View

This is the one sense that provides most of the detail in our stories. Our words become the eyes of our readers, giving us a blank canvas on which to paint a picture to tell our story. From the sight of a common fear, like a spider slithering silently across the floor, to the glimpse of a shadow on the stairwell… the sight is our greatest source of inspiration and description of horror. There is a great resource at the writer’s disposal when describing the sight of something terrifying, because we can use our other senses to add glorious and gory detail to our descriptions. Here is an example of how our five senses can be used to describe a simple scene:

The apple was bright green, its skin polished and shiny as it snuggled into the fruit bowl. (view). The scent was fresh, as if the fruit had just been plucked from the tree. (smell). She took it from the bowl, her fingers closing around the smooth, firm skin (touch) as she brought it to her lips. The apple creaked loudly. (sound) as their teeth cut through the skin into the juicy, tart flesh (taste). As the cool juice trickled down her throat, she noticed a small black speck move slowly in the creamy flesh. Closer inspection revealed that she had not only bitten into the apple, but had bitten through a fat, juicy worm.

Sound

Do you remember when you were a little kid and your parents put you to bed? Maybe there was no night light and the TV room was at the other end of the house…

You are lying in your bed. All alone. Desperately waiting for your eyes to adjust to the dark, you hear it, a soft scratching noise, and it seems to be coming from under the bed. It only lasts a moment before stopping. You wonder if you were hearing things, and you’re so desperate for the darkness to light up that you forget to blink. The darkness seems to swirl around you, enveloping you in a thick black mist through which no light can penetrate. Suddenly it’s there again, only this time the scratch seems closer. And stronger. It seems that this time it lasts a little longer. So you hold your breath, because that darkness doesn’t seem to go away. You’ve lost sight, so by not breathing you hope to hear sound more clearly and identify its location…

The previous description refers to the total absence of the sense of sight. This is where fear comes in and can play an important descriptive role, in this case blind fear. To compensate for the loss of sight, the sense of hearing becomes more acute, so the writer can introduce other horror-inducing thoughts and impressions. Where does the sound come from? How close is it? Will I be able to feel him if he decides to climb on the bed? When will my eyes get used to the dark? Should I start panicking now? If I get out of bed will he jump on me?

Tap

This sense evokes the description of things that most of us will probably never try to touch, such as slime, frogs, and warty skin. All of these items are perfect for the horror/scary genre, but writers can also take the most ordinary touch phobias and use those items to horrifying effect. Some people can’t stand to touch velvet, while others are terrified to touch paper. Others find that their skin crawls when they come across cotton…

Opening the wooden box in the hotel bathroom, she recoiled in horror. Nestled quietly at the bottom of the box, white and shiny, was a group of cotton balls. She took a step back, collapsing on the edge of the tub. The mere thought of feeling those soft fibers squeak as the ball pressed against her skin was enough to induce goosebumps. She hugged herself in a subconscious effort to shield her body from the fear she had had her entire life. Just thinking about the cotton balls gave her goosebumps. She moaned softly, remembering the silent noise they made when they were squeezed; a noise that seemed to pierce through her skin. Through her panic, she wondered if she would remember to pack her facial sponges…

Descriptions of this particular sense can be embellished with the use of physical reactions to sensing certain elements; goosebumps, turning away from the source of horror, collapsing with fear, subconscious act of defense (hug the body) and a noise of fear (moans). All these reactions add to the reader’s imagination, while adding to the image, the words of him are “painting”.

Smell

Bad smells in the horror/scary genre usually mean that something bad is about to happen or has already happened. The smell of rotting or burning flesh is probably the most common description applicable to this genus, and the smell description can also be used to indicate how death occurred. Household odors range from two-week-old pizza languishing in the fridge to potatoes burning in a pot on the stove. Adjectives include: smelly, stinking, fetid, smelly, rancid, putrid, and noxious.

As she applied the final touches to the client’s hair, a strong odor suddenly assaulted her nostrils. It was a smell she hated and feared, because it was such a terrible smell that the memory of it was etched into her subconscious forever. She froze as the acrid stench filled the air, assaulting his nostrils and her throat with the sickening taste of her. An instant later, her room was filled with gasps and screams of horror. She turned to the three ladies sitting under the dryers. Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Edgar had managed to wriggle out from under their dryers, but poor Mrs. Smith couldn’t move. One of the pins in her curlers had obviously gotten caught in the dryer and had set her hair on fire. Smoke was visible from the top of the machine, which had begun to sputter. Placing her hand over her mouth and nose in an attempt to banish the foul odor from her, she began to move towards Mrs. Smith, who screamed as flames began to rise from the dryer…”

Taste

Most, if not all, have an aversion to a certain food. We don’t like to eat it and its taste makes us sick. Maybe the mere idea of ​​trying it is enough to induce some horrible thoughts and feelings.

The candlelight captured the patterns on the wine glass, casting a dark crimson glow across the table. She raised the glass to her lips, the rich musky flavor of the cabernet sauvignon still wafting through her taste buds. With the first sip of wine she nearly choked. There was obviously something wrong with this new bottle of wine, because the liquid in his mouth tasted bitter and sour. Although the consistency was the same as the previous glass, there was a sour taste that she couldn’t put my finger on… although it seemed vaguely familiar. She swirled the liquid around in her mouth before swallowing it. It seemed to sting his tongue and burn his palate, and as she swallowed the acrid liquid his throat tingled. Suppressing the urge to cough, she reached for the glass of water next to his saucer and took a sip. As the cold water washed the sour taste from her palate, her hostess lifted the bottle she had used to fill her wine glass…and she poured balsamic vinegar over her salad plate.

Writers have a plethora of adjectives at their disposal when describing the horror of eating unappetizing food. These include: pungent, sour, acrid, bitter, fetid, stinking, putrid, decaying, stale, foul-smelling, stale, and bad.

Real life can be much more fascinating than fiction, and using our senses in our writing proves this truth. So next time you sit down at your keyboard, tap into those five senses and see how they can color your words.