HORROR WRITING WEEK 5

How to scare people with words

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

• Week 1 – exploring the genre and understanding conventions

• Week 2 – setting the scene

• Week 3 - exploring characters and stereotypes

• Week 4 – plot planning and the importance of suspense

• Week 5 – how to scare people with words

• Week 6 – showing off

THIS WEEK…

• Revising and improving

writing techniques.

• Identifying and

analysing writing

techniques in others’

work.

• Practicing using

techniques in our own

work.

Prior knowledge…

TASK: create a mind map/bullet

point list about techniques you

already know about which make

your writing effective.

- Name the technique

- What does it do?

- Give an example

- Why is it effective?

ATMOSPHERE

• In horror writing, the atmosphere that is created is crucial in order to

draw the reader in and give them a good scaring!

• What is atmosphere?

• The feeling, mood or emotion created through descriptive language.

• How do you create an atmosphere?

• Emotive words or phrases which create a specific mood

• Imagery (similes, metaphors & personification)

• Sound techniques – alliteration, onomatopoeia

• Pathetic fallacy

• Sentence structure

WORD CHOICE

• Thinking about the words that you choose is one of the simplest ways to create an effective

piece of writing. You should try to think about the connotations of a particular word which will

help you decide if it is effective.

• Connotations = the idea or feeling a word creates in addition to its actual meaning.

For example:

1. The cold wind was blowing in his face, making his cheeks red.

2. The icy wind blew fiercely in his face, leaving his cheeks scarlet.

Both sentences use words which have similar meanings but the second sentence creates more

impact.

TASK: Explain why the second sentence is more effective. Think about the words used and their

effect.

TECHNIQUE REMINDER - IMAGERY

• A simile tells you that one thing is like another; it compares two different

objects using the words ‘like’, ‘than’ or ‘as’.

• His hair was as black as coal.

• His heart beat like a drum.

• A metaphor tells you that one thing is something else. It is not meant

literally but is just a way of creating vivid pictures in your mind.

• The cold breeze was a slap in the face.

• She stared with eyes of stone.

• Personification describes a thing or object as if it is a person or has

human qualities.

• The wind whistled through the sails.

• The sun tread a path through the woods.

FIND THE IMAGERY AND EXPLAIN ITS EFFECT

The waves crashed against the shore like angry stallions, as

the wind roared above her head. In the distance, she could

see the ship, its torn rigging illuminated by the moon like a

ghostly skeleton. Her spine was made of ice.

For example, the simile ‘like angry stallions’ is effective

because it suggests that the waves were very noisy and

they couldn’t be stopped.

TASK: CREATE SIMILES, METAPHORS & PERSONIFICATION TO DESCRIBE…

• An abandoned house

• A monster

• The forest

TECHNIQUE REMINDER – SOUND

• Onomatopoeia is a word which sounds like what it means.

• 'Thud', 'crash', 'bang' and 'buzz' are all examples.

• Alliteration is when two or more words start with the same letter or sound.

• The slithering sound spread chills down my spine.

PATHETIC FALLACY

• Pathetic fallacy is when

weather/colours/landscape may reflect the

character’s emotions. We see this used in horror a

lot!

For example, the sun rising is often indicative of the

character’s hope of survival.

TASK – think about the weather in the images on the

left. How would you describe it? How would it link to

how a character is feeling?

FINDING PATHETIC FALLACY

Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned and

discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the

church of Ingolstadt, its white steeple and clock,

which indicated the sixth hour. The porter

opened the gates of the court, which had that

night been my asylum, and I issued into the

streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I

sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every

turning of the street would present to my view. I

did not dare return to the apartment which I

inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although

drenched by the rain which poured from the

black and comfortless sky.

• Read the extract on the left and try to match the

weather to the character’s mood.

Weather Emotion

Dismal and wet

Dawned

Drenched by the

rain which poured

Black and

comfortless sky

unhappy with his

creation

TECHNIQUE REMINDER - SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Long sentences are used to provide description.

• The house was deserted and stood alone on the windswept hill, silent except for the shriek of an owl,

echoing suddenly from the sky above.

Short sentences are used to create suspense and impact.

• A heavy, smothering blanket of darkness had fallen around the house; I took a breath and felt the icy

chill of the air in my lungs. I strained my ears, listening. Silence.

Inversion – changing round the sentence structure to place emphasis on a particular point.

• Jolting forward, my whole body moved, and I hit my head on the front seat….

Questions – add drama, make your reader excited to find out what the answer is.

• Crucifixes hung from every inch of the decaying hallway, where had he brought me?

TASK: Take the following opening sentences and try out different sentence structure techniques.

For each, try to:

- Turn it into a long sentence by adding in more detail.

- Add in an impactful short sentence.

- Turn something into a question.

- Change the word order to create emphasis.

• The door begrudgingly creaked open. A musty, dank odour flooded into my nose.

• I stood, gazing at the dilapidated house. I shivered, as though ice had replaced my spine…

• I woke with a start. The windows had all blown open, and all the lights had gone.

"Luke," whispered Tracey, "I'm scared, there's someone downstairs.”

• Terror had driven all other thoughts from her mind, leaving only the instinctive command to

flee...

FRANKENSTEIN

It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the results of my labours. With an anxiety that almost amounted to

agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay

at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly

burnt out, when, by the glimmer of a half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it

breathed hard, and a violent convulsion shook its limbs.

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how describe the wretch whom with such infinite pains and

care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful?

Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was a lustrous black,

and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these features only formed a more horrid contrast to his watery eyes,

that seemed almost the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and

straight black lips.

I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had

deprived myself of rest and health. I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and

disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and

continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.

TASK: Read the extract above and try to identify any language techniques learned. Try to explain the effect of the

technique.

THE TELL-TALE HEART

TRUE! --Nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? Madness

had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all

things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Oh God! And observe how

steadily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object

there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me

insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue

eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made

up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad (You think I am mad). Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.

You should have seen how wisely (cleverly) I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what

dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.

And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch (handle) of his door and opened it --oh so gently!

TASK: Read the extract above and try to identify any language techniques learned. Try to explain the effect of the

technique.

FINAL TASKS

We’re now at the end of our horror unit! I hope you’ve learned something interesting and enjoyed

your creative writing time. There are a couple of things to do to finish this unit.

Task 1 – Look at the setting and character descriptions that you have already created. Keeping in

mind what you have learned this week, redraft, adapt and change these to your heart’s content.

Remember, we want to be terrified!

Task 2 – Read/watch widely. Inspire yourself with the horror that’s out there!

Task 3 – I’d really appreciate some feedback on the things that I have included in the unit.

Obviously this would be a very different experience if I was in front of you teaching, but I’d love to

hear your thoughts on what I have included. Is there anything you’ve liked? Anything you feel I’ve

missed out? Things you want more/less of? Please let me know.