‘Tis the season of haunted houses!
My husband and I went to one last weekend, hosted by a local brewery. Picture it: an outdoor maze winding along the bank of a salt marsh beneath the bright moon, smoke in the air, flashing lights, and people lurking behind dark windows and cracked coffins, waiting to grab you. Ten minutes of jump scares and laughter… and if I’m honest, a fair bit of pretending I wasn’t scared by the hollow-eyed skeleton that just jumped out at me.
Half the fun of these things (for me, anyway—I’m not so sure about my husband) is watching everyone else react. Who screams first. Who bolts ahead. Who tries to act brave but keeps glancing over their shoulder (me).
It reminded me of my childhood in a farming town about an hour southwest of St. Louis, MO. There was an old abandoned mansion in the middle of town—the Harney Mansion—and local fundraising groups used to host an annual haunted house. When I was about ten, several folks from our church volunteered (odd, I know, but the president of our church council was heavily involved), and I got to join the crew.
My job: sit upstairs in a creaky bedroom, shine a flashlight through gaping holes in the floorboards, and scream every time a group entered the room below. When I needed a break, I’d sneak back downstairs and out the front door to join the next tour. The older kids waiting in line would snicker at the “little wimp too scared to finish the tour”… not realizing I was part of the scare.
I loved that moment of reversal, knowing something the others didn’t. It was especially fun to see their faces when the chainsaw-wielding lunatic keeping order outside swooped in to give me a high-five. (It helped, too, that one of the guides holding the rope at the tail-end of the group was mom.)
What does this have to do with writing?
So much, actually.
Writing—especially mystery, suspense, and thrillers—is its own kind of haunted house. We guide readers through dark hallways, hint at what’s behind the door, and build tension one step at a time. Sometimes, the dark shadow stays quiet. Secret. When we do it well, the reader may not even know it’s there until something grabs their ankle.
That’s the part that sticks with me long after I’ve escaped the maze. And what pulls me back in again next year.
But even the best haunted houses need a map. When you’re the one building it—or navigating its shadows—it’s sooo easy to lose your bearings and get turned around.
When that happens, take a step back and take a deep breath. Then look at the map again.
If you’re struggling to escape the corner you’ve written yourself into, step back. Start asking questions:
- Who’s helping or hindering your character’s journey? Have they crossed paths with anyone actively trying to keep them from achieving their story goal?
- What does your character want right now, in this scene? What would it take to block that goal… and how can you make it happen?
- Is the setting/atmosphere doing its job? Use all five senses. What can your character smell, hear, or otherwise sense that they’ve missed before? Layering these details makes for a richer experience for the character (and reader!).
Specifics like these could be the flashlight you need, prompting a fresh way back through the dark.
So tell me… are you the type to race through haunted houses? Or do you linger to see how they’re built? Hit reply to comment and tell me what kind of scares (or stories) you love this time of year!
(And if your current story feels a little haunted by doubt, that’s okay. Step back… catch your breath… then come on back, ready to explore the next hallway.)
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P.S. I looked up the old Harney Mansion and discovered its Facebook page. The transformation it’s undergone since I lived in Sullivan (1983–1989) is incredible! Here are a few pictures of what it looked like when I walked past it each day on my way to school, compared to a shot taken Christmas 2022.
Image sources: Friends of General Harney House, Inc.; Harney Mansion Facebook page; U.S. Department of the Interior National Register of History Places Inventory (1984)
- The Harney Mansion (Facebook page)
- US DOI National Register of History Places Inventory – Nomination Form (1984)
- Restoration of Harney Mansion, Sullivan, Missouri
- Maj. Gen. William S. Harney Summer Home (Wikipedia)
Hi, I’m Rebecca Davis, Author Accelerator certified book coach, mystery lover, and former research administrator. I traded grant proposals for plot twists and now I get to help writers find their way through the maze of story and structure. I live on the South Carolina coast, and believe every story needs both a map and a little mystery. Explore Coaching Services →