How mysterious and scary is your monster? If your monster were to come to life and get lost in your town, would people’s hair stand on end when they saw it? Would they stop whatever they were doing and run from it? Would it cause them to fear for their lives?
How do you make your monster scary?
phobia, flickr
Find out what people fear. Every person is afraid of something. If you randomly walk up to people and ask them what they are afraid of, chances are they will wonder why you want to know, maybe even report you to the police. But you could ask friends and family members what their fears are. Everyone is a little afraid of something, but phobias take these fear to an entirely new level.
A phobia is an extreme dread or fear of something. When a person encounters the object of his or her fear, he could experience anxiety, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, an irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, dry mouth, etc. While this person’s phobia may seem outrageous or unreasonable to you, I assure you it is not unreasonable to the person experiencing it.
If you know anyone with a phobia, you may have witnessed the effect a phobia can have on people. Or maybe you have a few yourself. Below are links to just a few of the phobia articles I’ve written to give you an idea of the crazy ones out there.
Weather PhobiasPhobias Associated with Halloween
Pediophobia, the Fear of Dolls
Coulrophobia, the Fear of Clowns
I used entomophobia, the fear of insects in my book Softly and Tenderly. If you have this phobia, the cover should send chills up your spine.
Why would someone be scared of a monster?
1) You’re never sure what a monster is going to do.
Okay, maybe you know that a monster doesn’t have your best interests in mind. Maybe you know that its ultimate goal is to kill you or eat you, but you can’t read what a monster is going to do like you can read a human.
Splice Monster by Devildukitzu on DeviantArt
Unless you’ve been raised by a horde of these monsters or lived amongst them for a long time and experienced their ways, you won’t know what kind of signals they display when they’re hungry, angry, tired, etc. I mean, do they jump up and down in a screaming rage when they’re angry? Or instead, are they quiet, thinking about how they are going to kill you? Do they smile as they decide how when to have you for dinner?
You need to set rules for your monsters and their actions, and you need to stick to them throughout your story. Don’t let the reader know about all of these at the beginning. Only reveal them when necessary so that the reader is kept in suspense.
Allow the readers to know only enough so that their imaginations take over and keep them on the edge of their seats. The imagination is a powerful thing and can convince you that a make-believe monster is just around the corner, waiting to pounce.
2) A monster is terrifying to look at.
Even if your monster isn’t ugly or hard to look at, the knowledge of what your monster is capable of should make your readers dread its appearance. It could appear sweet and innocent until enraged or hungry. The shock would be more intense if it appeared sweet and innocent right up until it was ready to torture, kill, and eat you, and then its transformation into something hideous, savage, and brutal was instantaneous.
Looking at it will make your characters shiver, shake, become faint, run, and try to escape its clutches. Your characters’ rest—if they get any—will be uneasy for fear of being found by it as will the sleep of your readers.
3) You cannot control a monster. This violent, unpredictable being wants to kill you, eat you, or do something horrible to you.
Have you ever tried to control a cat? A cat will only put up with so much before glaring at you as if to say, “Are you out of your mind?” Nine cats share my home with me, so I have experience with this.
Zerg Devourer by mazedicer on DeviantArt
What would happen if you were to wake up one morning and find that sometime during the night a hideous monster had broken into your home? The flesh-dissolving poison that spews out of his mouth has already killed your precious dogs and any of your cats that have dared to come out of hiding. Furniture and small appliances have been knocked over and tossed around. That sleeping pill you took must have really knocked you out for you to have slept through that noise.
Do you think that he will spare you and the rest of your cats if you offer to fix him breakfast? Maybe help you put everything back where it goes if you have a cup of coffee with him? Why would you attempt to reason with it at all? Because . . .
4) A monster isn’t moral or ethical.
Unlike the monsters in Monsters, Inc., the monsters we’re focusing on want to do more than make children scream. They don’t have any issues with harming or killing humans whether they are children, adults, or somewhere in-between. Human flesh is human flesh, and to a monster, that is yummy. Or maybe it is human blood they crave.
Think about it: a monster doesn’t care if it hurts or offends you. A monster might love making you cringe and try to run away. It could even play with you like a cat plays with a mouse before killing it. Have you ever thought of yourself as a mouse in a cat-and-mouse game?
cat writing, pixabay
Writing Prompts:
This is a repeat of what was said in #3: What would happen if you were to wake up one morning and find that sometime during the night a hideous monster had somehow invaded your house? The flesh-dissolving poison that spews out of his mouth has already killed your precious dogs and any of your cats that has dared to come out of hiding. Furniture and small appliances have been knocked over and tossed around. That sleeping pill you took must have really knocked you out for you to have slept through that noise.
Do you think that he will spare you and the rest of your cats if you offer to fix him breakfast? Maybe help you put everything back where it goes if you have a cup of coffee with him? What happens? How would you fare in this cat-and-mouse game?
cat and mouse, pixabay
If you were a mouse, I’m sure you would consider the cat to be a monster. You could write a story where a mouse becomes a hero by slaying the local cat that has been terrorizing their town.
What about the phobias? Have you ever thought about giving the weather life? Made it a monster?
Recommended Articles:
Creating a Monster: Where Does Your Monster Come From?
Creating a Monster: Questions You Need to Answer
