How to Teach Kids to Write a Scary Story: 5 Elements and 20 Prompts

Why do scary stories work so well for teaching narrative writing?

Scary stories give kids a plot shape they already know and a reason to care about every sentence. A reader has to wonder what happens next, so students feel the payoff of strong openings, clear order, and good details right away.

They also line up with the narrative writing standards for grades 3 to 6 (W.3.3 through W.6.3). Students orient the reader, keep events in order, and end with a conclusion. In grade 4, they "use concrete words and phrases and sensory details" (W.4.3d). In grade 5, they add pacing to dialogue and description (W.5.3b). A scary story can't work without any of these.

And kids want to write them. As author Robin Jarvis puts it for BookTrust, "Children love to be scared; they just do."

What are the five elements of a scary story for kids?

A scary story for kids needs five things: an ordinary place, a kid with a problem, a monster with rules, a slow build, and a safe ending with a sting.

1. An ordinary place. A school hallway, an attic, a lunch line. Scares hit harder somewhere the reader has been.
2. A kid with a problem. A new school, a lost friend, a little brother who won't leave you alone. The problem gives the monster something to use.
3. A monster with rules. What does it want? How does it get closer? How can a kid beat it? Rules make the monster feel real, and they make the ending fair.
4. A slow build. Something strange happens. Then it happens again, closer. Each scene ends on a hook that makes the reader turn the page.
5. A safe ending with a sting. The kid wins and everyone is okay. Then one small detail suggests it might not be over.

How do students plan the monster?

Students plan the monster first by answering four questions about it, before they write a single scene. That's how T.L. Griffith plans every new Scaremoor book: the monster's rules come first, then the story.

In The Snow Globe, a tiny man inside the glass takes one step closer every time the globe is shaken. One simple rule like that can carry a whole story.

How do you build suspense in a kids' scary story?

Suspense comes from making the reader wait for something they can feel coming. Five moves do most of the work, and young writers can use all of them.

• Shorter sentences as it gets scary. Long sentences slow things down. Short ones speed the heart up. Like this.
• Sound before sight. A scratch behind the wall is scarier than a monster standing in the room. Let students hear it first.
• Show a little at a time. A gray fingertip on the door frame. Then a shadow on the stairs. The whole monster comes last.
• The rule of three. It happens once, then again closer, then a third time right next to the hero.
• End every scene on a hook. One short line that makes the reader need the next page: "Then the knocking came from inside the closet."

Try this as a warm-up: give students a flat sentence like "There was a monster in the closet" and have them rewrite it as a hook using sound, a small detail, and a short sentence.

How scary is too scary for a classroom?

Classroom scares should feel like a roller coaster: big thrills, but everyone gets off safely. Three rules keep it there.

• Scares, not gore. Cold hands, whispers, things that move when no one is looking. No blood, no real-world violence.
• The kid hero wins. No children die, and the people the hero loves are okay at the end.
• Made-up monsters only. Ghosts, shadows, and cursed objects are fine. Real people and real tragedies are not.

Let students choose their own level. Some kids want a story that will keep their friends up at night; others would rather write something funny-creepy. Both count.

What does a 3-day scary story writing lesson look like?

Three class periods are enough to take students from reading a scary story to sharing their own.

1. Day 1: Read and map. Read a short scary story aloud (15 to 25 minutes) and have students find the five elements in it. Who is the kid? What are the monster's rules? Where is the sting?
2. Day 2: Plan. Students fill in the four monster questions, then sketch their four parts: a normal day, the first strange thing, it gets closer, the showdown.
3. Day 3: Draft and share. Students write, ending each part on a hook. Finish with a read-around with the lights dimmed, if your class is up for it.

20 scary story writing prompts for kids

These prompts are safe for school and work for grades 3 to 6. Each one hands students a setting and a strange first event; they supply the monster's rules.

At school

1. The new kid's locker is always cold, even in June.
2. Every morning, one more desk in your classroom is turned to face the wall.
3. The library has a book that is always checked out to you, but you've never borrowed it.
4. The class pet started whispering the answers to the spelling test.
5. Your school picture came back, and someone is standing behind you who wasn't there.

At home

1. A box in the attic is marked DON'T, in your own handwriting.
2. Your reflection blinks a second after you do.
3. Every night at 9:00, something taps on your window three times.
4. The new night-light makes the shadows in your room taller instead of shorter.
5. Your little brother keeps talking to "the man in the closet."

Outside

1. The playground swing moves on its own, but only when you're watching.
2. An ice cream truck comes down your street, and only kids can hear its song.
3. A new path appears in the woods behind your house, and it wasn't there yesterday.
4. Your dog won't walk past one house on your street.
5. Snow falls in only one yard in the whole neighborhood.

Strange objects

1. You find a pencil that draws things that come true.
2. A snow globe at a yard sale has a tiny house inside, and its lights are on.
3. An old video game saves your progress, even though you never played it.
4. A doll in the thrift store window is in a different spot every day.
5. A camera prints photos of things that haven't happened yet.

Free resources for teaching scary stories

Scaremoor's free teacher packs are built around short scary stories you can read aloud in one sitting. Each pack has the story, worksheets for grades 3 to 5 (including a "Write a New Ending" sheet), an escape room, story bingo, puzzles, and answer keys. For a class visit, T.L. Griffith's Build-a-Monster writing workshop walks students through this same method. For reading lessons and a month-long plan, see Teaching With Scary Stories in Grades 3 to 6.