Writing

25 Horror Writing Prompts: How to Write Scary Stories

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Sep 3, 2021 • 1 min read

Not all horror stories need to be set during Halloween. Looking for inspiration to start writing a scary story or creepy film? See these 25 creative writing prompts for writing your own horror story.

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25 Horror Writing Prompts

  1. 1. A scary doll comes to life.
  2. 2. A scene from a nightmare comes true the next day.
  3. 3. Days go by, and your parents don’t come home.
  4. 4. You feel yourself slowly becoming a monster.
  5. 5. Your friends start to disappear, and no one else notices.
  6. 6. You’re lost in the woods, and you don’t know how you got there.
  7. 7. You’re inhabited by a ghost that controls you and makes you do crazy things.
  8. 8. You have no reflection in the mirror.
  9. 9. The teacher is a monster, but no one will believe you.
  10. 10. You hypnotize your brother, and you can’t snap him out of it.
  11. 11. A fortune teller reveals that you are evil.
  12. 12. Someone follows you home, and it’s your exact double.
  13. 13. You find a diary that tells the future.
  14. 14. Every time you wake up, you’re a different person.
  15. 15. Your parents explain that you are actually an alien from another planet.
  16. 16. You know someone is watching you day and night from the house across the street.
  17. 17. You realize you are shrinking.
  18. 18. While reading a scary book, you realize that you’re a character in it.
  19. 19. Someone is living in your mirror.
  20. 20. Everyone knows the new neighbors are vampires, and the kids invite you over for a sleepover.
  21. 21. All the cats in a small town vanish in the middle of the night….and all that remains is a set of big, scary teeth smashed into a car door.
  22. 22. A group of friends takes on the zombie apocalypse.
  23. 23. Strange things start happening after the grandfather clock starts to speak.
  24. 24. You finally meet your child’s imaginary friend. Who turns out to be a serial killer.
  25. 25. When a local police officer goes to investigate the haunted house down the street, he finds a young girl who died decades ago.

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