Scaring people is an art. Whether you want to scare your enemy in the dark corner of a parking lot, or you want to create a haunted house that will make history, being able to truly scare people away is a tall order. While it will take time and persistence to truly scare your victim, the sheer terror you will see in their eyes will pay off for your efforts. Whether you want to scare someone out of revenge, or just want to have a laugh, follow the steps below to find out how to execute your sneaky plan.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Plan a Sudden Scare
Step 1. Make your look creepy
Coming out of nowhere and scaring someone may not have much of an effect if you have your classic look, however if you're dressed all in black, with your face covered in fake blood and creepy clown makeup, you will be really scary.
- If you know your victim well, you can exploit their greatest fear with a disguise that terrifies them, be it the dentist, a giant spider or a ghost.
- While a sudden scare will be effective even with your normal appearance, it will terrify the victim much more if you dress scary.
- For specific costume tips, skip to the next section.
Step 2. Wait for your friend to be alone
Being in a group helps you feel more courageous, so it's easier to scare those alone. The fright will be stronger and more real. There are many ways to do this, but here are the simplest:
- Write a friend to meet you at a specific time, but prepare them a creepy surprise instead.
- Wait until your friend is alone and distracted. Is he alone in his room playing or concentrating on homework? Perfect.
- If you want to scare your sibling, set up the scary scene while he sleeps, so that he is in front of him when he wakes up. Really terrifying.
Step 3. Find a good hiding place
To cause a good scare, you only have to jump out screaming when the victim starts thinking something is wrong. Whichever time you choose for the prank and whatever it includes, it's a good idea to hide somewhere and wait for your opportunity to surprise the victim and increase their fear. The best hiding places include:
- Under the bed;
- Behind the doors;
- Behind trees or cars;
- Under the stairs;
- In the dark cellar;
- In the attic;
- In full view, but in the dark.
Step 4. Add some creepy objects
Find out what gives friends nightmares and use it to your advantage. Each person is afraid of different things, so it's a good idea to investigate what terrifies your victim the most. Think of the following items:
- Fake snakes, smeared with petroleum jelly to make them look really scary;
- Rusty knives;
- Fake blood
- Raw meat;
- Worms or cockroaches
- Static noise on television and radio
- Broken dolls.
Step 5. Scream and howl like a madman
After setting up your trap, let the victim approach and then start the show. Scream, grunt, grab the person by the arms and laugh maniacally while enjoying your victim's expression of pure terror. Then, run away into the night, continuing to cackle. You can also hide at a safe distance to continue enjoying the scene of your victim in terror until she realizes that she has been deceived.
- Alternatively, you can also leave a recording of disturbing noises to scare your friend. Prepare a stereo that reproduces fearful coughing and panting as soon as he enters the room.
- When your victim is scared enough, it's time to stop. Don't frighten her too much or she might call the police. If you've heard her scream once, that's enough; you got what you want, so it's a good idea to end the joke.
Method 2 of 4: Look Scary
Step 1. Make up to look dead
Everyone is scared of corpses. Died. They are fearful. If you want to exploit this fear, you can learn how to do your makeup like a zombie with simple and safe make-up products. Try the following strategies:
- Wash your face well, then apply some very light foundation all over your face. You could also use talcum powder to make it paler. The pallor of death.
- Use dark blue or black eyeshadow under the eyes to give them a hollowed out look, as if you just stepped out of the coffin. Gently blend it for a natural effect. It will be perfect.
- Make fake blood using food coloring and maple syrup, then draw a fake "wound" on the body in a visible spot with a marker and apply the blood.
Step 2. Dress like a creepy surgeon
Many of us would be chilled at the thought of a crazy surgeon or dentist. You can have fun with this fear. Dress in rubber gloves, blue scrubs and cover your mouth like a real surgeon, so that only your eyes are visible. You can get all these things at the pharmacy.
- You can upgrade your disguise even further and get yourself some real surgeon's tools, or at least grab your dad's drill from the garage. Don't plug it in, of course.
- Smear ketchup or fake blood all over the gown and hold a knife and fork. You will be really creepy.
Step 3. Choose a classic monster costume
Classics are classics for a reason. They are scary. Dress up as a zombie, vampire, ghost or mummy. You could even come up with some original monster costumes and be truly unique.
- Think of the most famous horror movie characters like Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Krueger or Ghost Face from "Scream" and try to find a realistic looking mask.
- Wearing a mask over your regular clothes can make you look pretty creepy, but if you wear the same clothes you wore before at school, you will be recognized.
Step 4. Don't put on a costume, but act creepy
If you don't have the time or the inclination to create a creepy costume, you can use your acting skills to compensate. It would be even scarier if you looked normal, but had some weird attitude. Try the following tips:
- Sit in a dark room with the TV on a static channel, swinging in a rocking chair and muttering the phrase "They told me it would happen …" over and over. When your friend shows concern, scream at the top of his lungs.
- Enter your brother's room in the middle of the night and stand on his bed, mouth open, dribbling fake blood and breathing heavily.
- Stand facing the corner of a dark room. Do nothing. When you turn around, show your face covered in fake blood.
Method 3 of 4: Prepare a Haunted House
Step 1. Choose a location
Although it takes more time and work, creating a scary place, such as a haunted house, will stir a growing terror in the hearts and minds of visitors as they will expect the worst to happen at any moment. In the creation of a haunted house or other spooky scenario, the location chosen is decisive.
- A house, or structure, with eerie elements, such as narrow corridors, creaking steps, or dark basements is a good place to start.
- Prepare a map. Make it easy for visitors to move from room to room.
Step 2. Choose a theme
A theme will help you decide what kind of decorations to put and what elements to include. To give the house more authenticity, invent a story that explains why it is haunted. Is it haunted by an old lady whose husband has disappeared into thin air? Is it haunted by a family that was brutally murdered in the basement? Try to make the story at least a little believable. Get inspiration from the following scenarios:
- Abandoned asylum;
- Torture chamber;
- Vampire's Lair;
- Zombie invasion;
- Mad scientist's laboratory.
Step 3. Get some friends for help
Creating a haunted house on your own can be a business. Instead, ask your friends to help you decorate the house, dress up as creepy characters, and scare visitors as they follow the path through the haunted house. They can appear out of nowhere, hide in some closet or jump out of fake coffins.
You can make some of the friends wait on the porch - they'll have to pretend they're dead until the guests get close enough. At that point they can jump out, scaring guests off even before they can enter the house
Step 4. Decorate the house according to the chosen theme
Create environments that amplify tension, which is essential for effective scaring. When walking down a long, dark corridor, people will expect the worst at any moment. When a person is already tense and anxious, it is easier to scare them. Each room should have its own spooky theme so your guests are always on the alert, never knowing what to expect.
- Place a volunteer in each room to highlight the spooky environment and guide visitors.
- Each room can have different creepy effects, such as a plate of cold bucatini, which might make you think of worms, or a vase of peeled grapes, which might give the impression of being eyeballs.
- Make jars of broken doll pieces or bent objects dipped in cloudy green-tinted water.
Step 5. Create spooky sound effects
Sound effects can make a big contribution in frightening a person, driving them crazy. There are a few things you can try to scare visitors by using only certain types of sounds. Here's what:
- Ask your volunteers to walk noisily from one side of an empty room to the other, wearing very heavy boots.
- Put some coins in an empty can and tie it to a string. Ask your friends to shake it from time to time to create a rattling noise.
- Put a recording of sinister noises in every room, from a woman's scream to the wildly blowing wind, or the sound of a chainsaw.
- Try to take advantage of the silence. Stop any noise from time to time, making the house absolutely silent, to amplify the fear that will be aroused by the next mournful play.
Step 6. Create ghostly lighting
The type of lighting can also contribute significantly to the fear you want to arouse in visitors. You can create completely dark areas, install disorienting strobe lights in one of the rooms, or generate the eerie effect of fog hovering in front of a light, all of which will confuse the senses of visitors, making them more susceptible to fright. Here are some other ways to get creepy lighting:
- Choose a corridor where visitors will have to blindfold; make sure this doesn't make them uncomfortable.
- Turn on spotlights under fake crawling insects or cobwebs to cast creepy shadows on the walls.
- Place black plastic bags around the furniture to catch the light in a sinister way.
Step 7. Keep the mood
Always stay in character to maintain the haunted house illusion. Don't stop to greet visitors. Keep the haunted house atmosphere creepy and believable. Keep playing your part even as you walk visitors out.
Later, when guests tell you they enjoyed their visit to the haunted house, act like you have no idea what they are saying
Method 4 of 4: Telling a Terrifying Story
Step 1. Make up a premise
Whether you're shooting a horror movie, writing a horror story or just telling a story, a solid premise plays a key role. Fear will come to life in the victim's brain, no matter if it is a spider or a dark room that unleashes their terror. Horror movies, thrillers, or scary stories to tell in front of a campfire are all great ways to scare other people. You can get some inspiration by watching horror movies or reading scary stories.
Don't improvise the whole story. While you can improvise the details, it's important that you have the structure of the story clear in mind before you start telling it. If you show hesitation while telling the story, you will lose your audience's attention
Step 2. Start by saying that this is a true story
Even if the story is patently made up, start by saying that it is a true story that happened in your city a long time ago, that happened to your cousin or that you witnessed it. Saying that something actually happened will keep attention and make the story more plausible.
- You can also say that it is so secret that it has never been published on the web. Explain that you have found a secret document. Give them directions on how to find the document to find confirmation of the veracity of the story; obviously no one will, but this will give your story more credibility.
- Before getting to the heart of the story, you might ask: "Are you really sure you want to hear it?". Act like the story is so terrifying that you're not sure if you want to go on to tell it.
Step 3. Build suspense
A good scare needs to be built to anticipate its effects, with a long climb up the ladder leading to the attic, with a door opening very slowly. Don't go straight to the point or your audience will lose all interest. Act as if you are telling a normal story and let the creepy details slowly introduce them to the heart of the story.
- Keep your readers in suspense by saying something like "But this is nothing compared to what happened next", or "She thought that was the greatest pain she had ever suffered, but it was just the beginning."
- Speak slowly and carefully. Don't rush into the creepiest part of the story. Weigh every word.
Step 4. Use visual aids
Show the scar from the operation on the appendicitis and say that right there you were pierced by the killer whose deeds you are recounting. Bring some old grainy photos of your grandparents and say it's the photo of the victims. If you've brought other visual aids, take them out casually, as if you've always had them with you.
- The victim's fake bloodstained clothes are a nice touch.
- You can also use something normal, like a missing child sticker collection.
Step 5. Create eerie sound effects
You can choose simple sounds. If you talk about someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night, knock on the floor. Ask an accomplice to help you create some spooky sounds, such as a door creaking as it is opened, water drops falling on the ceiling, or the wind blowing through the trees.
You could also crumple up a plastic bag, which will make a very suggestive rustle
Step 6. Take care of the details
Just like the eerie atmosphere of a haunted house, the details of a horror tale will help set the scene. Describe the noises of an abandoned warehouse or show the killer clown's rotten teeth. The more detailed your story, the better the effect.
- For example, the thought of a man whose hand has been cut off is scary enough, but a man with a severed hand leaving a trail of blood as he walks is much scarier.
- Give your story some historical references. If it happened before WWII, mention the names of the politicians of the time or a simple detail related to that historical period to give your story more realism.
Step 7. Don't reveal surprises
Don't give out the details people would expect from a scary story. Surely everyone has already heard the story of a ghost wandering the woods at night, but what about the story of a ghost that causes people to tear their eyes out and eat them, or a ghost that inhabits the body of a little girl's bunny. ?
Step 8. Dwell on telling the ending
When the story starts to get really scary, slow down or take a break, as if you can't finish your story. Take a deep breath and wait for your listeners to prompt you, asking what happened next. Finally, continue the tale in a calm voice as you come to the creepy ending.
- The most terrifying endings are those in which the mystery remains unsolved. Don't reveal the mystery. Let your audience wonder if the ghost or killer in question is still alive, perhaps still wandering in the surrounding woods.
- When the story is over, keep silent, don't say anything more, as if you are so overwhelmed by the ending that you can't go on.
Advice
- Timing is everything - when a joke is synchronized correctly, it will work perfectly.
- You need to be sure that the person you are scaring has no heart or respiratory problems. Events that arouse fear or surprise could worsen your condition.
- He plays a character with creepy characteristics, for example he might have a chilling laugh or a devilish expression.
- Collect scary props and costumes. You never know when a bloody ax or Hellraiser mask will come in handy.
- Practice making scary noises and voices.
- Be careful not to offend either the victim or others who are with her, because even if you just want to have fun, you can sometimes risk overdoing it and someone may be hurt.
- Study horror masterpieces and thrillers. Read Stephen King's short stories, watch Alfred Hitchcock movies, and study Edgar Allan Poe's books.
Warnings
- When building a haunted house, choose a place that is structurally sound so as not to risk harming anyone.
- Some have heart problems, so if you scare them you could kill them. Even if it's not your intention, it's still a crime under the law.
- Don't try to scare a perfect stranger, unless they are in a haunted house or similar situation where they expect to be scared. They may think they are really in danger and react violently or hurt themselves by trying to escape.
- You could offend or hurt someone's feelings; at least you should know this person well enough not to risk being beaten if he doesn't laugh at you for his comedic reaction.
- Don't threaten never no one with a real weapon to try and scare him.
