If the reader doesn’t empathise with the hero or heroine, they won’t feel the same sense of tension about what happens to them. Secondly, I think creating relatable characters is really important.
For me, the pleasure of reading a scary book is that spine tingling feeling. One of the most important things is to remember that a scary novel is meant to be SCARY, not so gory that it’s horrifying. What are the three key building blocks when writing a scary novel? We asked Helen all about how she gets her inspiration and what she thinks makes a great scary novel. Her outstanding YA novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden left me utterly chilled – read it if you haven’t yet. Today we have an author who knows a thing or two about scaring kids, Helen Grant.
We’ve had a number of conversations about Point Horror in the office and EVERYONE interrupts each other with, “Do you remember the one…” It’s something special. They’re the stories I can recall most vividly. Now, for a good spooking, I read Stephen King and Shirley Jackson, but it’s the childhood scares that stay with me the longest. Then I moved on to some Robin Jarvis, Goosebumps, and later Cliff McNish’s Doomspell series and the classic (and fantastic!) Point Horror series – highlights include Twins and The Babysitter, thanks R.L. A book that had such an impact on my brother that he shoved blankets and clothes down the side of his bed so the Finger Eater wouldn’t gobble up his pinkies in the night. It started with a book called The Finger Eater by Dick King-Smith. I (Kristina) was one of those children who just loved being scared. Halloween may be behind us, but that’s not to say that the scary fun is over.
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