The power went out while I was home alone. As I lit a candle, a face appeared in the window, its eyes glowing red.
I entered the abandoned asylum. A door slammed shut behind me and I heard a voice whispering my name in the dark.
Walking down the deserted alley, he felt a presence behind him and heard the slow, deliberate steps getting closer. It was a faceless figure in a tattered cloak. The figure seemed to glide rather than walk, and as it got closer, an icy chill filled the air. He tried to run, but his feet felt like they were stuck in quicksand. All he could do was watch as the figure reached out its long, bony fingers towards him.
The mirror showed my reflection, but when I blinked, it was someone else's face looking back at me.
Sure. I woke up in a dark room. There was a figure standing over my bed with a knife.
Well, you need to think of something unexpected. Such as 'I looked at my reflection in the mirror. But it wasn't me staring back.' It's about catching the reader off - guard.
A lonely lighthouse stood on the cliff. A keeper heard knocking on the door in a storm. When he opened it, a faceless figure was there.
At the bottom of the well - known haunted lake, there was a dark presence. I saw it rise from the water. My heart stopped as it reached for me.
I was alone in the attic. Then I felt someone whisper my name in a voice I didn't recognize.
Just think of a spooky setting first. For example, a haunted house. Then add a sudden and scary event like 'The old, decrepit house stood alone on the hill. A strange figure emerged from the cellar as I approached.'
Keep it simple. For example, 'She walked into the dark forest. A growl came from the shadows.'
A lone hiker heard strange whispers in the forest, then saw a pair of disembodied hands reaching out from the bushes.