Cargill's horror writing tips

While I'm not on twitter, screenwriter and novelist C. Robert Cargill is and he's offered up a number of horror writing tips that I think apply generally, with some modifications. He also has a podcast with David Chen, Write Along, which I like.

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How to write a horror movie by C. Robert Cargill:

1. The characters are the most important part. If we care about them, we’ll get scared for them. Write interesting or likable characters; preferably both.
   
2. Write what scares you. I clowns freak you out, write clowns. If decapitation keeps you up at night, write that. What scares you scares others. Use that.
   
3. Make sure something scary happens every ten pages or so. Any longer and the audience forgets they’re in a horror film.
   
4. Be funny if and when you can. Not so much that it is a comedy, but used as a tension release, the audience will reset and be ready to be scared again. Character humor often works best here.
   
5. If the characters aren’t changed by their exposure to scary shit, that should be the whole point of the character.
   
6. If it's science fiction, the audience will expect everything to make logical sense. If the horror is magical in origin, they will give you much more leeway.
   
7. Imagine all the possible ways your characters could escape any deadly situation, because the audience most assuredly will. The characters should make the most logical choice.
   
8. Horror tends to be brief. Unless you have a lot of deep character work, aim for -100 pages.