Horror Movie Screenplays - 10 Stairs To Writing A Horror Book
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- September 23rd, 2008 |
- Comments
A horror movie has certain rules. If you break also many the audience will be disappointed.
This is a real abbreviated, no fluff, blueprint of how to compose a horror book.
1. The Hook. Start with a bang. Block right into a suspense environment. (”Screaming” opens with a alarming film with Drew Barrymore on the phone with a killer)
2. The Flaw. Introduce your hero. Give him a flaw. Before you can put your hero in jeopardy we must care for him. We must deprivation our hero to follow. So make him human. (In “Signs” Mel Gibson plays a priest who has lost his faith after his woman died)
3. The Fear. A strain of The Flaw. The hero has a fear. Maybe a fear of heights, or claustrophobia. (In “Jaws” Roy Scheider has a fear of H2O. At the end he has to conquer his fear by going out onto the ocean to kill the shark)
4. No Escape. Have your hero at an isolated location where he can’t escape the horror. (Like the hotel in “The Polishing”)
5. Foreplay. Annoyer the audience. Make them jump at scenes that appear chilling — but activity out to be completely normal. (Like the cat jumping out of the closet) Give them any more foreplay before bringing in the real monster.
6. Evil Attacks. A couple of times during the middle of the book appear how evil the monster can be — as it attacks its victims.
7. Investigation. The hero investigates, and finds out the actuality behind the horror.
8. Showdown. The final confrontation. The hero has to face both his fear and the monster. The hero uses his brain, rather than muscles, to outsmart the monster. (At the end of “The Community” the blind girl tricks the monster to fall into the hole in the ground)
9. Aftermath. Everything’s back to the artifact it was from the beginning — but the hero has changed for the better or for the worsened. (At the end of “Signs” Mel Gibson puts on his clerical collar again — he got his faith back)
10. Evil Lurks. We accompany evidence that the monster may return someplace..someway..in the future..(Almost all “Friday The 13′th”-movies end with Jason showing signs of returning for another addendum)
Go for it. Good luck!