How to Write a Horror Script

Hello dear reader. What scares an audience? A filmmaker could concentrate on phobias centralized to certain groups of people. That would be one route to go. A much more Advantageous route to go would be the purely and simply sake of universal fears i.e. death, loss of loved one. Every story ever told can be broken down into a beginning a middle and an end. In a horror story think of it in these terms opening tragedy evil attacks and is it over.

The opening tragedy is easy to write. think Michael Myers killing his sister in Halloween. fake Chucky transferring his soul into the good guy doll after getting shot by Detective Norris. Think of 1987's The Stepfather where Jerry is changing his identity after he's just killed his previous family.

This opening scene is as far removed from our protagonist as the evils ever going to be in the film. In Halloween Laurie Strode was two years old and Michael killed a sister and Michael wouldn't pursue her for another 15 years. At the beginning of child's play Karen has not bought the good guy doll for Andy yet.

It is believed that something scary has to happen every 10 pages or your audience is getting really bored. You get leeway in the first act. A script is broken down like this act 1 Is 25% of your script act two is 50% of your script and act three is another 25% of your script.

Act one is obviously where we're getting to know our protagonist. Act 2 is where we're wanting to write for the middle, the midpoint of the movie. The midpoint of the movie is called evil attacks. This is where we start to see how evil this thing can be or if it's like a haunted house story people start believing that the ghost is real. In a slasher movie this is usually when the friend group of the protagonist starts getting killed off one by one.

And Halloween this is where Annie's killed. And child's play this is where Karen finds out that Chucky's really alive. In The Conjuring this is when the Warrens are brought in to investigate the haunting. Now there's another plot point in these horror movies that's called investigation that is either right at close to or right after the midpoint. This is where the protagonist wants to know ok what the hell is going on? The investigation is a little tricky because it has to be brought on by the protagonist. This investigation may coincide with a police investigation that he's usually brought on by a crime or the crimes in the movie.

In the Exorcist Detective Kinderman is investigating Burke Dennings murder. The real investigation in that movie is Chris trying to find out what the hell is wrong with Reagan. And Halloween the investigation is where Laurie literally goes over to the other house and check on her friends. In child's play Aunt Maggie's death kicks off the police investigation but Karen's investigation happens after she finds out the dolls alive. Even in the stepfather Jill is trying to find out more about her new stepdad.

Slash movies in particular are believed to need some sort of sexual element. There are no sex scenes in the first three child's plays nor in the 1st two conjuring's. Do not feel that this is required. And don't so much think of that as a trope or a cliche that needs to be thrown in as much as let's say for example you're writing Halloween. Some high school kids have sex some don't have the first clue about sex.

If you're writing a stepfather. A married couple would make love. It's organic to the story.

Psychology

This portion on the essay is simply about the psychology of writing your horror script. Scream was a movie that operated from an improper premise. Thanks to the rules brought forth by that movie slash your movie fans have the wrong idea that sex equals death. Wife and the stepfather don't die. Nancy in a nightmare on Elm Street has a boyfriend and just because we don't see her have sex doesn't necessarily mean that she's never had sex.

If you're thinking of your horoscope as a game to play as a series of I've got to include certain tropes or it's not going to work. The Rob Zombie Halloween remake is a perfect example of the real start of the **** way to create a modern slasher movie. To think of your characters as bowling pins or cannon fodder for the serial killer to knock down is a lie. There may be one or two characters that you despise and can give us kind of a cathartic kill. But the more often you do that the less connectivity the audience will have to your movie. This is the kind of **** they would do in terrifier and terrifier 2.

And Halloween 2018 for the most part with the exception of Oscar we generally and genuinely care about the characters and are upset when they're killed off. Now there is an allure of evil. Like Michael Myers is terrifying and yet there's still a part of the audience that secretly roots for him. Art the clown and the Bunny man are disgusting examples of the **** Killer that needs to be taken down. If you want to write the trashier **** serial killer movies like terror train like slaughter high like last house on the left, go ahead. But why do we give praise to the nightmare on Elm Street and the Halloweens it's because it's that mix of terrifying and fun.

Now I use terra fire and the Bunny man as examples because someone like Michael Myers being left to live and haunt the citizens of Haddonfield is fine because he's scary and fun. The Bunnymen and art are so terrible and horrible to their protagonist that it's mandatory you kill those**** at the end. Otherwise, it's just an all for not movie and it's fine but it certainly will never reach the heights of something like a Halloween.