The One Element You Need for a Killer Horror Script

There’s only one thing you really need to write a great horror screenplay.

And, no. It’s not blood-and-guts. And it’s definitely not jump scares.

So what is it?

Before we get to that, there’s something very important you need to ask yourself…

Why are you writing a horror movie?

If you plan to write a horror screenplay because you think writing in the horror genre will help you break in more easily, I have news for you:

You’ve already failed.

Because of the low-cost / high-return the horror genre has historically afforded, yes, it DOES offer more opportunities for new talent to break in, but that should NOT be the reason you choose to write a horror movie.

Your thinking behind “why horror” shouldn’t be any different than why you’d choose to write in any other genre:

You have a story you’re passionate about telling.

And that truly is the key to writing great horror.

So how do you find a horror story you’re passionate about?

Because the genre is exciting, and because the only limit to what you can write is your own imagination, people tend to get lost in the conceptual elements of the genre.

Yes, it can be surreal and fantastic. It can have blood and gore. Or it can have spooky things that go bump in the night. But, for as versatile as horror is conceptually, the heart of the genre can be distilled to one basic element: It’s good drama first.

Many people tend to forget that, because the genre has such a ravenous fanbase with a near insatiable appetite, that they’ll watch anything that’s put in front of them — and to some extent, that’s true, BUT… That doesn’t mean they’ll like it. That doesn’t mean they’ll celebrate it. That doesn’t mean they’ll spread the word about it.

With many fans near-encyclopedic knowledge of the genre, they’re not watching horror just to watch horror: They’re searching for something different. Something fresh.

And the best way to give them that is by looking at the world around you for inspiration.

Right now, you can almost take your pick from a cornucopia of real-life horrors — the rise of authoritarianism, attacks on Women’s Rights, climate change, war, genocide, famine, pandemics — just to name a few. Ask yourself, how do they make you feel? What do you have to say about them? Do they cause anxiety? Existential dread?

If the answer is ‘yes’, congratulations, you’ve taken your first step toward cracking a stellar horror screenplay.

You have a theme.

By pulling from modern, real-world horrors, if you’re afraid of it, you can bet just about anyone reading (and, with a little luck, watching) will be afraid of it too.

And by marrying these universal thematic ideas to the conceptual tropes of the horror genre, you’ll be writing a commercial movie with something to say.

The best part is, this won’t just help you break through with horror audiences, it’ll help you sway the most elusive gatekeeper standing between them:

Development executives.

Most producers and executives don’t get into the movie business to make horror movies. Historically, they’ve seen it as a “gutter genre”. If they’re forced to do horror for commercial reasons, they’ll tell you they want to make ‘elevated horror’. True horror creators and fans will tell you that’s just buzz words to make the executives feel better about playing in the genre of the macabre.

That’s why it’s up to you to get them excited, and giving them a horror screenplay that cuts deep thematically is the best way to do it.

For me? The breakout horror screenplay was called SOUL MATES.

It married fears around online dating with the contained, conceptual tropes of the SAW franchise. Because it offered such a twisted view on dating, executives who “swiped right” on Tinder also “swiped right” on the script. I got general meetings. I made The BloodList. It was my first screenplay optioned. And, now, it’s a movie you can watch on Video on Demand in the U.S.

Horror trends will come and go. Execs will tell you they want vampires one week, only to pivot to zombies or werewolves the next. But, truly, there’s only one thing they really want — and it’s the one thing you need to write a great horror screenplay: a story you’re passionate about telling.