High School Thriller Writing Prompts

"I need to confess something.. I did it. Now, can you pass the wine?"

Write a story which could be humorous or thrilling, with this as the opening line.

Write a series of diary entries from the point of view of someone hiding, evading capture.

They can be hiding for whatever reason you like, but think about why they are writing in a diary and who they might hope will find it.

Write an action or thriller story that takes place in an airport.

How can you use this setting to underscore the normal tropes of these genres?

Your protagonist visits a local vineyard that is strangely deserted, and meets the strange and eclectic owner...

Consider if you want to make this a horror, romance, mysterious thriller, or something else! How can you use the landscape to highlight your genre?

Write a story about a character becoming obsessed with something sinister on their phone.

From the perspective of a phobia or disease, create a narrative about how you are impacting someone’s life.

Think about how you can personify this particular disease or phobia, or its motives and behaviours.

Write a story about your biggest fear as a child

This story could be set in your childhood, or it could revolve around the fear in another setting.

When aliens invade earth, it is not to take over, but to beg for safety from an even greater threat...

Your neighbour has put up some halloween decorations, but you're worried about how realistic the skeletons are...

Your character is out on their boat alone, when a sinister shadow passes below them.

Build intensity and an element of fear from the outset.

You can feel someone watching you, but you can't see them anywhere.

Describe this feeling in less than 500 words, using vivid and visceral language to make your reader connect with the character being watched.

Write a scene where your main character has no control over their facial expressions or laughter. Instead, someone else controls them.