Writing Scary Halloween Stories

What's more fun on Halloween than telling scary stories? Okay, trick-or-treating and eating candy may be more fun, but telling scary stories is right up there.

Maybe it's the dark nights, or the wind creaking through the branches, or the lit-up Jack-o-Lanterns with their weird grins, but Halloween is the perfect time to get down and scary with our writing. 

Do you need story ideas? How about these?

• A story with a graveyard, a high-pitched voice, and a violet light.

• A story with the title, "The Frightful Christmas." (Sometimes it's fun to mix holidays.)

• A story about a girl who has a Halloween party where all the guests arrive looking like her.

• A story with this first line: "One day, Bob's cat stole his Halloween costume."

• A story about a town where every day is October 31st.

• A story with the title, "The Ghastly Ghoul of ______." (Fill in your street or town's name.)

After you write your story, don't forget to share it with your family and friends on a spooky night! 

Keeping a Writer's Journal

Call it a journal, a notebook, or whatever. It's a place to play with your writing.

A writer's journal is a place to experiment and explore. To loosen up. To write down random thoughts, story ideas, and observations. 


A journal is just for yourself. It's private, so you don't need to share unless you want to. Because it's private, you can write down whatever you want. 

It doesn't have to be fancy. It can be a spiral notebook, or a small tablet. (I mean the paper kind.) Or it can be a journal with hard covers. Just so you can carry it around with you. If it's small, put it in your pocket. If it's bigger, tuck it in your backpack. 

Why paper? Because it's super portable, it's cheap, and many writers feel there's a connection between our brain and our hand when we write with a pencil or pen. 

If you've never used a journal before, here are some ideas to get started.

• Keep a list of silly words.

• Interview yourself for a blog.

• Write a letter to yourself 20 years in the future. 

• Rewrite "The Three Bears" as "The Three Pieces of Broccoli."

• Write a poem about your pajamas.

• Create a comic strip about your neighbors.

• Interview a 3-year-old.

• Ask your grandparents about the day they were born and write down their story. 

Have fun playing in your journal. And don't forget to write down the date. You may discover an old journal and find a new idea. When you do, it'll be handy to know when you got it. 

Smells and Similes Part 2

Last week I wrote about fall, and I still have this beautiful season on the brain--especially the smells of fall or autumn, or whatever you like to call it. 

As I wrote about before, smell can be one of the hardest things to describe in our writing. It can help to use a simile--a comparison with "like" or "as." 

For example.

• The squash soup smelled like a sunny day at the end of October. 

• The crisp air smelled like a newly ironed shirt. 

Try using a simile to describe the smell, scent, aroma, or odor of the following things:

• Dog breath
• The inside of your refrigerator
• A banana peel on the sidewalk
• An old pizza box
• Your cat's fur
• Chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven
• A baby's hair
• A rubber band found in the back of a drawer
• A bag of Halloween candy

Smell adds texture to our stories. Similes add new layers of meaning. Combine the two, and you'll give your readers a double dose of reading pleasure--no matter what the season. 

Writing about Fall

I love fall! 

Call it autumn, fall, or just plain beautiful, this season makes me want to run outside and jump into a pile of leaves.

One of my favorite picture books about fall is Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson, with pictures by Tiphanie Beeke. 

Fletcher, a young fox, worries when the leaves on his favorite tree change color. Is the tree sick? 

Here's how the story starts:

The world was changing. Each morning, when Fletcher bounded out of the den, everything seemed just a little bit different. The rich green of the forest was turning to a dusty gold, and the soft, swishing sound of summer was fading to a crinkly whisper. Fletcher's favorite tree looked dull, dry, and brown.

Fletcher was beginning to get worried. 

Gorgeous writing! 

Julia Rawlinson took a risk by starting a story with description. Don't some of us skip over that part of a story? But her description is so detailed, she paints a picture of Fletcher's world.

Notice the alliteration--the soft, swishing sound of summer. She contrasts that with--dull, dry, and brown. 

Try writing your own description about fall. 

Describe one leaf that you find on the sidewalk. Or start a story with your character catching leaves as they dance through the air. 

Go outside and smell the crisp air. Each neighborhood has different scents in the fall. Write down yours, from the wood smoke rising from a chimney, to the rotting stick on the side of the road. 

Happy fall. Happy descriptions. And check out Fletcher and the Falling Leaves to find out what happens to Fletcher's tree. 

Art and Writing

This weekend I co-taught a class for adults. "Paint It. Write It. Book It: A Travel-Book Adventure" gathered an amazing group of people who learned how to create their own travel journals using words and pictures.  

"Frog n' Boots" by Margaret Nevinski

I loved teaching this class! The only problem: I'm terrified of painting. I'm comfortable with words, but when it comes to art, I'm the person in the back row hoping no one notices me.

Luckily, my wonderful co-teachers, Dorothy Matthews and Susan Callan, convinced me and the students that we can paint! All we have to do is try.

And try we did. Despite the rain falling on Bainbridge Island, we trooped out for a field trip to paint, sketch, observe, and write. 

I found this large ceramic frog named "Frog n' Boots" and decided to paint it. Then I added a story in pencil:

I am Frog n' Boots of Winslow Mall. Here is my crown. Where is my prince? I wait and the prince does not arrive. Am I ugly? Am I beautiful? 

Rivet! I croak with my lovely voice. A child laughs. Am I funny?

My crown is made of jewels. My cloak is made of fine wool. My boots are made of soft leather. Am I fine? Am I rich? Am I beautiful? I wait and the prince does not arrive....

I wrote this as a story that can be read in a continuous loop. Will Frog n' Boots find her prince? 

The best part is, I had a great time painting! I discovered that art--my very own art--can embellish, deepen, lighten, or inspire my writing, whether it's a travel journal or a story. I'm not ready for the Louvre yet, but I'm eager to keep going. 

How about you? Try adding a picture to your words. For those who draw and paint already, great. For those who have the same fears I did, take the plunge. 

It's fun. And you may find your own prince...hidden in yourself.