Have a horror story idea but need a killer + reason for killing?

Question

Idea(opening - to be filmed):
2 friends walking home from a party (night-time), 1 girl goes off down road while other turns on her mp3 player & goes into her own house. Girl gets in hallway, turns to the lounge where she sees her mother watching tv (mother see's daughter -important), girl goes upstairs (killer is upstairs, hiding, waiting for her), she goes into her room starts sorting stuff out, killer creeps up on her (with knife), girl turns round (by this time killer is behind her - shes facing downward), turns off mp3 player, sees killer, killer puts hand over her mouth & stabs her through chest (not showing - shadow on wall of this), hear phone ring & cut to lounge, mother answers & its the friend from earlier, mum puts phone on hold and goes upstairs with phone to daughters room, last shot of mother opening daughters bedroom door.
Killer obviously human, i was gonna have it that it was the father but my reasoning for him killing her was dumb.Anyone any ideas for who & why?

Answer 1

don't give the killer a name that humanises him/her as for the motive why not have no clear motive other than the killer is a phyco

Answer 2

there are so many possibilities right now. what i have always done when writing horror is to wrote the whole story up to the reveal of the killer and by that time you will have a pretty good idea of who you want it to be. There may be points you might have to change but usually its not too hard. Just keep goin kill some other people off and the killer will find you.

Answer 3

I have to say, I was tempted to slate the idea for the plot, but I decided to try break it down instead in order to help create something...

How is this Horror?
...What is it about the killing, girl or environment that is frightening.
It would have to be a destinct set of circumstances or series of events that make us identify with it, in order to percieve that what is happening to be truly horrible.

So if you decide to go down the ...

1)"It could happen to anybody, anywhere " route, then the killer cannot be unique, but a normal everyday person driven to commit this by a sequence of plausible but unlikely/horrific events. There has to be a buildup for us to believe someone could resort to this.
eg:
Girl has miscarriage/abortion, becomes depressed, boyfriend leaves her, he starts life over, his life gets better, hers gets worse and worse...she blames him, decides to take his life as his own...starts by changing appearance, moving in as a boarder in his girlfriends building/home, starts work near him...something like that...
Like a combination of hand that rocks the cradle & single white female & taxi driver

2)"this could never happen" route, then the killer(s) can be anything, except something that could happen in everyday life. This would need you to back it up with a sub-plot regarding the killer(s) with a very specific set of bizarre circumstances, and a very specific method of /reason for killing...
eg: Mother opens the door to find her daughter standing there as if nothings happened, however the audience knows that the daughter is actually dead...
Aliens mimic the appearance of the daughter...
long lost identical twin....
killer version of the daughter has somehow jumped dimensions..
basically anything is possible...

So once you decide which route you go down, you have to build the story around the REASON, not the event itself. Also, is there only 1 killing, or the start/ end of a series of killings...if so are the killings related or random, etc etc. All must tie in with the reason for the killings...

So.... I know its long winded, but its a difficult genre to get right.
Basically think of all the horrors you enjoy, and break them down to why they worked, and use the same principles in your plot.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Hmm, the key would be to flesh out the character of the murder victim in your own head - who is she? Who are the people in her life? Who hate her enough to kill her?
Or perhaps this is a deliberately ploy, maybe this is some twisted revenge on the mother and that she was meant to find the body?
In which case who is the mother and who would hate her enough to kill her daughter?
Does anyone stand to make a financial/ persaonal gain out of the death?

A few cliched ideas - just a plain old psycho, disgruntled ex-boyfriend, obsessed stalker.

And finally, if this is a horror story it's worth asking - who are you afraid of?

Answer 5

Well, the father was a good idea.. sudden insanity is always a good motive-filler.. how about..
Make the killer a woman.. a girl they had always mocked at school.. for having a deformity, etc..

Answer 6

twin sister that was neglected by the family and brought up by evil people and she has to get away and start a new life

her friend, shes on a mobile in the bedroom and wants to see the mothers face and then kills the mom cos shes jealous of the girl

moms secret lover getting back at her by killing daughter

local loony getting his rocks off


i so hope this is for a film dont want the cops at my door;-)

Answer 7

Her best friend because she was jealous of the perfect body that this girl had.The killer had bulimia because she wanted to have the perfect body

Answer 8

Maybe the mother? If after the stabbing you then go to a scene of the mother answering the phone, then, theoretically, she could have done the murder, then come downstairs and answered the call from the friend. If she is all calm and looks relaxed...no one would suspect it being the mom.

Answer 9

Time Travelling **** Bandits.The power of poop has been harnessed and they need people that pooh their pants to fuel their Time Travelling Quarklatron back to the year 4026.

Or

A Kung Fu priest that does late night confessions.He sees Heavy Metal posters on the wall and decides to send the young lady to the afterlife.

Answer 10

The neighbor because she found out that he was cheating on his wife and so the girl was going to tell that guy's wife about his affair.