The phone rang at midnight. When I answered, all I heard was heavy breathing and then a whisper of my name from an unknown voice.
The little girl found a doll in the forest. As she picked it up, the doll's eyes started to bleed.
The moon was full. But the werewolf outside my window wasn't howling at it, but rather staring right at me.
Sarah walked down the dark alley. Out of the darkness, a pair of glowing eyes stared at her, and she knew she was being hunted.
Well, start with a scary setting or a mysterious character. Like, 'The old house creaked. A shadow moved behind the curtains.' Make it short and spine-chilling. Also, use simple but powerful words to build tension quickly.
Think of a common fear and describe it in an unusual way. Say, 'The mirror showed my reflection. But it wasn't mine.' Keep it short and intense.
Think of a common, ordinary situation first. For example, 'I was walking my dog at night.' Then add a terrifying twist like 'Suddenly, the dog started growling at me, and I realized there was something following us that only the dog could sense.'
Sure. 'I clicked on the Metacritic link. Immediately, the high - rated games started to bleed pixels, their blood - red trails spelling out my doom.'
Yes. A young man moved into a new apartment. Paragraph 1: He noticed a strange smell but thought it was just old pipes. In paragraph 2, he heard footsteps above him at odd hours, but there was no one living there. By paragraph 3, things started to move on their own. His keys would disappear and then reappear in odd places. In paragraph 4, the walls began to ooze a black substance. And in paragraph 5, he woke up one day to find himself surrounded by shadowy figures, and then he was never seen again.
I walked into the forest. The trees whispered my darkest secrets.
Sure. 'I looked in the mirror and saw my reflection smiling while I wasn't. Then it winked at me.'