Here there be dragons, boogeymen, and blood-sucking vampires! Scary stories have frightened and allured audiences for thousands of years. So, whether you’re looking to establish a new form of horror, or riff on an existing genre trope, you’ve come to the right place, because we’re going to break down scary story ideas. Dim the candlelight, turn up the theremin, and sit back as we delve deep into horror writing prompts!
Scary Story Prompts for Writers
Scary story ideas & horror writing prompts
It can be challenging to respond to writing prompts when they’re proposed without follow-up questions. So, we’re going to attempt to rectify that by giving you some scary story ideas with follow-up questions.
*Note on scary story ideas and writing prompts: all of the prompts outlined here were created by me! However, they’re almost all surely inspired by existing material, whether recognized consciously or unconsciously. In accordance with that point, I’m going to attach “suggested accompanying viewing” to each prompt for further inspiration!
Scary Story Prompt 1
A young man finds himself unable to break out of a recurring lucid dream.
Ideas for Horror Stories • Still from ‘Spellbound’
- Who is the young man?
- What is the recurring lucid dream?
- Why is he unable to break out of it?
- Is this a parallel universe?
- When the man or woman wakes, what does he find?
Scary Story Prompt 3
A young woman sells control of her father’s estate to a peculiar… bloodthirsty… count from Transylvania.
Scary Story Picture Prompts • ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’
- Who is the young girl / woman?
- Who is the count?
- Why is she selling her father’s estate?
Prompt 4
A group of hitchhikers enter a seemingly empty home to wait out a torrential storm.
Ghost Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Twilight Zone’
- Who are the hitchhikers?
- Why does the house seem empty?
- Is it a haunted house? One of many haunted houses in the area?
- Where is the antagonist?
HORROR WRITING PROMPTS
SUGGESTED VIEWING
- “The Howling Man” from The Twilight Zone
- The Cabin in the Woods
- Psycho
Prompt 5
An asteroid hits a space station orbiting the outer-ring of a lunar outpost. Oxygen supply is cut by 80%, meaning the crew has to kill four members, or else they’ll all die before an emergency shuttle arrives.
Horror Story Prompts • Still from ‘Sunshine’
- Who’s on the space station?
- Why aren’t there any emergency shuttles on the station?
Prompt 6
A veteran cop suspects his daughter is dating a serial killer.
Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Taken’
- Who is the cop?
- Who is the daughter?
- Who is the suspected serial killer?
- How did the cop learn about his suspicious nature?
Prompt 7
A small-town legend says that a monster lurks under the lake. Sounds crazy, but why have so many people gone missing?
Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Wailing’
- What is the monster?
- Why have people gone missing?
- How did this legend spread?
Prompt 8
A man finds a slumped-over investigator with puncture-wounds in his neck. His final word, “devil.”
Scary Writing Ideas • Still from ‘Angel Heart’
- Who is the man?
- Who is the investigator?
- What does “devil” imply?
Prompt 9
A group of college girls stargazing at the Grand Canyon find themselves stalked by a shadowy figure.
Horror Story Prompts • Still from ‘It Follows’
- Who are the college girls?
- Are there any imaginary friends?
- Why are they at the grand canyon?
- Who, or what, is the shadowy figure?
Prompt 10
A woman is kidnapped in broad daylight, only to re-awaken in a human zoo.
Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘The Truman Show’
- Where is the woman kidnapped? And where is she brought?
- Who is responsible?
- Why is there a human zoo?
Prompt 11
A cursed man must find love by year’s end or else his entire family will be killed.
Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘Beauty and the Beast’
- Who is the man?
- How was he cursed?
- How do we know his family will be killed?
- Why do we want him to succeed?
HALLOWEEN STORY IDEAS
SUGGESTED VIEWING
- Beauty and the Beast
- “The Chaser” episode of The Twilight Zone
Prompt 12
A woman goes back to a man’s apartment after a date… but discovers what appear to be mementos – hair-pins, engraved jewelry, watches, etc. – in the bathroom drawer. When she decides to leave, the man blocks the doorway.
Scary Writing Ideas • Still from ‘Burning’
- How does the woman discover the mementos?
- Who is the woman? And who is the man?
Prompt 13
A group of strangers find themselves locked in a classroom – and instructed that whoever scores the highest on the test will be allowed to leave. The rest will be killed.
Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Exam’
- How did the strangers find themselves locked in a classroom?
- Who is “the instructor?”
- Why are they being forced to engage in a sadistic game?
Prompt 14
A teenage-outcast finds solace with a group of friends in a Dungeons & Dragons club, but slowly starts to suspect that their teacher, the club’s organizer, is an actual demon.
Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Stranger Things’
- Who is the teenage-outcast?
- Who is the teacher?
- Why does the teenage-outcast suspect the teacher is a demon?
Prompt 15
A young vampire on a tiny island must drink blood to survive. But people are running out. And ships stopped coming.
Horror Story Ideas • Still from ‘Vampyr’
- Who is the young vampire?
- Why are they on a tiny island?
- Why did the ships stop coming?
Prompt 16
A traveler runs out of gas on the outskirts of a mountain-town. In the distance, he sees a hooded-figure, with a fleshy-sinewed face.
Scary Story Ideas • Still from ‘Insomnia’
- Where was the traveler going?
- Why did he allow his car to run out of gas?
- Who, or what, is the hooded-figure?
Prompt 17
An expeditionary voyage is thrown into chaos when a dead body is discovered in the captain’s chambers.
Ghost Story Prompts • Still from ‘Clue’
- Who’s body is discovered?
- Where is the expedition going?
- Why was it discovered in the captain’s chambers?
SCARY STORY IDEAS
SUGGESTED VIEWING
- Clue
- Return of the Obra Dinn (game)
Prompt 18
A nuclear holocaust forces people to move underground. Things are safe for a while, but eventually, the monsters make their way down.
Scary Ghost Story Ideas • Still from ‘Metro 2033’
- Who detonated the nuke?
- Why was the nuke detonated?
- What are the monsters?
- How did they get underground?
HORROR WRITING PROMPTS
SUGGESTED VIEWING
- Metro 2033 (novel/game)
- Stalker
Up Next
How to Write Horror
We touched on some strategies for writing scary story ideas here – but the focus was mostly on the ideation stage. Want to learn more about the process of writing scary stories? Check out our next article on “horror writing” where we break down examples from Stephen King, Edgar Wright, and more. By the end, you’ll know not only how to start a scary story, but how to see it through to the end!
