Many writers have trouble writing horror. It's a different type of challenge than fantasy where you have to create entire worlds. Sometimes creating new worlds seems easier than writing a short horror story. Why is that? The fear of creating fear.

John Carpenter's quote above is a good reminder of what horror really is. The internal and external aspect of it. He also explains what external evil is. That is part of your imagination. The monster under the bed. The things that go bump in the night. The unfamiliar man outside that give you the creeps. Anything you can think of.

The internal evil is different. It's what we fear. And it's familiar to most. Relatable. So let's talk about some of the phobias people have that can turn into a good horror story.

Specific Phobia Categories:

Animal Type: Common examples include fear of dogs, snakes, or spiders.

Natural Environment: This can include fear of heights, storms, or water.

Blood-Injection-Injury Type: These phobias include a fear of seeing blood, receiving a blood test, getting vaccinated, or even watching television shows that display medical procedures.

Situational Type: These phobias can be as diverse as fear of airplanes to fear of public speaking; it encompasses fear of elevators, driving, and enclosed places.

Other Types: This category includes all others not covered by the other four types of specific phobias. Examples include fear of sickness, loud noises, and even clowns (coulrophobia).


Specific Phobias:

Achluophobia: Fear of darkness

Acrophobia: Fear of heights

Algophobia: Fear of pain

Aerophobia: Fear of flying

Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders

Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces

Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns

Glossophobia: Fear of speaking in public

Hydrophobia: Fear of water

Insectophobia: Fear of insects

Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes

Tonitrophobia: Fear of thunder

Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft

Trypophobia: Fear of holes

Gerascophobia: Fear of aging


These are but a few examples of what most people fear. That brings the subject of writing a story about it more approachable and easier to focus on. For whatever reason, there really is a fear of writing horror because horror has a different aspect. Your only and only job is to instill fear in the reader and yet you are afraid you're incapable of it.

What we forget most often is the fact that we're all similar. Most of us fear the same things. Our daily lives have similarities. So do the things we do on a regular basis. Then why do we worry whether or not what we write would be evil enough? If you look outside your own bubble and your personal world, we're rather surrounded by it.

'Til next time!
~ Gaby