The Horror Writing Guide

Great horror stories don't just scare — they linger. This guide will help you craft a submission that captures our team's attention and translates beautifully into an interactive game.

Why This Guide Matters

Our reviewers read dozens of stories per round. The ones that stand out share a few common traits: a vivid sense of place, characters we care about, and a horror concept that offers choices. Since we're adapting stories into 20–60 minute games, we look for narratives that are inherently interactive — moments where a player can explore, discover, and react.

Structure: The Three-Act Framework

The most adaptable horror stories follow a simple structure:

• Act 1 — Setup (20%): Establish the setting, introduce the character(s), and plant the seeds of unease. Something feels wrong before anything bad actually happens. This is your atmosphere-builder.
• Act 2 — Escalation (60%): The horror intensifies. Strange things happen. The character investigates, makes discoveries, maybe makes mistakes. This is where most of your story lives — and where game developers will find the richest moments to build into interactive scenes.
• Act 3 — Climax & Resolution (20%): The confrontation or revelation. Not every horror story needs a "happy" ending, but it needs a satisfying one. A twist, a revelation, or a bleak final moment — all work well if earned.

Creating Atmosphere

Atmosphere is the single most important element in horror. It's the difference between a story that's merely scary and one that's genuinely unsettling. Here's how to build it:

Use Sensory Details

Don't just describe what your character sees. Horror is felt in the body:

• The smell of copper and mildew in the basement
• The specific sound of footsteps that are almost — but not quite — in time with yours
• The texture of a cold door handle that shouldn't be there

These details anchor the reader in the world and make the horror feel physical and real.

Let Silence Do the Work

Some of the most terrifying moments in horror are the quiet ones — the moment before the jump scare, not the scare itself. Write those moments. Describe the unbearable stillness. Let the player's imagination do the heavy lifting. In games, we call these "breathing moments," and they're just as vital as the action.

Characters That Carry the Story

Players inhabit your protagonist. If we don't care about them, we don't care about the danger. Give your main character:

• A specific voice and point of view
• One clear vulnerability — emotional, physical, or situational
• A reason they can't just leave (the classic horror trap, done right)

Secondary characters can be sparse — one or two is enough. What matters is that each character feels like a real person, not a plot device.

Horror Concepts That Adapt Well to Games

Not all horror translates equally to interactive media. Here are the types of concepts our team loves most:

• Exploration horror: A haunted location with rooms to discover, secrets to uncover, and a growing sense that something is tracking you.
• Puzzle-mystery horror: The character must piece together what happened or is happening, with revelations that recontextualize everything.
• Survival horror: Limited resources, mounting danger, and choices that matter. Can you get out? What are you willing to do?
• Psychological horror: Where reality itself becomes untrustworthy. The monster might be the character's own mind.
• Encounter horror: A single terrifying entity or presence that must be confronted, escaped, or understood.

The Key Scenes Field — Use It

When submitting, you'll see a "Key Scenes / Set Pieces" field. Please fill this in. This is one of the most valuable parts of your submission for our development team. List 3–5 moments in your story that would make great game scenes. For example:

1. Player finds the locked diary hidden under the floorboard
2. First encounter with the entity in the bathroom mirror
3. Running through the collapsing hallway while the lights strobe
4. The final choice: leave or stay to find out the truth

These scene beats directly inform how we design the game's chapters and mechanics.

Word Count Guidelines

Our recommended length is 500–3,000 words. Here's why:

• Under 500 words: Usually too sparse to evaluate atmosphere and character effectively.
• 500–1,500 words: Short stories. Great for a single, tight concept with one climactic moment.
• 1,500–3,000 words: The sweet spot. Enough room for full atmosphere, a three-act structure, and multiple game-worthy scenes.
• Over 3,000 words: Acceptable, but be ruthless with editing. Reviewers may skim if the pacing drags.

Pre-Submission Checklist

• Does the story have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• Is the setting described vividly enough to picture?
• Does the protagonist have a reason to stay (not just run)?
• Are there at least 3 distinct moments that could become interactive game scenes?
• Have I used sensory details beyond just sight?
• Is the pacing controlled — do I let tense moments breathe?
• Have I proofread for grammar and spelling? (It affects readability and reviewer perception.)
• Have I filled in the "Key Scenes" field in the submission form?

A Final Word

We started Tales from the Void because we believe the best horror comes from real imaginations, not studios. Every week we read stories that genuinely surprise and disturb us, and that's what keeps us going. Don't over-polish. Don't second-guess your instincts. The story that scares you is the story most likely to scare everyone else.

Submit your nightmare. We're waiting.