students when writing atmospheric gothic stories, and can also support with choosing more engaging synonyms for creative writing tasks. The vocabulary list is sorted into eight handy categories, for example, 'words to ...
Gothic literature guide for KS3 English students
The Twilight Saga is a series of novels and one novella by the author Stephenie Meyer. This series covers many of the traditional Gothic elements together with a love story, supernatural beings ...
Gothic literature resources
Gothic literature is not only fun to teach but more often than not most students love delving into the supernatural and eerie themes that gothic literature provides. Whether you're introducing it through Poe or Shelley, or you're looking for stand alone creative writing lessons, we have drawn together a selection of resources you can use to ...
50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas
These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More. The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing. If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one.
PDF Year 7 English Spooky Stories! Creative Writing
Spooky Stories! Creative Writing Work pack learning objectives: To be able to write an imaginative Gothic story which impacts your reader. To organise the ideas and events in your story so that it builds tension, makes sense and keeps the reader interested. To focus on using correct sentence structure, paragraphs, grammar and spelling.
Creative Writing: Gothic Fiction
Creative Writing Bundle. A whole mash of creative writing resources - some paid, some not - all in one place! £15.00. Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch. Not quite what you were looking for?
Creative Writing
As I carried on up the stairs, I saw a door at the top and went in. As I went in, I saw a huge four poster bed loom out at me from the shadows. I lit the candles and curiously looked around; I saw that in one corner of the room there was an old wardrobe dusty from the ravages of time. As I turned to go out I felt a cold chill brush against my ...
Gothic English Creative Writing Story Extract
Hi, First of all, this is a great attempt at Gothic themed creative writing. I hope that my advice will be able to help you in some way. In terms of the setting, it is very strong and dark and I feel that you actually conjure up quite a nice setting. I'd like to see more of the manor and indeed I think that you need to focus more on the transitions in this story. I think that your chapter ...
KS2 English: Write a script
Video summary. This short film presents a real-world context for writing a script and challenges children to write a short script for a TV show. The presenter, Naomi Wilkinson, is on the set ...
My NC State Story: Brian Riddick (English '08)
My NC State Story: Brian Riddick (English '08) September 24, 2018 Nash Dunn 1-min. read. I started at NC State as a political science major but transferred to study English (LWR) with hopes of entering law school. I've always loved writing, but truly found my niche while studying at State. Dick Reavis was a professor of mine twice and also ...
Recent Chapters: X-23's Ultimate Humiliation
X-23's Ultimate Humiliation. by BabaBooey. Rated: GC · Interactive · Fanfiction · # 2320225. Humiliate the clone of Wolverine however you see fit! Please login... The action you have requested requires. that you be logged in to your FREE. Writing.Com member account. Username.
Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) reveals his process
Lemony Snicket: 'a strange writer in whom nobody took any interest'? April 14, 2014. "I'm hunched over, headphoned," he explains, describing himself writing on a legal pad in a cafe not ...
Children's book shares Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver's story
By Kyle Melnick. May 18, 2023 at 3:18 a.m. EDT. The cover of the new children's book "Joaquin's First School Shooting." (María Lavezzi) 6 min. 203. Patricia Oliver walked into Rep. Tony ...