how to

How-tos for all things horror; tips and tricks to help you write like Stephen King, tell a scary story, keep the monsters at bay and more.

The Man Who Couldn't Die
David Bennett was fifty-seven years old when he became the first person to receive a genetically modified pig heart transplant in January 2022, a medical milestone that made international headlines and was celebrated as a breakthrough in xenotransplantation that could solve the organ shortage crisis and save thousands of lives, but what the triumphant press releases did not mention was that David had not initially wanted the experimental procedure and had only consented after being told he was ineligible for a human heart transplant and would die within weeks without intervention, and what happened during the two months he survived with the pig heart inside his chest before finally dying raises profound ethical questions about medical experimentation on desperate patients who have no other options and about whether extending biological life at any cost represents genuine medical success or a form of torture that serves researchers' ambitions more than patients' wellbeing.
By The Curious Writerabout an hour ago in Horror
The House That Kills
The House That Kills The Victorian mansion at 1247 Blackwood Avenue has stood empty for twenty years now, and local real estate agents refuse to list it regardless of price because the property has a documented history that no one can explain rationally and no one wants to continue, and the pattern is so statistically improbable that even skeptics admit something strange is happening even if they refuse to attribute it to supernatural causes. Between 1975 and 2002, the house went through nine different owners, and every single one of them died within three years of taking possession, and while the deaths were all attributed to various natural causes including heart attacks, strokes, sudden aggressive cancers, and one case of a previously healthy forty-year-old woman who developed a mysterious neurological condition that killed her in eighteen months, the statistical improbability of this pattern has never been adequately explained by medical professionals or statisticians who have examined the cases, and the house remains abandoned, slowly deteriorating while neighbors refuse to discuss it with outsiders and property values on the entire block have been suppressed by its reputation.
By The Curious Writerabout 2 hours ago in Horror
The Dyatlov Pass Incident
The frozen slopes of the Ural Mountains in Russia hold one of the most disturbing and inexplicable mysteries of the twentieth century, a case so strange that sixty-five years after it occurred, investigators, scientists, and amateur sleuths still cannot agree on what happened to nine experienced hikers who died under circumstances so bizarre and violent that the lead investigator officially closed the case by attributing their deaths to "an unknown compelling force," a conclusion that raised more questions than it answered and that has spawned countless theories ranging from rational explanations involving avalanches and hypothermia to wild speculation about secret military tests, radioactive contamination, indigenous attackers, and even paranormal or extraterrestrial involvement. The tragedy began on January 23, 1959, when a group of ten students and recent graduates from the Ural Polytechnical Institute in Yekaterinburg set out on a skiing expedition to reach Otorten Mountain, a challenging winter trek that the group leader Igor Dyatlov had planned meticulously, and all the members were experienced hikers and skiers who had undertaken similar expeditions before, making the disaster that befell them all the more incomprehensible because these were not novices who made foolish mistakes but competent outdoorspeople who understood winter survival.
By The Curious Writera day ago in Horror
The Lantern in the Fog
The village of Grey Hollow was a place wrapped in stories. Not the kind told loudly around fires, but the kind whispered when the wind blew through the trees at night.
By Azam khan3 days ago in Horror
The Door That Shouldn’t Exist
The old house at the edge of the village had been abandoned for more than fifty years. Everyone in town knew about it, yet no one ever spoke about it for long. Conversations would stop. Eyes would shift. Someone would always change the subject.
By Azam khan3 days ago in Horror
The 10 Most Haunted Schools in the United States: Ghosts on Campus You Won’t Believe
Ghost stories are more than just bedtime tales; they’re part of the cultural fabric of every civilization. From vampires lurking in European castles to flying, dismembered ghouls in Asia, humans have always been fascinated, and terrified, by the unknown. But what ties these stories together is the setting: old buildings and places with long histories often harbor the most spirits.
By Areeba Umair4 days ago in Horror
The Whisper in the Empty Room. AI-Generated.
Rafiq never believed in ghosts. He used to laugh whenever his friends talked about haunted houses, strange sounds, or shadows in the dark. For him, everything had a logical explanation. But the night he stayed alone in his uncle's old house changed his mind forever.
By Vijoy5 days ago in Horror
The Night Everyone in the Town Heard the Same Whisper
The town of Blackridge was the kind of place people forgot about. It was small, quiet, and surrounded by thick forests that seemed to stretch forever. The road leading into town curved through miles of tall pine trees before finally opening to a handful of streets, a small school, a diner, and an old town square with a clock tower that had stood there for nearly a century.
By imtiazalam8 days ago in Horror
Deadly Silence
The rain had been falling all evening, tapping softly against the windows of the small house on the edge of town. Inside, the rooms were quiet—too quiet.
By Azam khan10 days ago in Horror
It Only Comes When the Lights Go Out
The digital clock on Elias’s nightstand flickered with a cold, rhythmic pulse. 3:16 AM. In the silence of his studio apartment, the sound of his own breathing felt like an intrusion. For three weeks, Elias had lived by a singular, desperate rule: the darkness was the enemy. He had every light in the house turned on—the overhead fluorescent, two desk lamps, a camping lantern, and even the small light inside the microwave. The apartment was a blinding, buzzing sanctuary of artificial amber.
By Azam khan13 days ago in Horror
Pripyat, Ukraine: The Abandoned Ghost City of Chernobyl
The Rise and Sudden Silence of Pripyat Pripyat, Ukraine, was established on February 4, 1970, as a model city in the Soviet Union, intended to be the home of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant staff. It emerged to become a flourishing city inhabited by close to 50,000 people, comprising engineers, scientists, families, and kids, with shops fully stocked, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, a cultural palace with cinemas and gyms, sports halls, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool, among other amenities. Life was normal, with kids playing, people working, and the city alive with normal ambitions and aspirations powered by the promise of nuclear energy.
By Kyrol Mojikal14 days ago in Horror
The Haunted Pen Factory at Kasem Bundit University: Bangkok’s Most Terrifying Abandoned Building
The Pen Factory of Kasem Bundit University: A Haunted History Located in the Kasem Bundit University campus, along Pattanakarn Road in Bangkok, Thailand, is one of the city’s most haunted yet abandoned structures: an old pen factory covering 80 acres of land. Presently, the ruins of this industrial giant are seen standing silently, decaying under the scorching sun. However, the silence is more than just peaceful. Rumors of ghosts, mishaps, and other haunted experiences are associated with this ruined industrial giant, making it an urban legend of the city of Bangkok.
By Kyrol Mojikal18 days ago in Horror