I'm looking to write a horror story but I cant think of an original 'monster' etc. Do you have any suggestions

Answer 1

The suggestion of innocent children as the monster has been done for years by John Saul; 6|00||00|6, gave a perfect description of the 'monster' in a quite popular horror book in the eighties and the Ring series was only put on hold for WWII and started prior to the hostilities, while anything like worms, (Squirm), was done in the movies in the seventies. And King already has the hook on normal things like lawnmowers, folks, while Piers Anthony grabbed the color green. Moms reached the ultimate with The Bates Motel and The Blob or The Thing incorporated more of the suggestions. As one of the posters said, it's all been done. Susana has a good idea with the plot twists and Lovecraft was genius.

Not to be rude, but why do you need a monster in a horror story? A good writer can put horror into the reader with only the suggestion. What scares you or someone you know? Start putting it in words, have fun and good luck. My best selling short story, (still haven't tried to sell a book), was taken from a recurring nightmare when I was a child and the horror was not knowing what was wrong until the last paragraph, the entire story building up suspenseful tension to reach that point..

Answer 2

Literally anything can be an original "monster," if you can write it well enough. I am reminded of H.P. Lovecraft's horror story, The Color Out of Space. Lovecraft was a master at writing horror stories which is why he could make a color (yes, color!) into an effective "monster." True, it was a living color and its effects on... everything were rather odd, but a color nonetheless.

I am also reminded of his story "The Unnamable," the reader only gets a few glimpses of the monster itself (if I recall correctly, all we see is a single red eye).

The point being, half (or more) of what makes a great monster is that we do not know what it is! It is the unknown that people fear the most. Get half an idea for a monster and leave the other half unknown.

You might want to read H.P. Lovecraft's essay on Supernatural Horror In Literature (see sources).

Answer 3

Why not try a reptoid, human shape but scaly with 3 claws 6 inches long on hand(with disposable thumb), tail, head of a lizard or snake, about 6/7ft tall. Eats raw meat, and feeds off negative energy like fear and anger.
Origins, maybe from some old satanic ritual that was done, and this creature escaped from hell or spirit realm - or survived the extinction of dinosaurs, or come from inside the earth.
maybe able to shape-shift into human form.

Answer 4

I once wrote a story about small, viscous creatures about the size of a softball. They're basically just formless lumps of black flesh with large, grimacing mouths full of razor sharp teeth and supported by two stumpy bowed legs. They wander blindly about in search of fresh corpses, especially human ones. If they can't find a corpse, they'll form hunting packs and create one.

The critters gnaw their way into the stomach of the corpse where they turn upwards and travel to the chest cavity. There they devour the heart before extending hundreds of thread-like appendages from their mouths that insert themselves into the blood vessels extending throughout the host body. By flexing and pulling at these appendages the creature can actually control the host body like a puppet on strings.

Because the decomposing flesh of its host will not hold long, the creature must take advantage of its opportunity. Living within the body, the creature remains hidden and safe while searching for its next corpse. Once found, it will leave eggs inside its old body to hatch before moving on to the next one.

Answer 5

I think the most frightening are what start out as the most mundane. Take something from your environment, an everyday thing and have it morph into the monster. It makes the reader start to look at everything around them with new eyes.

Answer 6

If you think of the monster as 'the word' 'the lie' the hidden one
then you can write and write about whatever your monster will get up to. Once done you can give it form, Here I am!!

Answer 7

Look into history and folklore/mythology. Maybe combining a human from history and something from folklore/mythology could create a terrible 'monster'.
J R R Tolkien created the world of "Lord of the Rings" from Hitler and the war that he created.
Research and knowledge will give the intellegence to create a believable scary, creepy monster I'm sure.

Answer 8

Good Day,
Unfortunately we live in a time and society where everything that can possibly be done to the human race, has been. My recommendation is not to focus on the monster, focus on the plot twist. It isnt the monster that gets you, its the story line, the twists and turns, the unusual developments. Story line, Plot! Have fun!

Answer 9

How about making a list of all the world leaders and eliminate all the good ones till you have your real monster. You could embellish the monster with a sence of destiny and devine right.

Answer 10

Ever since the twilight saga come out, the number of vampire romances with horror has skyrocketed. try to be more Original. stories get sparked by inspiration, and from that the plot will unfold itself. Try to find you inspiration and build from that, not a preexisting novel