How to Develop Characters for a Horror Story

There's an art in writing a horror story that has good character development at its core. Without quality, believable characters, your story won't drag readers in and hold them tight until the end. Good characters keep readers interested and anxious to know what happens next.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Think real. Develop believable characters to suck your readers into your horror story. If readers love or hate a character, they'll care about what happens to him. That will keep them reading.
2. Write realistic emotions. Your characters must react believably to the unexpected things going on in a horror story. Consider your own emotions. Decide what you would do when the creature rises out of his grave. That human reaction will make your story more believable.
3. Give your characters a voice. Make each character in your horror story different. Make them speak differently and have different ideas, just like people in the real world.
4. Know everything about your characters. You need to know every detail that makes your characters react the way they do. You don't necessarily have to print all these details but you as the author need to know what makes these people tick.

Tips & Warnings

• Always write what you know. If you're afraid of something there's going to be someone else out there who is, too. Write about that and be honest about how you would react. Your honesty will be reflected on the page and make a much better horror story.
• Avoid stereotyping. Your horror story will lose credibility when you add predictable stereotypes to the pages. Develop strong, unique individuals and your story will benefit from it.