Some classic scary words are 'ghost', 'vampire', 'werewolf'. These are well - known elements in horror stories and can immediately set a spooky tone.
One classic is 'The Tell - Tale Heart'. It's about a man who is driven mad by an old man's vulture - like eye. He kills the old man and hides his body under the floorboards, but then he starts to hear the heartbeat of the dead man, which could be his guilty conscience. Another is 'The Monkey's Paw'. A family gets a magical paw that can grant wishes, but every wish comes with a horrible, unforeseen consequence.
Words like 'haunted', 'gloomy', 'eerie' are great for a scary story. 'Haunted' gives the idea of a place or object being inhabited by spirits. 'Gloomy' sets a dark and depressing mood, making the reader feel uneasy. 'Eerie' often implies something strange and a bit frightening that can't be easily explained.
Haunted, cursed, and malevolent are great scary words for a story. 'Haunted' immediately brings to mind a spooky place filled with ghosts. 'Cursed' implies that there is some kind of evil spell or bad luck attached to something or someone. 'Malevolent' describes a being with ill will, which can be very frightening in a story.
Well, a classic scary story usually has a creepy atmosphere. This can be created by things like howling wind or creaking floorboards. There's often a victim or a group of victims who are in danger. Take 'Dracula' for instance. The victims are in constant threat from the vampire. And then there's the element of the unexpected. A sudden appearance of something terrifying can really make a story scary.
One classic element is a spooky setting, like an old, abandoned house. The creaking floors and peeling wallpaper can create an instant sense of unease.
Another is 'The Tell - Tale Heart'. In this short story, the narrator is driven mad by the old man's 'evil eye'. He kills the old man and hides his body under the floorboards. But he is haunted by the sound of the old man's still - beating heart, which drives him to confess. It's a great exploration of guilt and madness.
A classic scary novel is 'Carrie' by Stephen King. It's about a girl with telekinetic powers who gets bullied at school and then takes revenge in a terrifying way. 'Rosemary's Baby' by Ira Levin is another. It has a slow - building sense of horror as Rosemary becomes pregnant and suspects something sinister about her baby. 'The Exorcist' by William Peter Blatty is also a must - mention. The possession of a young girl and the attempts to exorcise the demon are truly spine - chilling.
A classic element in scary stories is the idea of the unknown. Leave some things unexplained. Don't give too much detail about the monster or the source of the evil. This makes the audience's imagination run wild. Also, a sense of being trapped is common. The characters are stuck in a place where they can't easily escape, like a locked room in a haunted house or a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean.
Some good words for a scary story could be 'haunted', 'eerie', 'creepy'. For example, a haunted house can be a classic setting in a scary story. The word 'eerie' gives a sense of something strange and unsettling, like an eerie silence in a forest at night. And 'creepy' describes things that make you feel uncomfortable, like a creepy old doll with its blank stare.