🔪How to Write Killers That Haunt Readers
Introduction: Why Your Killer Should Keep Readers Awake at Night
Let’s start with some honesty.
Most “scary” stories aren’t scary. They’re laughable. You know the type: blood fountains, masked villains doing gymnastics with machetes, jump scares shoved onto the page like someone screaming “BOO!” into your ear. It’s cheap. It’s boring. And worse, it’s forgettable.
But here’s the truth: when you’re writing about killers, realistic killers, the ones who make readers shut their blinds at 3 a.m. You can’t rely on gore or flashy tricks. You have to dig deeper. You have to write them in a way that feels possible. Disturbing not because a demon popped out of the closet, but because your neighbor could be hiding a body in theirs.
That’s what we’re doing today: learning how to craft killers that haunt. No monsters, no rivers of blood. Just psychology, suspense, implication, and tone. Think of it as true crime on steroids.
By the end of this post, you’ll not only understand why most horror-thriller writing fails, but you’ll have a toolkit for writing villains so chilling that your beta readers will text you at 2 a.m. with “um… are you okay??”
(And yes, I’ve built an entire 90-page workbook to help you go even further, but more on that later. For now, grab your coffee or something stronger and let’s get into it.)
Section 1: Why Jumpscares Don’t Work in Writing ⚡
Ah, the jump scare. Hollywood’s favorite shortcut.
On film, it works because sound and timing manipulate the audience’s nervous system. Bang! Flash! Screechy violins! Your heart rate spikes because you’re basically being mugged by sound design.
On the page? Not so much. You don’t have violins. You don’t have a director controlling milliseconds. You have words. And words don’t scream, they whisper, they linger, they suggest.
Why Jumpscares Fail in Prose
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They’re predictable. “Everything’s quiet… oh no, the cat jumped out.” Yawn.
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They break immersion. Readers know you’re trying to jolt them, and nothing kills fear faster than realizing you’re being manipulated.
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They don’t last. Startling isn’t the same as scaring. A scare fades in seconds. Dread? Dread lingers for hours.
What Works Instead: Slow-Burn Horror
Suspense thrives in stillness. A killer that walks slowly toward their victim is infinitely scarier than one who leaps out of the bushes. Why? Because the victim (and the reader) has time to anticipate, to imagine, to panic.
Example 1: Cheap Jump Scare
“She turned the corner. Suddenly, a shadow lunged at her!”
Okay. You jumped? No? Exactly.
Example 2: Slow-Burn Terror
“She turned the corner. The hallway stretched too long, each bulb flickering like it couldn’t decide whether to stay alive. Halfway down, a shadow stood, motionless. Watching. It didn’t move when she did.”
See the difference? One makes you roll your eyes. The other makes you want to close the book and throw it across the room, but in the best way.
Mini-Exercise
Take a scene from your draft where you tried to “shock” your reader. Rewrite it with:
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10% more silence
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10% more distance
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10% less action
You’ll be shocked (pun intended) at how much scarier it gets.
👉 In my workbook, I call this technique the Suspense Dial. It helps you measure how much tension you’re building versus how much you’re blowing too early.
Section 2: The Psychology of a Killer 🧠
If you want readers to remember your killer, forget the hockey masks and chainsaws. What they’ll actually remember is why.
Killers Aren’t Monsters, They’re People
Real killers don’t think of themselves as villains. They think they’re right. They think they’re justified. Sometimes, they even think they’re heroes. That’s what makes them terrifying: they’re human.
Motivation Without Cliché
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Not enough: “They kill because they’re crazy.” Lazy.
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Better: “They kill because they think they’re fixing the world.” (Still horrifying, but chillingly logical.)
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Best: “They kill because of a deep, specific belief or wound that warps their worldview.”
Archetypes (Expanded & Twisted)
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The Savior: They “rescue” victims by killing them. (Mercy, in their mind.)
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The Teacher: They want victims to “learn” a lesson before death.
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The Collector: They kill to preserve; souvenirs, memories, control.
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The Mirror: They see their victim as a reflection of themselves, which terrifies them.
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The Chameleon: They adapt to any social circle, hiding in plain sight.
Case-Study Style Example
Imagine a man who volunteers at the community center every Sunday, smiling, helping with food drives. But in his private journal, he writes about “cleansing” the weak. His kindness isn’t fake, it’s part of his worldview. To him, kindness and cruelty aren’t opposites. They’re both “necessary.”
Mini-Exercise
Write your killer’s diary entry the day before their first murder. Don’t describe the murder, describe their logic. If their reasoning scares you, you’re on the right track.
👉 In the workbook, there’s a Killer Profile Builder. A template that helps you pin down these motivations so you’re not stuck with cardboard cutouts.
Section 3: Victims and the Missed Red Flags 🚩
Here’s something most thrillers forget: killers aren’t scary without victims. Victims give the story weight, contrast, tragedy. And the most chilling part? The red flags they miss.
Why Victims Matter
Readers know the victim is doomed. That’s the tension. But watching how they get there, how they almost noticed something, but brushed it off. That’s what keeps pages turning.
The Psychology of Manipulation
Killers rarely pounce on strangers in alleys. More often, they manipulate.
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Charm: “He seemed so polite.”
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Authority: “She was the doctor, I trusted her.”
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Normalcy: “He was just a neighbor.”
Missed Red Flags
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Overly eager helpfulness.
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Too much interest in small details.
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Shifts in tone that don’t match the situation.
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Controlling environments (“Let’s just talk at my place instead”).
Exercise
Write a scene where your victim misses a red flag. Then, rewrite the same scene where the reader does notice the red flag, but the victim still doesn’t. Boom. Instant tension.
👉 The workbook has a Victim Red Flag Worksheet where you list subtle danger cues your characters overlook.
Section 4: Building Suspense Without Blood 🌫️
Suspense is like seasoning. Too little and it’s bland. Too much and it’s overwhelming. Just right? Readers can’t stop eating.
The Tools of Suspense
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Pacing: Slow down right before the climax.
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Silence: Sometimes what you don’t write is scarier.
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Implication: Hint at horrors instead of showing them.
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Tone: Word choice can turn a sunny kitchen into a crime scene.
True Crime on Steroids
Think of your fiction like a true crime documentary where you know something awful happened—but you don’t know when the reveal is coming. That’s the vibe.
Scene Layering Example
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Background Unease: A door unlocked.
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Small Shifts: A photo frame turned the wrong way.
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The Reveal: A phone buzzing in the next room… that isn’t hers.
Exercise
Write three versions of a silence. Example:
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Silence that feels heavy.
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Silence that feels expectant.
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Silence that feels wrong.
👉 The Mood & Suspense Tracker in the workbook helps you test these variations.
Section 5: Confession Scenes That Give Chills 💬
Confession scenes are your mic-drop moment. But too many writers use them for info-dumps instead of psychological gut-punches.
Why They Work
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Intimacy: Killer and listener are locked in a verbal cage.
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Horror: The killer’s words don’t match their crimes.
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Arrogance: They want you to know they’re smarter.
Dialogue Techniques
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Understatement: “It wasn’t hard. Easier than you’d think.”
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Repetition: “I told her. I told her. I told her.”
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Chilling Honesty: “Yes, I enjoyed it.”
Example Excerpt
“Do you know what surprised me most? Not her screams. Not her begging. It was how quickly she went quiet. Like she understood. Like she agreed with me in the end.”
Yikes. And that’s exactly the reaction you want.
👉 The workbook includes a Confession Scene Drafting Page so you can test your dialogue without slipping into cheesy territory.
Section 6: The Editing Process 🖊️
Writing thrillers is fun. Editing them? That’s where killers are made or broken.
Why Editing Matters Here More Than Anywhere
If suspense is uneven, readers notice. If a killer’s psychology flips mid-draft with no explanation, readers toss the book. If your red flags vanish in editing, you lose all tension.
Red Flags in Drafts
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Info-dumping: “Let me tell you my entire tragic backstory in one page.”
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Inconsistent suspense: Tense in one chapter, sitcom banter in the next.
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Flat dialogue: Killer sounds like a cartoon villain.
Editing Checklist (Teaser)
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Did every scene add tension?
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Does the killer’s motivation stay consistent?
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Are victims believable, not props?
👉 In the workbook, you’ll find a full Self-Editing Checklist designed specifically for crime/thriller drafts.
Section 7: Writing for Chills, Not Sympathy 👀
Hot take: not every killer needs a tragic backstory. In fact, most don’t.
Why Sympathy Weakens Fear
When you make readers pity the killer too much, they stop fearing them. They start thinking, “Well, maybe it wasn’t their fault.” That’s not the point. The point is to scare.
Complexity vs Excuses
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Complexity: “She was abused as a child. She still chose to kill.”
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Excuse: “She was abused, so she had no choice but to kill.”
See the difference? Complexity deepens horror. Excuses weaken it.
Exercise
Write your killer’s “alternate choice moment.” Show the one time they could have walked away, but didn’t. That’s where true horror lives.
Section 8: Bringing It All Together 🧾
Let’s recap.
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Jumpscares? Lazy. Suspense? Gold.
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Killers? Humans, not monsters.
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Victims? Vital, because they show us what we fear losing.
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Suspense tools? Pacing, silence, implication, tone.
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Confession scenes? Mic drops of psychological horror.
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Editing? Where you sharpen the knife.
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Sympathy? Optional. Chills? Non-negotiable.
Now imagine having all of this, not in scattered notes, but in structured worksheets, exercises, and checklists built to make your writing sharper, scarier, unforgettable.
Final Thoughts & Call to Action
If this post made you rethink your villain, good. That was the point. But also this was just the free appetizer. The main course is my 90-page workbook, where everything here is broken down into step-by-step exercises with space for your own writing, brainstorming, and revisions.
Think of it as your personal crime lab:
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🧠 Killer Profile Builder
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🚩 Victim Red Flag Worksheet
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🌫️ Mood & Suspense Tracker
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💬 Confession Scene Drafting Pages
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🖊️ Self-Editing Checklist
It’s practical, it’s creepy, and it’s going to make your killers unforgettable.
👉 Mindsindesign.com. Write villains that don’t just scare readers, haunt them.
And remember: if your beta readers sleep well after reading your draft… you didn’t go far enough.
- Makitia
#MindsInDesign #Makitia #Themiduniverse #Makitiathompson #Midstories #Thekilleracrossthestreet