A rainy night, a haunted highway, a mysterious monster...
Are you brave enough to enter the curious maze? (Not everyone comes out)...
An evil twin, a haunted mirror, and strangers who whisper BEWARE THE OTHER...
Screaming mermaids, zombie pirates ... and do you hear the distant drums?
By September 2018, there will be FIVE books in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong Series!
In creating this award-winning middle-grade horror series over the past few years, I've learned a thing or two about writing horror for younger kids, ages 8-12. It's fun, but there are also some considerations that I learned along the way. So here, for your amusement (and elucidation!) are some thoughts on writing horror for kids. These aren't "rules", just the template we built for this series as we went...
1. No weapons (or sharp objects) on the cover. Apparently, you can scare them silly inside (there is an illustration of a cannon and a War of 1812 soldier holding a bayonet in Carter and the Curious Maze), but no weapons or sharp objects on the front cover! Parents and grandparents buy the books, generally, and weapons might turn them off.2. No bloodied children. Sure, you can have a soldier running through the maze dripping blood (yep, Carter and the Curious Maze again), but not kids. You can, however, have slightly singed kids smolder from the massive Grand Magazine Explosion, for some reason. But we decided that bloodied children are just too gory for this age group.
3. Adults can be creepy, but not parents. These readers are young, 8, 9, 10. They may be reading scary stuff for the first time. Giant, dismembered hands, monsters whispering outside the car, time-travel mazes, evil twins are all pretty scary, so I just couldn't make the parents in their world scary, too. I think that might be a story for a slightly older reader. There are ghost adults though (Myles and the Monster Outside), a green-goo wielding doctor (Alex and The Other), and even freak show adults. But the parents and grandparents in my series are rock solid.
4. To swear or not to swear.
You know, I have NO problem swearing in real life (probably, I swear a little too much when it's needed), and I allowed my now-grown kids the occasional swear when the situation demanded it. But I just can't bring myself to swear in a middle-grade book. I get about as harsh as "stupid" or "shut up." Parents, librarians and teachers have told me they appreciate the restraint.
5. WHEN IN DOUBT, WEIRD OUT.
The name of the series is Weird Stories Gone Wrong. Weird has gotten me through a lot of sticky plot holes in this series. Weird is totally okay in a horror story, in fact, I think weird makes a horror story better. If there are no weapons on the cover, no children dripping blood or cursing like sailors (or zombie pirates), and despite whatever else is going on, they can rely on their parents or caregivers ... I think you can make all the other aspects of the story as weird and scary as you like.
Whispering strangers, creepy aliens, a town gone crazy with green, shimmering eyes, screaming mermaids, a ghost walking a lonely highway looking for his lost dog, a giant, dismembered hand ... the sky's the limit. Just no bloodied children, or sharp implements on the cover! (The Mermaid Queen is rocking that bone sword in Blackwells and the Briny Deep, chapter twelve, though.)
For more Blog Posts on Weird Stories Gone Wrong
PRE-ORDER Book 4, Alex and The Other, Coming MARCH 31/2018
PRE-ORDER Book 5, Blackwells and the Briny Deep, Coming SEPT 23/2018
2 comments:
This is fantastic. Thanks so much for these tips!
You are so welcome! I hope they help you and inspire. Philippa
Post a Comment