Haunted house story structure?

King God Kong Zilla · Apr 2, 2014

Howdy!

I was wondering if all you wonderful folks could give a fresh-faced horror writer a hand.

I'm working on a book that uses the haunted house structure. It's not about ghosts or a haunted house but I want it to have the same structure as books like Hell House, The Shining, Haunting of Hill House, Amityville Horror.

I'm trying to identify the different stages of those stories so that I can more easily match my outline to recreate the effect. Please, please, please tell me if you think I'm on the right track or if I'm missing something important.

Here's what I have:

1) The arrival - The character's arrive at the HH. Unsettling atmosphere.
2) The history - The character's learn of the HH's twisted history.
3) The first scares - First HH haunting, subtle and unexplainable.
4) Increasing scares - HH ramps up the haunting, fear intensifies.
5) Final scare - HH threatens to take the character's lives or stakes.

I'm going to take a look through Hell House and the Shining this evening but I really value the input of the great people on this forum so I thought I would ask you. It's also nice to go outside the vacuum of my mind for thoughts sometimes.

Thank you!

williemeikle · Apr 2, 2014

King God Kong Zilla said:
Howdy!

I was wondering if all you wonderful folks could give a fresh-faced horror writer a hand.

I'm working on a book that uses the haunted house structure. It's not about ghosts or a haunted house but I want it to have the same structure as books like Hell House, The Shining, Haunting of Hill House, Amityville Horror.

I'm trying to identify the different stages of those stories so that I can more easily match my outline to recreate the effect. Please, please, please tell me if you think I'm on the right track or if I'm missing something important.

Here's what I have:

1) The arrival - The character's arrive at the HH. Unsettling atmosphere.
2) The history - The character's learn of the HH's twisted history.
3) The first scares - First HH haunting, subtle and unexplainable.
4) Increasing scares - HH ramps up the haunting, fear intensifies.
5) Final scare - HH threatens to take the character's lives or stakes.

I'm going to take a look through Hell House and the Shining this evening but I really value the input of the great people on this forum so I thought I would ask you. It's also nice to go outside the vacuum of my mind for thoughts sometimes.

Thank you!

Dealing with it that way gives you a rather bland story IMHO - you need something to make it stand out from everything else.

A lot of movies play out in the same way you've outlined above - and Cabin in the Woods managed to lampoon them pretty successfully, so you have to be careful not to slip into territory than readers can recognize too easily.

For instance, King had the Shining play out in a classic three act structure, and had the stakes high from the start - Torrance needed the job, otherwise everything was going to fall apart, and that's right there at the beginning, shaping everything that comes after.

I'm also a great believer that the first scare has to come early - the history can wait and be meshed in later, between successive scares if need be - and that way you also avoid the dreaded info dump.

Just my two cents...

King God Kong Zilla · Apr 2, 2014

williemeikle said:
Dealing with it that way gives you a rather bland story IMHO - you need something to make it stand out from everything else.

A lot of movies play out in the same way you've outlined above - and Cabin in the Woods managed to lampoon them pretty successfully, so you have to be careful not to slip into territory than readers can recognize too easily.

For instance, King had the Shining play out in a classic three act structure, and had the stakes high from the start - Torrance needed the job, otherwise everything was going to fall apart, and that's right there at the beginning, shaping everything that comes after.

I'm also a great believer that the first scare has to come early - the history can wait and be meshed in later, between successive scares if need be - and that way you also avoid the dreaded info dump.

Just my two cents...

This is great advice. I'm only outlining the very base structure here. The story actually has nothing supernatural in it and I'm confident it's in no way cliche or overdone. However, I like the structure with a location that is menacing. It works well for my story, although the location won't be menacing at first glance.

The stakes are indeed high from the start.

That said, I do need to start the horror early. Still working on that but I have some ideas. Also the idea of meshing the history in throughout the story is a good idea. Probably better that way.

Thank you kind friend!

veinglory · Apr 2, 2014

The classic structure can work well if the underlying concept of what caused the 'haunting' is mind-blowing. But these days most authors seem to be trying to mix it up a bit.

King God Kong Zilla · Apr 2, 2014

Totally need to be mind-blowing veinglory. I believe that the source of terror in a story needs to be fresh to be scary at all. Zombies, ghosts, phantoms, vampires, whatever just don't scare me anymore.

I think that psychologically, the scariest thing on Earth is the unknown. I think that's why death scares us, it's the ultimate unknown.

Thanks to both of you I've had a very productive day working on the first scare. I've written something quite terrifying IMO and it's going to be the very first scene.

Thank you for reminding me that I needed an early scare. I'd forgotten in the midst of focusing on all the other good stuff.

Thanks!

veinglory · Apr 2, 2014

For me it is also important to have a realistic reason for the characters to continue to engage with the hazardous situation, or be trapped within it.

Jacob_Wallace · Apr 4, 2014

King God Kong Zilla said:
Howdy!

5) Final scare - HH threatens to take the character's lives or stakes

No! Not their stakes! How will will they keep their tents up?!

The Scip · Apr 4, 2014

Hell House is in my top favorites of all time list. I must have read that at least 8 or 9 times, yes it follows a structure but it is the tension that Matheson builds with the characters that makes it such a good book. In all of those books mentioned the house really becomes an other character in the book. I think that is what you're missing when you try to turn them into a base outline like you did. The characters are the people but the authors also wrote the houses (or hotels) as though they were characters as well, and they face challenges and grow and change throughout the book just like the people do.

Just my 2 cents.

King God Kong Zilla · Apr 5, 2014

Jacob Wallace,

I thought that was funny haha.

Scrip,

I definitely see where you're coming from with your post. I absolutely agree that there's far more to those stories than structure. I hadn't thought of the house as a character but you're right and that's a great tip. I'm now considering how to add character to my location.

Thanks for the two cents they're invaluable to me.

ShaunHorton · Apr 9, 2014

I heard of one book that someone wrote. The MC's just moved in thinking it was a regular, fixer-upper. Then the husband falls through a hole in the yard, and discovers the house had a huge basement that was used as an insane asylum, which had been built upon a site used for devil worship, which was previously the site of a horrendous and bloody massacre of Native Americans on top of one of their own burial mounds. I don't know what the final deal was, I think there was a demon in there somewhere too, but I just couldn't get through it. He officially wins the gold star from me for trying too hard.

Hell House was great, and I loved The Shining, despite the knowledge of the movie slowing things down and breaking the mood for me a few times.

Wormwood · Apr 16, 2014

I agree with whoever said that you have to make the characters reasons for staying as compelling if not more so than the will to leave. How many haunted house stories do you read where you're thinking the whole time "Okay, just get the hell out."

I personally like the history part or where you describe whatever has left the "stain" on the house. You just can't be too heavy handed with it, actually some of the best stories have the historical aspect be the golden goose, the big reveal.

ShaunHorton · Apr 16, 2014

I actually had the idea once of a short story collection where all the stories are based on a single haunted house and the horrible things that have happened there over the decades.

Niccolo · Apr 16, 2014

ShaunHorton said:
I actually had the idea once of a short story collection where all the stories are based on a single haunted house and the horrible things that have happened there over the decades.

Sounds like an AW Anthology idea

Lillith1991 · Apr 17, 2014

Niccolo said:
Sounds like an AW Anthology idea

Seconding! And if it ever got off the ground as an AW writers anthology I would gladly submit something for consideration.

ShaunHorton · Apr 17, 2014

Well, I have no idea how to get something like that off the ground, I'm all for sharing my ideas with anyone interested in looking at it.

Cathy C · Apr 17, 2014

Some of the best horror stories I've read have started out with the claiming of an innocent victim. One that pops to mind is Relic by Preston/Childs. Two young boys are devoured by an unknown something and then it goes to hide. You don't know what or how, but you know to scream at the character: "No! Don't open that door!"

So, you could open with . . . not a prologue, exactly, but maybe in the opening chapter, a realtor (or some such) who was supposed to meet with the main character at the house and "never shows up"? The MC doesn't know why, but the reader knows what happened in screaming, horrible detail. Then the waiting game begins as he starts to inspect the house. Nothing happens until he moves in, etc., etc. But your reader is hooked.

Haunted house story structure?

King God Kong Zilla

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.

King God Kong Zilla

veinglory

volitare nequeo

King God Kong Zilla

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Jacob_Wallace

The Scip

...walks this way.

King God Kong Zilla

ShaunHorton

AW's resident Velociraptor

Wormwood

Hoping to grow up one day

ShaunHorton

AW's resident Velociraptor

Niccolo

Lillith1991

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

ShaunHorton

AW's resident Velociraptor

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!