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 Horror/Scary: January 02, 2019 Issue [#9307] |
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). 
Begin with the horror you (in character) encounter. No matter what form, human, animal, alien, natural, unnatural, make it seem invincible. Design a convincing way to defeat it, a believable flaw in the 'creature.'
Open with action. Encounter the 'beast' or the results of its action. The vacant house with bats and tattered clothing and a finger, bloodied, pointing towards the locked(?) basement door, for example. Make your reader want to discover where the bloodied finger belongs (and maybe put his/her hands safely in pockets while doing so).
Isolate your main character (protagonist), either physically or as the only one with the knowledge of the evil's existence. A kid nobody believes really saw a detached bloodied finger (by the way, is it a human finger, that's for you and the kid to know) may not be physically alone, but alone in his knowledge and in figuring out how to prove, then best, the evil thing.
Torture your readers with tension. Hmmm, torture 
- raise and lower the stress level, offer anticipation with dialogue, action, and then moments of relief when your protagonist thinks he/she has found a solution, or perhaps wins a battle with the evil - but not yet the war. The stress rises after each breath of relief until the climax, at which point your reader has now clenched fists in pockets or perhaps is counting his/her own fingers (if it's a missing finger that started it all, that is).
Take your character into that cave, open the basement door, tiptoe down the rotty steps, until you find (and here is where you get creative - what do you find? - not the cliche slamming door, but ...) The tension in the investigation can really bring your readers to maybe sit on their hands to protect their own fingers.
Face off with the evil beast, mortal, animal, alien, nature, super-nature. The climax that your reader is now near panting over pages to read. The battle, the confrontation, visual, active, and conclusive.
Your protagonist wins, finds the break he/she needed to best the beast (in whatever form it ultimately manifests), and is a stronger, better person for it. Everybody is now safe. However, the 'good' ending can be a ruse.
What if, there's something that intimates the bad thing may return, or still lurks in the shadows - do we have a fingernail still poking into a doorjamb, perhaps, as the protagonist passes through, closing the door on this journey? 
.