For the past few years, I’ve kept a horror writing prompts book on my nightstand, fully intending to work on a prompt or two each night. However, I find that I really only ever pick it up in the autumn months when I feel the most inspired to writing horror.
I do believe that atmosphere is a very coercive muse to a writer. It’s why so many writers go out into the elements to get inspired, whether it’s taking a walk, shopping, or exercising while others retreat to the comfort of their writing space where everything feels familiar and safe. The creative juices flow when they surround themselves with just the right conditions.
Having always lived in a four-season climate, I feel that the seasons dictate my mood, my interests, and my experiences from month to month. I’m most inspired to write stories that fit into that season because there’s already so much inspiration surrounding me.
Below I’ve come up with 50 writing prompts that were inspired by classic fall themes, places, and experiences. I tried to make them as general as possible without getting too hokey. Even if you don’t follow any of them closely, I hope they at least get you thinking about topics, characters, and events that you would like to write about.
In any case, if these prompts to inspire a story and you write it down, please feel free to send me your work to read, whether it’s a rough draft or a published piece. I’d love to read them! You can email them to me at laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com. Happy writing!
Horror and Halloween-themed prompts
A character unearths something mysterious in their house while fall cleaning.
A ghost tour guide chronicles their experience working during the busy season for their ghost tour company.
An animatronic at a local museum stalks an unassuming visitor.
A story that chronicles a visit to a poison garden.
A superstitious person struggles to get through Friday, October 13th.
A character who loves Halloween completely forgets about it and spends Halloween night trying to decorate for it and find candy to pass out before it’s too late.
A night in the life of a scare house actor.
A new viral prank goes too far.
A goblin is seen walking down the street, and it’s unclear if it’s a costume or the real thing.
A witch has to gather odd ingredients for a very rare spell and tries to be discreet about it.
A fall weather event unearths a clue to solving a 50-year-old disappearance.
Stories about friends and relationships
A character is trying to avoid their ex who is attending an event at a farm where they work.
Two friends get stranded in a small town for the weekend.
Two friends write similar fall-themed books that are published by two different publishers at the same time.
Two siblings try to rob a Spirit Halloween or similar type of store, and the animatronics inside either supernaturally or inadvertently stop them.
Fantasy-based stories
The leaves on the trees are turning blue and only blue, and nobody knows why. They also won’t fall off the trees.
Create a new cryptid associated with the autumn. Come up with a good back story and at least one recent sighting.
A fall day in which a town experiences every season, from extreme cold and snow to sun and heat and everything in between.
A character finds a plastic egg with candy in it and eats it. What happens next?
Children’s and YA stories
A group of kids start a leaf raking business. How successful is it? What could go wrong?
Kids try to make and sell apple cider from the crab apples in their backyard. It doesn’t go well.
Characters are stuck in a high-rise office building during a zombie outbreak.
Trunk or treating goes wrong, either hilariously or horrifically.
A kid hijacks a school bus after a long school day.
A lonely teen tends to a vandalized grave and tries to find out who is damaging it.
Character-driven stories
A character goes through a medical issue from Labor Day to Thanksgiving.
A war between apple people vs. pumpkin people. It can be as harmless as a friendly competition or as serious as an actual war.
A character begins a hobby cleaning and tending to graves in the local cemetery, and they get backlash for it online and in their hometown.
A woman tries to offer tarot card readings in her hometown, and many in the town disapprove and even retaliate against her.
A woman named Autumn hates the fall season.
Someone hides out in an amusement park that has closed down for the year.
A character spends a rainy fall day trying to romanticize it the way people do online, but so much goes wrong, they can’t vouch for it.
An indie horror filmmaker films their movie and hosts a screening at a local theater. How does it go?
Workplace stories
A worker has to invent the next fall flavor for their food company or restaurant.
The pumpkin spice lattes in a small coffee shop are making people sick, and nobody knows why.
A character tries to win a work contest for the best fall soup and takes it too seriously.
A company wants to buy up an apple orchard and turn it into a data center.
A store creates anti-allergenic fall decorations only to find that they create reactions in those who do not have allergies.
A school faculty member, not a teacher, tries to get through a disastrous first week of school.
A character agrees to housesit for an acquaintance and finds odd collections of items, including antique medical tools, and it causes them to question what the person does with these items.
Animal stories
A turkey wreaks havoc on a town just before Thanksgiving.
A story about a dog named Leaf.
Someone volunteers a character to spend a week on a small farm while the farmer is away when they know nothing about farming.
A story from the perspective of a cat who lives in a curiosities shop.
A petting zoo full of animals with unusual defects, such as extra limbs, two heads, etc.
Muses
A story is set in a city or town you’ve always wanted to visit in the fall.
The story must contain the following words: gourd, equinox, banshee, maple, sage.
A modern version of your favorite classic fall story or scene.
A story based on your favorite Goosebumps book.
A story based on your favorite minor character from a classic or modern horror movie.
Buy it!
Buy this Autumn Grasses journal here to keep track of your stories, and support local bookstores!
This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
Pin it to Pinterest!
