Writing Scary Scenes

Writer's Craft #2

by Rayne Hall

This is the 'alternate cover' edition - the one almost every one has - so please use this, not the white one.
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Are your frightening scenes scary enough? Learn practical tricks to turn up the suspense. Make your readers' hearts hammer with suspense, their breaths quicken with excitement, and their skins tingle with goosebumps of delicious fright.

This book contains practical suggestions how to structure a scary scene, increase the suspense, make the climax more terrifying, make the reader feel the character's fear. It includes techniques for manipulating the readers' subconscious and creating powerful emotional effects.

Use this book to write a new scene, or to add tension and excitement to a draft.

You will learn tricks of the trade for "black moment" and "climax" scenes, describing monsters and villains, writing harrowing captivity sections and breathtaking escapes, as well as how to make sure that your hero doesn't come across as a wimp... and much more.

This book is recommended for writers of all genres, especially thriller, horror, paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It is aimed at advanced-level and professional authors and may not be suitable for beginners.

British English.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Crafts

Kindle Edition

First published July 6, 2012

About the author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.


Rayne Hall is the editor of the Ten Tales anthologies:
"Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires"
"Scared: Ten Tales of Horror"
"Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts"
"Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates"
"Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft"
"Spells: Ten Tales of Magic"
"Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies"
"Seers: Ten Tales of Clairvoyance"
"Dragon: Ten Tales of Fiery Beasts"
"Cogwheels: Ten Tales of Steampunk"
with more titles coming soon.


The stories in her Six Scary Tales series and the Thirty Scary Tales collection are subtle horror: suspenseful, creepy atmospheric, unsettling. Although they contain little violence and gore, they may not be suitable for young readers. Many of these stories have been previously published in other books or magazines.

British English: All Rayne Hall's books use British words, spellings, grammar and punctuation. If you're allergic to British English, avoid them. ;-)

Mailing list:
http://eepurl.com/boqJzD

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/raynehal...

YouTube "Ten Random Facts about Rayne Hall" (2 minute video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXR4T...

Contact Rayne Hall on Twitter
@RayneHall follows back writers and readers. http://twitter.com/RayneHall

Reviews

[Carl Bluesy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn’t a fan of the first book, but I thought I was given this author, another chance. Unfortunately, this fell flat as well.

Estimate the party was to get this book out rather than have something quality. Alongside having a book that reads like a rough draft, there are moments like this, “Bear in mind that these are just notes, not polished writing.”

Why publish work haven’t polished. That myself as a very bad principal, and makes me feel like it was more important to get this out quickly.

They are many part where I wound why are in this book at all. Such as, “SCARY-SOUNDING WORDS” making suggestion such as “Use words with OW, OH, OU, OO sounds”

About 80% of this book was brief dictionary, explanation of elements you see in a horror story without offering anything of substance to help people become better at writing horror.

[Heena Rathore Rathore-Pardeshi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt like a very, very lengthy blog post, and that too uninformative and with insufficient content. That's all I can say about this book.

[GracieKat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really hate to give this one star but...

When I think of 'professional' level writing I think of major level writers, Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, for example. Those writers would not find anything useful in this book.

It would probably be good for beginners but even if you're just starting out and have read extensively you should know most of these concepts and many of her examples are cliches by now. She might be counting on her readers to use them creatively but readers/writers who are creative would most likely think of them on her own.

I also disagree with her use of 'Wimp Points'. According to her scoring system grieving for more than one sentence makes your character a 'Wimp'. Hesitating, even with good reason, gives a Wimp point. Although I agree with her advice on not using the words 'involuntarily' with regards to body functions or at least using them very sparingly.

There's a chapter where she gives examples, then strangely avoids giving examples because of 'copyright issues'. Except that one of the authors she mentions is from the Victorian period and no longer under copyright law. She could also use examples of her own work. Which brings me to the next part..

At the end she gives three of her own short stories and asks the reader to try to identify which techniques she uses. Which is fine but then she leaves it at that. I think a better way of showing it in action would be to try to let the reader see for themselves and then point out the different techniques she uses.

As for the stories themselves I honestly couldn't stand any of the three protagonists. In fact, in one, she actually says that leaving her abusive ex got her into a situation where she doesn't have the protection of a man. I think the ending is supposed to be frightening and or empowering but it's so unrealistic that I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Maybe they were written quickly for the book so I won't be too hard on them but I didn't enjoy any of them much.

If you're a beginning writer this may help you out. But if you've read at all in the genre of your choice then you should be able to recognize familiar tropes and cliches.

[Adam Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horror is a difficult beast to tame. What scares you in your head might fall flat on paper. When you write a story, you need to know how to tell it in just the right way. This book will show you where to start.

A very helpful book for writing scary scenes. Some of it might seem obvious, but there is still more than meets the eye, and always more to learn.

A good book for those looking to develop their craft.

***Reading Challenge 2015: a book you can finish in a day***

[Laurie Treacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a writer, I never stop picking up books about "the craft" and learning as much as I can. Rayne Hall's Writing Scary Scenes may be short at eighty pages but packs a ton of information writers can readily use. Scary doesn't necessarily mean just horror or thrillers. Scary can also mean increasing the tension in particular scenes to excite your reader into reading more. The information here is invaluable and I know I will be applying some of the tips in my own works. I will also keep the author's tips in mind when revising. The examples were helpful and the author's style was easy going and fun.

Irregardless of the genre you may be writing for, the tips included in Writing Scary Scenes by Rayne Hall are useful in many ways and can applied to different genres. Recommended.
(http://www.readergirlsblog.com/2013/0...)

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was incredibly helpful. I've written in the horror genre before, but I mostly wrote from instinct. I wanted to spend some time learning about what skills other authors employ in order to properly set a scary mood. Rayne Hall does a great job of breaking down all the different forms of fear, and how to navigate your way through each one. There are also tips and tricks on what words work best, and which ones create a weaker response in your reader. Examples are used so you can see these tricks in action. I'll definitely be using this as I finish my NaNoWriMo this year!

[Ivana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book twice, first when I received the review copy and now closer to the blog tour. Since the book is rather a short one (80 pages) and simple, I'll also keep my review short and sweet.

While some of the techniques that Rayne Hall writes about were not new to me, there were some new things that this book introduced me to. If you haven't read too much about the craft yet, it's simplicity will work for you: there is no beating about the bush, just plain explanation, example of use (and fair warnings of overuse and abuse in different genres). I mostly feel that the advice Rayne Hall offers would be excellent for writing shorter pieces of fiction.

I wish there were more examples, or a chapter where she takes a scary scene and breaks it down to the elements and techniques she writes about, especially for the various "flavors" of fear. Rayne Hall makes a note that she cannot provide larger paragraphs due to copyright issues, but why not provide a short paragraph of her own to demonstrate the effect of each of them? At the end she includes three of her short stories that I really liked, but in which I was able to detect only a few techniques on my own.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayne Hall’s book Writing Scary Scenes is a must for every horror or suspense writer. Hall delves deep into every facet of how to create those spine tingling, breath stealing moments in a book.

Hall breaks the process down into areas such as sound, darkness, isolation, and more, then goes further into the depths of scene structure, location, how to manipulate the elements of pacing, infusing the scene with sensual details and many others guaranteed to ratchet up those thrills and chills.

There is no fluff or filler in this book. It stays on target and offers the writer straight up information on the writing process and all the techniques used to write scary. It’s packed full of suggestions, examples, and advice on how to keep the reader hooked to the end of every scene.

This is an excellent writing craft book, not just for horror or suspense, but for any genre.

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe a couple of points in this I will think about. The rest of it was either obvious or bad. At the end of the book, there are a couple of examples by the author. Rather than reading it thinking, "Yes, I can see how your advice on writing scary will make my writing better," I found myself editing it and pulling it apart for really basic writing issues. So I did not find this book useful to teach me anything. Although it did make me realise if this person can sell books, there is real hope for my writing selling!

[Emma Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was excellent. I actually took notes with a pen as I read through this. Now, only to put Rayne's advice into my own work :)

[Thomm Quackenbush · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The author provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

The majority of the tips in Writing Scary Scenes are what I have taught middle school students. Time and again through this book, I imagined Hall leaning over to instruct seventh graders. So, when in the introduction she states outright "Writing Scary Scenes is a book for advanced-level and professional writers", I admit I scoffed. It is difficult to believe this is for adults when she imparts wisdom such as "A scene which ends where the PoV is in acute trouble with no obvious way out [...] is called a ‘cliffhanger’ and it's a sure way to make the reader turn to the next page" or "Readers buy romance novels because of the love story" and "Readers who buy horror books want to be scared." If I judged this as a beginner’s guide to writing, I could agree that it is a good jumping off point. If I am to judge it as Hall insists it is, as a book for professional and adult writers, I must hold it to a much higher standard.

If you are the sort of writer who prefers to scan through a manual, find someone else’s sentence to express a particular mood or emotion, and slot it into your work, you may find more value in Hall’s book than I did. One bit of marginalia from my initial reading of this book is that it "sometimes reads like a technically manual for aliens on how to fake being human". Anyone finding this book brilliant is going to write similar stories fit for high school literary magazines published in October, but that likely won’t be seen anywhere else. Writing is creativity and this book advocates for formulaic but technically competent authorship. That is not remotely the same thing as interesting, and predictability is the least scary thing I can imagine.

Some of the advice is sound, such as "you can increase the horror [...] by mentioning something innocuous in the same sentence as the gory detail", "The last word touches the reader's psyche more than any other, so make it count", or "gruesome openings have no effect [before you know the characters]", but it is too little too far between. There is nothing prior to page 73 that I find advice that strains the upper limit of middle school writing, by varying sentence length to add tension, giving a satisfying story beyond the twist ending, or draw out scenes. She gets distracted by alliteration and assonance, which would draw me completely out of a story. If the villain speaks all in slithering sounds, I am going to put the book down for being immature.

Most of her examples of mastery are from people who are hardly commonplace names. Doing a bit more research and using luminaries of their genres in particularly well-crafted scenes would improve these. This is especially glaring where she decides for one chapter that copyright prevents her from quoting excerpts, even though she did so in the prior chapters.

The last fifteen percent of the book is a selection of Hall's stories, presented without comment other than a preamble amounting to "see if you can figure out what I was doing." This seems filler where it could have been used to dissect a story without fear of copyright infringement. Given how often I found chapters bloated, this seemed a wasted opportunity. Whenever she gave some small advice, she provides a dozen needless examples, to the extent that she once lists different time pieces ("a grandfather clock which goes tock-tock-tock, a clock on the steeple of a German village church, an expensive Rolex watch with silver hands, a children's alarm-clock with a Winnie-the-Pooh face, or an egg-timer with purple sand"). I learned to skip these. The book itself is repetitive, even when it discusses how overly using the same techniques is guaranteed to turn the reader off. It felt as though she worked from a template of chapter to reduce original text rather than writing what she thought would be genuinely helpful to readers.

Despite this, there was a point in the book (page 136) where she offers horror opening that beginning writers overuse. While indeed terrible and ill-advised, she can only think of two. I know for a fact that she edits anthologies - one of them is in my review pile - and so she must have more examples. I cannot fathom why she chose this moment to be tight-lipped.

The whole section on Wimp Points grated on me, especially as she describes as "wimpy" a character who experiences grief at another’s death. It does not matter if this informs the character, explains her actions, and gives her impetus to grow strong, Hall thinks it is wimpy and should be avoided for fear of gaining Wimp Points. She brings up romance novels several times when they did not seems applicable, but there is a curious absence of mentions of them when discussing heroines crying. (I guess the love of a Fabio absolves one of wimpiness.) She is also not a fan of characters thinking. My note here reads "Thinking is verboten (British: "forbidden"). Literacy, too. All characters must drive flaming motorcycles into werewolves so as to avoid Wimpy Points." Also, unwimpy characters must only be successful in all things, as "trying" or "attempting" anything makes them the equivalent of mincing nancies.

Some of her advice is strange, for example "Here's a nifty psychological trick to torment the reader's subconscious with suspense: tell your protagonist to strip off her clothes." Titillation isn’t suspense, as she proves when she described inert people taking off articles of clothing. I do not care at all why a man is taking off his jacket to prevent it creasing, one of her actual examples. It does not frighten me unless he is an Elder God with OCD. She later digresses that one might wish to limit describing unpleasant smells in erotica and then she informs the reader that there is very little gore in romance and children’s literature, apparently assuming I picked up Writing Sexy Kid’s Lit.

Several of my issues with this book boil down to that Hall and I ascribe to different schools of writing. She preaches telling, showing, telling again to make sure that the reader got what happened. As a reader and a writer, I find this frustrating and boring. I assume my readers are clever enough to see what happened. They did have the good sense to read a book I wrote, after all. I am sure that Hall and her kith would find my method just as frustrating because I am not making certain they saw what I did there. Hall, too, is not unaware of the flaw of this method: "Like everything, it can become tedious if overused. If every scene in the novel starts with the scene goal in the first sentence, the effect wears off." She is a proponent of relying on tropes (actually writing that one should use the forbidden phrase "A dog howled in the distance" to build mood) while I prefer those who seek to subvert what which is predictable and thus weak.

My final issue, snarkily alluded to above, is how Hall felt the need to interrupt herself to point out what a British English word meant in American English - e.g., abseiling (American: "rapelling") skills, mobile phones (American: "cell phones")", goose-pimples ("goosebumps" in American), loo ("bathroom" in American), football (American: "soccer") . Professional writers, to whom Hall says she is writing, should be assumed to not need this chiding (and, yes, rappelling is spelled as such in the book, thus invoking some version of Muphry’s Law that I an no doubt now going to be victim to myself for pointing this out).

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short but fairly useful book on some things to keep in mind and some things to avoid when creating scenes meant to induce fear in the reader. Most of the do's and don't's in this book are ones I've encountered before, from other horror writing manuals, and some of this stuff one picks up by osmosis when reading or from practice when writing. That said, a refresher course never hurt anyone, even the most advanced professional (which I'm not). Mileage always varies from person to person so this may become your bible, while it only comes down from my shelf for an occasional skimming.

Parts that stood out to me were a section on euphonics (sensations evoked by sounds) as well as what the author calls "back-loading," the process of trying to make sure that the most impactful word appears at the end rather than at the beginning of the sentence (even when this contradicts the general rule about passive constructs). It's not something I've ever thought about consciously, but the examples Rayne Hall uses of sentences before and after back-loading bear out the usefulness of at least considering the technique.

This is a primer-sized book, only slightly larger than a pamphlet, so if the reader/writer is looking for something that plumbs the depths of horror, seeks out the mother lode, and mines the Ur-stuff of the unconscious, one would do better to search elsewhere ("Where Nightmares from From" and "Danse Macabre" are titles that spring readily to mind). Having front-loaded (rather than back-loaded, sorry Ms. Hall) this caveat, I'll close by saying there's something to be said for short and practical from time to time. And it is, ultimately, better to have too many rather than too few tools in the toolbox. Recommended.

[Chris DiLeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While much of what is here is basic and obvious, the advice is good and—in a few cases—spot on. Her point about doors and darkness seems very obvious, almost juvenile, but she is not wrong. The only difference between her examples and those of other professional authors is the skill with which those accomplished writers make use of the same tropes but in fresh, intriguing ways. The chapter on Wimp Points again seems too simplistic and even insulting, but she is not wrong. Read your favorite works carefully and take note of what the author does and does not write, and in particular of the diction used. In my own work, I've gone hunting for words like "hesitated," and "unable" and "couldn't" and "tried." Removing words that suggest passivity or cowardice is a small step toward strengthening the character. A minor change, but it may make a significant difference. This book is worth it for tips like that as well as a few other nuggets of literary advice.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section on what the author calls "The Wimp Effect" is, at least to me, the most useful part of this book. I wasn't sure about it at first, because it seemed like it was being too harsh on showing character emotion, but it makes good points. Especially in the examples, you can see how certain wording can really pile up to make a main character feel obnoxious in a scary scene. I'm sure we've all read thriller novels where the protagonist just wont stop swallowing, shaking, shuddering, taking deep breaths, hesitating, etc. before doing anything...and the end result is a character who feels like they're wasting time (the reader's and their own).

I feel like the sections on using words with certain sounds to convey certain sorts of scariness (spookiness vs. dread etc) could have used more explanation as to WHY those tricks work to evoke specific feelings in a reader, and what evidence there is for that.

[Emy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was useful, but I didn't find it as useful as the book on writing fight scenes. I think partly it is because I don't generally write horror as much as fighting, but also I found some of the sections repetitive. I'm pretty sure points about euphonics were made several times, although they were also made in the fight scene book so I might be misremembering.

I did particularly like the sections on different types of horror and how frequent different types of horror should be.

Rayne Hall makes really good points about writing, especially how to bring life to scenes. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series.

[JL Shioshita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for free on Kindle, more as fuel for critiquing horror than as writing advice. So that's the mindset I went in with. I would say that most of what is covered here seems like elements most lovers of scariness would already be either consciously or subconsciously aware of - isolate your characters, put them in dark, give your villain a maniacal laugh. Horror 101 #@$%. Then, just as I was thinking the whole thing seemed pretty basic and I had wasted my time, I read the three short stories included at the end for example purposes. And you know what, they were good. So I guess it was worth it in the end.

[Donyae Coles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book three stars because there wasn't anything actually wrong with it, it just. . . was very, very basic.

Imagine you're in sixth grade and your teacher tells you that you're going to write a scary story today. She hands out a worksheet that has the basic information for helping you write a scary story. That's what this book is.

It (and the entire thirty some odd book series) would be great for very young writers who are just getting a feel for the craft. It's that basic. There's nothing wrong with that! I'm just not the target market.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short ebook is full of suggestions on a range of methods, but is a little hackneyed in its examples. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of useful analysis that prompts thought as to how to avoid overdoing things. Showing a protagonist’s fear without the reader dismissing them as a wimp is a particularly good aspect. This book contains three short stories by the author that are rather good compared to the examples in the text, which are all a bit “it was a dark stormy night...” A decent read.

[M.R. Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on strategies to increase the scare-factor when writing suspense or horror. The book purports itself to be for advanced writers, but it came across more like a book for writers who are just starting to find their feet. It's always good to see behind the curtain - so to speak - of how established writers weave their magic so in that regard, it was more than worth the price.

[Peggy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you

I'm a romance writer and suspense seems to keep finding it's way into my stories. Your book has helped me so much. Everyone keep telling you to put the conflict in your story, but this book actually has given me the tools and tips to do that and make it believable. Again thanks.

[Paul Hefka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful.

This book has decent insight into writing scary scenes. The most beneficial parts are the what to include and the what not to include. The section on wimp points was interesting. Although, avoiding everything listed makes your protagonist seem robotic. Also, it would have been helpful to insert more examples throughout. This book is definitely worth reading.

[Charles J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight, zero fluff !

I liked the range of advice from the smallest (letters to use) to the largest (openings, endings, serials), and the brief but meaningful examples from other authors.

[Diana Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hall’s books are not typical how-to books about the craft of writing but more like mini encyclopedia source books. It’ll become a go-to source for me. Especially helpful is the chapter on genres and what kind of scary scenes are best suited for each genre.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. It was very much geared towards beginners learning the concepts of what creates scary scenes but it focuses way too much on its specific examples and not talking about the general vibes those examples are creating to create new ways going forward

[Roger Alderman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title helped me create my own ongoing web series found on youtube "Shipwreck Theater Presents Cthulhu and Friends." Thanks for the inspiration.

[Jai Rahim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hadn’t ever considered euphonics before reading this book.

[Nikki Kincaid]

Every Rayne Hall book is well worth the read!

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utile guida sulla composizione di scene da horror.

[Alice Aagaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurtig læst bog (129 sider), men fyldt med gode, jordnære teknikker til at skrive skræmmende scener. Masser af tips og inspiration.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

noice

Lots of great information. The book will create excitement for any writer to hone their craft.
It is a lot of fun.