Original Horror Novel Ideas and Where to Find Them

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Need some original horror novel ideas to get your wheels turning? A creative jumpstart to move your story forward An inspirational push?

You’ve come to the right place. This blog post lists seven sources you can use for unique and original horror novel ideas. So turn out the lights. Take my hand. And walk with me into the darkness…

“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”

Believe it or not, original horror novel ideas are all around you, nearly all the time. You just have to be open to receiving them. You have to look at a person, place or thing, tilt your head a bit, and say …. “What if.”

Stephen King got the idea for his classic horror novel The Shining while staying in a nearly vacant Colorado hotel. (In case you don’t know, The Shining is a story about a boy with supernatural gifts and his family, who serve as winter caretakers in a spooky, cavernous hotel.)

As King explained it: “But when we arrived, they were just getting ready to close for the season, and we found ourselves the only guests in the place—with all those long, empty corridors.”

So he’s in this big but quiet hotel, and he wonders: What if somebody died here?

And just like that, The Shining was born.

What if…? Those two little words can conjure all sorts of creative inspiration. Use them often.

Unique horror novel ideas can be found almost anywhere. Like shadows, they follow us throughout our daily lives. At night, they gnash their teeth in the darkness. They’re right there, just waiting to inspire you. Waiting to possess you. All you have to do is open the door and invite them in.

Coming Up with Original Horror Novel Ideas

You can find original horror novel ideas in the strangest of places. I keep a small notebook in my house, for this very purpose. And when I don’t have my notebook, I’ll type the idea into my phone or jot it down on some scrap paper. The point is, you have to catch them when they arise. Like dreams upon waking, story ideas can fade fast.

Horror novel ideas can hide within the most ordinary of places and things…

A historic hotel
A noisy amusement park
A small-town high school
A clown
A dog
A cave
A cornfield

Throughout our lives, we encounter people, places and things that look like one thing but could also be something else. They could have a darker side, one that’s not immediately apparent.

Sure, you’re having fun at the carnival. There’s music and entertainment, children laughing, savory aromas wafting through the air. But what happens in the shadows and alleyways? What lurks inside the funhouse? And why does this particular traveling carnival leave a trail of “Missing Person” leaflets in its wake?

Let your imagination guide you.

Ask the “what if” questions.

The most original horror novel ideas will come from within you. As a writer, you have to unearth them, the way an archaeologist digs up dinosaur bones on the dusty plains. Probe your own memories and experiences. Examine your own fears. Keep an eye out for the strange, the mysterious, the weird.

7 Great Sources for Horrific Inspiration

With that little mantra in mind, let’s explore some of the places where you can find unique and original horror novel ideas. Here are seven sources that could deliver your next story idea.

1. Your own fears and apprehensions

What are you afraid of?

I mean really afraid of?

I have a thing about the ocean at night. I would never swim in the ocean at night. I know it’s an irrational fear. There’s not much difference between the ocean during the day and at night. It doesn’t transform into some evil entity after sunset. Still, it spooks me … being in all of that dark water, with so many unseen and hungry things swimming past your toes.

What scares you? Think about that thing for a moment. Hold it in your mind. Think about why it scares you — the features or aspects that make it frightening. Now magnify them. Exaggerate them. Let them grow and expand. Somewhere within your darkest fears, an original horror novel idea awaits.

2. Your own dreams and nightmares

This is an offshoot of horror novel idea #1, but with a twist. We don’t have any control over our nightmares. They come to us without warning or permission. They pick up bits and pieces of our past — people, places and things — and mash them together in some horrifying way.

They’re also a rich source of original horror novel ideas.

Many famous authors have gotten story ideas from their own nightmares. But it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Even pleasant dreams can deliver unique and compelling story ideas.

Take the original Twilight novel, for example. The seed for that book came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream. As she explains on her website:

“I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire.”

The people in her dream were discussing the challenges of their human-vampire relationship, and the fact that he was attracted to the scent of her blood. And thus, a book series and film franchise were born.

The thing about dreams is, they tend to fade fast. You might wake up thinking: “Wow, that was a memorable dream. I’ll never forget that one.” But by mid-morning it’s gone, vanished, like fog burning off a lake.

If you want to tap into your dreams and nightmares for original horror novel ideas, you have to capture them when they’re fresh. Keep a notebook or journal in a bedside drawer. Jot them down upon waking. Collect them.

3. Ancient mythology

Greek mythology is full of scary monsters. The minotaur. The hydra. Medusa! The same goes for other ancient mythologies.

The ancient Egyptians, for instance, had their fair share of scary stories. Ammit, a demoness and goddess in the ancient Egyptian belief system, was known as the “devourer of the dead.” She would test people who entered the underworld and eat the hearts of those she deemed unworthy.

A heart-eating demoness? Now there’s an original horror novel idea.

The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians (among others) were telling scary stories long before printed books were a thing. They told tales of demons, monsters, ghosts — even shapeshifters.

Pick up a book on ancient mythologies, or use the Internet to tap into this rich storytelling resource. They’re full of original horror novel ideas and story inspiration.

4. Religious beliefs from around the world

As with mythology, the world’s major religions are full of scary stories. And the further back you go, the more brutal they become. The Old Testament is full of people getting burned alive, stoned to death, beheaded, etc.

Religions are often built around the idea of good versus evil, right versus wrong. In order to showcase the right path, they have to present the darker one. It’s all about contrast.

The Bible and other religious books offer endless ideas and inspiration for horror novels. For instance, check out the story of Ezekiel and the valley of bones. It’s like a biblical version of The Evil Dead.

5. The news and real-life events

Sadly, horror exists in the real world as well. Just turn on the nightly news, and you’ll find plenty.

There’s an old saying in the TV news world: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This means the most disturbing and violent stories get priority coverage. Why? Because they know people will stick around to see them. (But first, the weather.)

I got an idea for my novel Purgatory from the TV news. I saw a story about a woman with tattooed eyes. She looked positively demonic in her police mugshot photo. I borrowed that for my character “Nine,” a former gang leader who ends up on Purgatory island battling all sorts of horrors.

Exorcisms. Ax murderers. Supposed haunted houses. You can find them all on the TV news. Better yet, go online and do a Google search for “real-life horror stories in the news.” You’re bound to find some unique and original horror novel and story ideas out there.

Check out this list on Esquire.com to get started. They get my creative wheels turning. A teacher recruiting students for a devil worshipping cult? The rest of that story practically writes itself. And it actually happened. The point being: the real world is a rich source of horror novel ideas. Sad … but true.

6. Ordinary, everyday objects

I don’t know about you, but antique and vintage dolls give me the creeps. It’s not so much an outright fear, like my fear of swimming in the ocean at night (see above). Just a bit of the cringe factor.

There’s something about their eyes, the way they seem to follow you as you move around the room. They’re always watching, those dolls. Always.

The creators of The Conjuring tapped into this when they brought Annabelle to the big screen. That possessed doll is now famous around the world. Why? Because a lot of people find dolls creepy. I’m not alone in this one.

In horror movies, scary clowns and dolls have been done to death. (Pun intended.) They’ve been featured in movies like Poltergeist, Magic, Goosebumps, and The Conjuring franchise.

But what about other everyday objects? What ordinary object might you use for a horror novel idea?

If you’re writing a supernatural type of story, you’re in luck. As we’ve seen from the Annabelle example, all kinds of objects can become possessed. Take a creepy object from the real world, infuse it with some malevolent entity, and you’ve got an original idea for a horror novel.

Need some inspiration? Here are some haunted objects featured in horror novels and movies:

A car — Christine
A doll — The Conjuring and Annabelle movies, Chucky, etc.
A puzzle box — Hellraiser
A videotape — The Ring
A TV — Poltergeist
A mirror — Oculus

You get the idea. In these horror novels and movies, objects that start out as “ordinary” turn out to be anything but. Somewhere along the way, they become haunted, cursed or possessed. And trouble follows.

So keep a sharp eye out. A fresh horror novel idea might be sitting somewhere in your house, right this very minute. Maybe it’s watching you.

7. Grimoires, demonology texts, books on black magic, etc.

A grimoire is a “textbook” or guide that teaches readers how to cast magical spells and summon demons. (Supposedly, at least.) The oldest grimoires date back to ancient Mesopotamia. More recent versions arrived in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

One of the more famous grimoires is The Lesser Key of Solomon, an anonymous compilation that dates back to the mid-17th century — and possibly earlier.

Among other things, it explains how to summon demons. It also names and describes 72 demons, including notables like Bael and Malphas. Some of these demons are said to help humans, if summoned properly. While others seek to inflict harm.

Another grimoire worth looking into is Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, by Johann Weir (or Weyer).

These and related texts offer an endless supply of original horror novel ideas, especially if you fancy the supernatural subgenre in particular.