First Draft

First Draft: Craft Top-Notch Cinematic Scares With These 101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts

Published by
Ken Miyamoto

91. Someone looks out their window to see a clown standing at a corner holding a balloon—staring them.

92. Mannequins in a department store seem to be moving on their own.

93. What if the God people worshiped was really Satan—and Satan had somehow kept God prisoner?

94. A man dies and wakes up in the body of a serial killer—and no matter how hard he tries to stop killing, he can’t.

95. A prisoner awakens to find the prison empty—but he’s locked in his cell.

96. A woman jogging stumbles upon a dead, bloody body—she then hears a strange clicking sound and looks up to see a dark figure running towards her.

97. A girl hears laughter downstairs—she’s the only one home.

98. An Uber driver picks up the wrong person—and may not live to tell the tale.

99. There’s someone or something living and moving up in the attic—but it’s not a ghost.

100. A child’s imaginary friend is not imaginary.

101. The reflections that we see of ourselves in the mirror are actually us in a parallel universe—and they are planning to do whatever it takes to take our place in this world.

Share this with your writing peers or anyone that loves a good scary story. MM

This post originally appeared on the blog ScreenCraftScreenCraft is dedicated to helping screenwriters and filmmakers succeed through educational events, screenwriting competitions and the annual ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship program, connecting screenwriters with agents, managers and Hollywood producers. Follow ScreenCraft on TwitterFacebook, and YouTube.

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Ken Miyamoto

View Comments

  • A single picture is a 1,000 words. How easy it is to put words on paper, but hard to make those words stand out on film.
    "Dad answer's phone to find that he is now talking with his daughter who has been bury in the basement for 15 years". "It is also the night of the dead". "The other bodies who also have been bury in the basement are creeping up the stairs".
    Since every 3-5 seconds is a cut the horror is trying to get enough items on film where their are no retakes.

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