Stephen King is often regarded as the master of the psychological horror story. His works like 'The Shining' are full of psychological depth, exploring the dark corners of the human mind. He has a unique ability to create a sense of dread and unease that lingers long after you've finished reading.
They have to be skilled at exploring the dark aspects of human nature. By delving into things like fear, guilt, and madness, they can create truly terrifying stories. A great psychological horror author will make you question your own sanity or the sanity of those around you. For instance, in 'The Yellow Wallpaper', the author shows how isolation can drive a person to madness in a very psychological way.
One idea could be a person who wakes up every day to find that their memories are slowly being erased. They start to see strange symbols around their house that seem to be related to the memory loss. As they try to figure out what's going on, they realize that there's a shadowy figure in the corner of their vision that disappears whenever they turn to look directly at it.
Imagine a person who receives a series of anonymous letters. The letters contain details about their deepest, darkest secrets that no one else should know. As they try to find out who is sending the letters, they start to feel like they are being constantly watched. Everywhere they go, they sense an unseen presence. Their paranoia grows as the letters become more and more threatening, until they are afraid to leave their own home.
Basically, a psychological horror story focuses on the psychological and emotional states of the characters and the audience. It creates tension and fear through psychological manipulation, like building suspense, creating paranoia, and exploring deep-seated traumas.
Once upon a time, a girl moved into an old house. Every night, she heard strange whispers coming from the attic. One day, she climbed up there and found a diary. As she read it, she felt a cold presence. The diary told of a tragic death that happened in the room years ago. She started seeing a shadowy figure. It was the spirit of the dead. Terrified, she tried to run but felt as if she was being held back. In the end, she managed to escape the house, never to return.
First, build a tense atmosphere. Use vivid descriptions of settings and sounds to make the readers feel uneasy. Also, create complex and disturbed characters to keep the tension high.
The recommendations for extreme horror and psychological horror novels are as follows:
1 The Evil Dead: This is a horror movie Edward's series of novels, including Ghost Blows Out the Light, fatherly 451 degrees and dragon soul, told a series of stories about horror, death and conspiracy.
2. The Evil Dead II: This is the sequel to Ghost Blows Out the Light, which tells the story of the protagonist's struggle against evil ghosts.
3 The Shining: This is a novel by the famous horror P Lovecraft. It tells the story of a passenger trapped on a mysterious ship who gradually falls into despair and madness.
The White Tower: This is a Japanese story about a doctor who discovers a series of murders while solving a patient's psychological problems.
5 " The Dark Forest ": This is a science fiction novel created by Liu Cixin. It tells the story of humans looking for a new home in the universe, which contains some horror and horror elements.
These novels all have a certain amount of psychological horror and extreme horror elements. I hope you will like some of them.