I like horror stories involving isolation, heavy suspense, believable situations. A story that could potentially happen to anyone (stalking, abduction, psychosis, cannibalism, getting lost/stranded, apocalypse) and isn't riddled with clichés makes it easier to empathise with the characters and is scarier than, for example, a story about a spooky pale-skinned, red-eyed, black-haired dead girl, or ghosts that rearrange the protagonist's kitchen. That said, supernatural themes can be great if you know how to pull it off, and come up with something original.
I recommend browsing the nosleep subreddit and reading through some stories there for inspiration. Some good ones to check out:
'Autopilot'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/duplic ... autopilot/
'The Oddkids'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/commen ... e_oddkids/
'The Ant King'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/commen ... _ant_king/
'Rocking Horse Creek'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/commen ... rse_creek/
'A terribly creepy story my grandpa used to tell me about his experience in World War II'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/commen ... d_to_tell/
'The Tall Dog'
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/commen ... about_the/
The NaNoWriMo forums are a good resource.
http://nanowrimo.org/forums/horror-supernatural
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“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
20 Apr 2016, 2:06 pm
