Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Five Tips for Building the Nightmare in Your Horror Screenplay According to Owen Egerton

19/08/2022

By Stephanie Ornelas

Award-winning filmmaker and novelist Owen Egerton carries a notebook around with him quite often. As a horror screenwriter, he believes that it's his job to hunt down what terrifies him.

I write stuff down all the time. What we do as writers in the horror genre is the opposite of what other people do. It's the opposite of what we're told to do. If something scares a child, you're going to tell them to just put it out of their heads and not think about it. Instead, we're like, put it down on paper, write it out, expand on it,' says Egerton during Sundance Collab's recent Master Class: Creating the Nightmare in Your Horror Screenplay.

Throughout the three-hour interactive online class, Egerton explores the history of horror and discusses the various types of horror storytelling. He also talks about using horror to address social issues and how to elevate the genre through character. In between sessions, students had the opportunity to ask questions about the craft of writing horror and how to bring a fresh take to a tried-and-true genre.

We move towards storms so that we might be struck by lightning. We don't wait for inspiration to find us, we tackle it. And when we have a scary thought, when we have a nightmare - even if we don't know why it scares us - we write it down.

Having written and directed several horror films including Mercy Black (2019) and Blood Fest (2018), Egerton explains how each writer has a bouncer in their brain - and that bouncer is in charge of all the ideas that want to come in. But it's the horror writer's job to give the bouncer a night off.

The bouncer is sort of slowing ideas down. Nope, that's a bad idea. People are going to judge you if you say that. They're going to laugh at you.' But our job is to pick up that notebook and let in all the ideas - the bad ideas, the ideas we would never show anybody, the ones that frighten us, the ones that feel kind of dangerous, the ones that are offensive - even to us. Write down all these ideas. Don't let the bouncer turn them away.

It's one thing to have the ideas, but where do you go once you've let them all in? Using a simple four-point system, Egerton shows how he finds his way into a narrative from a single idea. He does it in one of four ways: character, monster, world, and idea. And writers can start with whichever one.

Character

My story is going to have all of these [character, monster, world, idea], but which one do I start with? What is the grain of sand around which the pearl gathers?

Using the main character in Mike Flanagan's Hush to elaborate, Egerton notes how the protagonist (Maddie) is independent, lives alone, and is hearing impaired.

That's his character. And [Flanagan] might be thinking, I know I want a story about this person. Now, how can I put her in a situation that tests her weaknesses and her strengths? I'm going to put her in a home invasion. She's alone in the woods and this guy is trying to get in. That's when I'm going to build my monster, my world, and my ideas around my character.
LINK: https://www.sundance.org/blogs/five-tips-for-building-the-nightmare-in...
See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

20/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Sonys Hugo Gaggioni Highlights HDR Advances, Software-Defined Workflows

At the 2026 NAB Show, Sony is showcasing a broad slate of innovations across liv...

20/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Fujinons Stosh Durbacz on Expanding the 4K Broadcast Lens Lineup With New Portable Zooms, 94x Box Lens

Fujifilm is sharpening its focus on core broadcast production with a new wave of...

20/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Rock-It Sports' John Walberg on Powering Logistics, Shipping for the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup

This upcoming summer in North America is going to be a busy one. The 2026 FIFA M...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Glookast outlines product updates including Media Producer UX, connectors and Premiere Pro panel

Glookast (Booth W1661) announced a series of product updates at NAB Show 2026, c...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Matrox Video and Amagi collaborate on cloud-based broadcast workflows using ORIGIN framework

Matrox Video and Amagi announced a collaboration to integrate the Matrox ORIGIN ...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Riedel SimplyLive supports expanded centralised VAR system for Argentina football league

Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that the Asociaci n del F tbol Arg...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Ikegami introduces VFE-P07D OLED viewfinder with integrated LCD monitor

Ikegami (Booth C3819) announced the VFE-P07D monocular OLED viewfinder at NAB Sh...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: IABM rebrands as IAMT and launches AI discovery platform and global alliance

International Association of MediaTech (IAMT), formerly known as IABM, announced...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Harmonic supports DIRECTV DTH platform upgrade with VOS Media Software

Harmonic (Booth W2831) announced that DIRECTV is updating its US direct-to-home (DTH) video platform using Harmonic's VOS Media Software. The deployment is...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Wasabi Technologies acquires Seagate Lyve Cloud business

Wasabi Technologies announced that it has acquired the Lyve Cloud business from Seagate Technology. As part of the agreement, Seagate received equity in Wasabi ...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: EVS introduces Choreon robotics orchestration platform for unified production control

EVS (Booth N1841) has launched Choreon, a robotics controller for media producti...

20/04/2026

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2026, Day 2: Live Reports From the Show Floor in Vegas

The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Skyline Communications launches DataMiner packages on Grass Valley AMPP App Store

Skyline Communications announced the availability of its DataMiner xOps platform...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: SNS launches Outpost, Trio and AI Suite for connected post-production workflows

Studio Network Solutions (Booth N1129) introduced a set of new products at NAB S...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Dell Technologies and NVIDIA present AI data platform for media workflows

Dell Technologies is showcasing its Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA at NAB Sho...

20/04/2026

NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live Software Audio Mixer

Blackmagic Design has announced Fairlight Live, a software-based live audio mixer with SMPTE 2110 support and spatial audio mixing. A public beta is available n...

20/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Imagine Comms Jimbo Haneklau Talks Prismon, Hybrid IP/SDI Workflows, and Cloud Playout

At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Imagine Communications VP of Sales, Sports an...

20/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: LiveUs Phillip Broaddus on LU900Q Launch, Nexus Cloud Platform, and REMI Growth

At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, LiveU Senior Director of Sales, Sports Philli...

20/04/2026

3 New Ways to Dive Deeper Into the Music You Love

A song that perfectly captures a moment is magic. But when you uncover the story behind it, who made it, what inspired it, and the meaning woven into the lyrics...

20/04/2026

Deity Microphones announce the PR-4

Ultra-compact 32-bit recorder set for launch Deity Microphones will soon be launching a new 32-bit six-track recorder that's been designed with producti...

20/04/2026

Lectrosonics preview the S1

Uncoming lightweight shotgun mic announced Production-sound experts Lectrosonics have recently announced the upcoming launch of a new lightweight shotgun mi...

20/04/2026

The story of Focusrite ISA

New 20-minute documentary explores iconic preamp In 2025, Focusrite commissioned a new short-form documentary with filmmaker Chris Mayes-Wright - the direct...

20/04/2026

Sampleson release Boomcha

Turn quick sketches into real drum grooves Sampleson have been experimenting with assitive production tools recently, and their latest creation aims to make...

20/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz rolls out its full ARDRONIS counter UAS suite in a demonstration van at Counter UAS Technology Europe 2026

Rohde & Schwarz rolls out its full ARDRONIS counter UAS suite in a demonstration...

20/04/2026

Protecting America's Shores: L3Harris Keeps the Coast Guard Mission-Ready

L3Harris delivers integrated communications, navigation and C4ISR capabilities that empower the U.S. Coast Guard to protect Americas maritime interests and resp...

20/04/2026

Google Cloud Embraces the Rise of Agentic Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Creators Go All in on AI, Niche Content

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

NBC Sports' Jon Miller: Broadcast Is Having a Moment'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Beyond the Lift and Shift': Cloud Migration's New Mandate

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Virtual Production Finds Its Footing

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Corporate Creators: All Companies Are Media Companies Now

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

IABM Rebrands as the International Association of MediaTech

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

CBS Detroit Debuts New AR/VR Technology-Driven Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Fox Sports Taps Appear X Platform for Remote Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

CueScript and Lighting Design Group Expand Customer Oppor...

CueScript and Lighting Design Group Expand Customer Opportunities Through New Partnership Find both companies at 2026 NAB Show in CueScript Booth # C 4720 ...

20/04/2026

Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-En...

[Sydney, NSW, 20 April 2026] - Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media orchestration platform Streamcake, today announced the formalisation of its i...

20/04/2026

FOX Sports selects Appear X Platform for next-generation...

Deployment spans FOX Sports' REMI infrastructure, IP production for a major global soccer event, and its Jewel Events production systems Appear, a global l...

20/04/2026

Pro Sound Effects Launches the Industry's First and Only Native Sound Effects Integration for Avid Media Composer at NAB 2026

Pro Sound Effects Launches the Industry's First and Only Native Sound Effect...

20/04/2026

SBE Elevates Fred Willard to SBE Fellow

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3 Update

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3 Update Brie Clayton April 20, 2026 0 Comments New update adds camera control and monitoring ...

20/04/2026

Maxon Announces Free Tools and Mobile Expansion of ZBrush and Cinema 4D

Maxon Announces Free Tools and Mobile Expansion of ZBrush and Cinema 4D Brie Clayton April 20, 2026 0 Comments Cinema 4D brings professional 3D workfl...

20/04/2026

Vizrt AI Keyer kills the green screen and creates virtual scenes in any environment

Vizrt AI Keyer kills the green screen and creates virtual scenes in any environm...

20/04/2026

Register now - Market & Audience Department Ask Me Anything (AMA) Session

Register now - Market & Audience Department Ask Me Anything (AMA) Session 11 February 2026 Screen Australia Head of Market & Audience Rakel Tansley Talking to...