Writing horror – Write a scary scene with Fear Files: Hide & Seek

What's included?

PDFs

Key Stage

KS2

Age

Years 3-6

Subjects

Peer inside the mind of author Christopher Edge and help pupils learn about writing a terrifying horror scene with this WAGOLL based on Fear Files: Hide and Seek.

In a spooky story, one of the scariest things is when an apparent hope or source of rescue is snatched away – or even becomes a source of danger. One thing that might be even scarier, though, is when the source of danger is – or uses – something that normally feels safe, friendly and familiar.

Great writers control these contrasts to create that thrilling sense of fear so beloved of many readers; like the ebb and flow of a rollercoaster ride.

This resource pack will help you guide KS2 children through the process of analysing a seriously unsettling scene in Christopher Edge’s relentlessly thrilling Hide and Seek (the first book in his new Fear Files series) and selecting the techniques they will adopt to craft terrifying scenes of their own.

Use the extract to teach certain techniques beloved of horror writers – especially the dashing of hope, and the potential creepiness of childhood rhymes!

Horror writing resources included

Extract from Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge
‘How writers can create a scary scene’ poster
‘Exploring writers’ techniques’ worksheet
‘Exploring writers’ techniques’ working wall display
Location, potential means of escape and threat ideas
Planning sheet

5 tips for writing terrifying horror scenes

Hide and Seek author Christopher Edge offers his advice…

First person and present tense

To give your reader maximum chills, the choice of a first-person narrative voice told in the present tense can make them feel as though they’re stuck inside your horror story. This mode of writing can also help to build suspense, as the reader only shares the narrator’s viewpoint and, just like them, can’t see what might be waiting around the corner.

Add descriptive details

Think about what scares you and draw on these fears when choosing descriptive details to evoke a sense of horror. These creepy details should appeal to the full range of readers’ senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Vary your structure

Sentence structure and paragraph lengths can help you to control the pace of your scene. For example, you could use longer sentences and paragraphs to build suspense and then shock the reader with a short, single-sentence paragraph when something scary happens, creating an abrupt change of pace.

Consider your punctuation

Avoid using exclamation marks too often, as this can reduce their impact. Instead, think about how you could use ellipsis to build suspense, e.g. by suggesting something is too terrible to describe, letting the reader’s imagination fill in the gap.

Characterisation

If we’re going to be scared, we need to care! Make characters distinctive in the dialogue you choose for them, the ways they act and react, and, most importantly, their thoughts and motivations.

What is Fear Files: Hide and Seek about?

The first book in the Fear Files series is Hide and Seek, a story inspired by the childhood game of the same name, which is genuinely the most terrifying game ever invented.

Terrifying for the hider – are you going to get caught, or – worse – forgotten? Terrifying for the seeker – who or what is going to jump out at you when you go looking for them?

In Fear Files: Hide and Seek, Adam and his best friend, Sol, discover an abandoned ghost town and find themselves playing a strange game of hide and seek. But who or what is trying to find them? And can Adam stay one step ahead of the shadowy figure of the Itter?

In this extract, Adam discovers an overgrown phone box and thinks this gives him the chance to phone for help before the Itter can find him. But the Itter has other ideas…

Thank you to Lindsay Pickton for creating the resource pack. Browse more WAGOLL packs from real authors.