Crafting Creepy Thrillers. Villains That Haunt Readers Long After Halloween
Last night I was driving home and looked up at the most amazing full moon. The sun hadn’t long since gone down and it was cast in an orange hue, a film of thready clouds passing over it like gauze. It’s hardly any wonder that our thoughts turn to writing dark fiction this time of year.
As a crime / psych thriller writer, I know the power of a well crafted villain and a spine-tingling plot. Here are my top tips for writing creepy prose.
Set The Stage
Atmosphere is everything when it comes to writing thrillers. Find the most unsettling places you can think of. Dark forests, creepy abandoned buildings, houses with a history, cut off island settings, isolated locations. But remember, it’s not just about the setting; it’s how your characters interact with it.
Breathe life into your settings by using all the senses. Smells relay so much. Damp, rotting walls. Crumbling brick dust. The stain of petrol fumes on the senses. Sounds play a big part. The snap of a twig underfoot. A creak of a floorboard upstairs. What about sight? The flicker of a light. A door closing all by itself.
