Scary Story Sizzling Starts

Creative Writing with Year 8. Eeep!

Now that school is back, my reading time has completely shrunk. However, I had fun this afternoon during the little man's nap time putting together a lesson on how to start a scary story, and compiled 17 story starters to 'inspire' year 8. (Any teachers out there will understand that 'inspire' and 'year 8' don't generally go well together in a sentence.)

Anyway, I came across some awesome ones, and wanted to share some of the opening lines that made the cut...

The Haunting of Lily Frost by Nova Weetman (2014)

I almost died when I was five. It was one of those hot stretches of January, when as a little kid, all you do is eat icy poles...

I read this earlier this year and fell in love. What a brilliant, Australian gothic! This was the story that kicked off this years #LoveOZYA binge in my #50booksin2017.

Valentine by Jodi McAlister (2017)

We might have been at the old stables, but the last thing any of us had expected to see was a horse. No one's gone and changed the meaning of the word 'abandoned' on me, have they?

Another one of my #50booksin2017 reads, and another#LoveOZYA read. I didn't love it as much as Lily Frost, but it was a good trilogy opener that I'm keen to read the next installment of.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle (2017)

That night, everybody lost something. Not everybody noticed. Some kept drinking, thinking this was just another Saturday night on the cusp of summer; a night spent getting drunk in a field at the edge of town, close to that invisible line where suburbs become countryside.

Admittedly, I haven't read this one yet, only the opening chapter in the Penguin Teen Australia Super-proof 2017 that I got in a book subscription box months ago. Re-reading it reminded me that I need to go out and by it!

The Dream Walker by Victoria Carless (2017)

People around here say my father killed my mum. Not in a murdering sort of way with a gun or anything. But in a leaving a dog on the chain too long kind of way.

This is one that I picked up last week that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. I suspect I'll be lending it to one of my year 8s before I get the chance. Once again, more #LoveOzYA!

The Graces by Laure Eve (2016)

Everyone said they were witches. I desperately wanted to believe it. I'd only been at this school a couple of months, but I saw how it was. They moved through the corridor like sleek fish, ripples in their wake, stares following their backs and their hair.

Another one where I have only read the opening chapter, this time in #YAFANFEST16 from Allen & Unwin. So here's another one I need to go and buy!

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray (2017)

In three weeks, Noemi will die - here, in this very place. Today is just practice.

I really gave the super-proofs a workout! Another one from the Allen & Unwin YA Fanfest that I now have added to my TBR pile.

Freeks by Amanda Hocking (2017)

Behind me, the branches and trees crunched and snapped as the creature tore through them.

This has been sitting in my car for longer than I care to admit to. I forgot I had bought it!

Anyway, along with these I included some classics like Rebecca, The Turn of the Screw, The Outsider, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Monkey's Paw, Dracula, A Christmas Carol, and Royal Jelly; as well as some more obscure (to me anyway) like The Bees and Dragon's Tooth. Our lessons go for 75 minutes, so I'm hoping that I have more than enough to talk to them about!