Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Woman in Black are a few classic scary stories that you could read. The more realistic and recent the story, the scarier it’ll be when you tell it. That way, the listeners can relate. Urban legends make excellent scary stories. The danger with using an urban legend, however, is that some of your listeners may have heard variations of it, thus ruining the effect.
For example, you could tell an urban legend about your hometown from the point of view of your grandpa as a child. Or, you could tell a ghost story about how you explored an abandoned building in the countryside. You can also tweak your story to add in details of your current surroundings. For example, if you’re sitting outside on a foggy night, say that your story happened during a foggy night too.
If you’re telling a story about a monster, the climax could be that it almost caught you as you were running away. If your story involves ghosts, you could talk about how you saw a dark figure in the hallway that rushed towards you. For stories involving creepy critters, describe the feeling of a snake or a spider crawling up your arm.
If you need to, you can write out a few notes to help you keep track of the details. However, try to memorize your story before you actually tell it.
This will make your audience curious and set up a little suspense before you even start telling your story.
If your audience members are distracted, your story won’t be as effective.
This will intrigue your audience so that they’re dying to know more. It also helps to build suspense, making your story even scarier.
This might even force some people to lean in closer to you, giving you more of their attention. You could start your story with something like, “When I was 5 years old, my grandpa told me the story of the bloody lagoon. ”
This will help keep your audience engaged and interested in what you have to say. If you’re sitting right next to someone, use caution when you swing your arms around so you don’t hit them. Try to stay seated when you tell your story. Standing up or acting out your words can make you seem too eager.
Your audience might even feel bad for making you tell the story, which makes it even more scary. For example, you could say, “And then… (dramatic pause) I heard a knock at the door. ”
You can also end your story as quietly and uncomfortably as you started it for a more subtle, disconcerting effect. Try to keep your story under 5 minutes long so that your audience doesn’t get bored.
