A global pandemic, a turbulent election season, and numerous celebrity scandals; oh my! Being a living human being in 2021 has been a roller coaster of shock and awe. If you're reading this, you’ve survived a deadly contagious virus, only to have another one right on your heels (delta variant, anyone?).

You would think being surrounded by all of this real-life horror would inspire you to write something great; but if you’re like me, it’s been the exact opposite. The daily news headlines that have been sparking my fear have also been cooling my will to write. I’ll admit it: I’ve been stuck. I’ve managed to write a drama and a stoner comedy this year, but not a single horror spec. Why? Is it because my reality is scarier than anything I could ever manifest on the page? Yes. Is it because I am experiencing quarantine fatigue and back-to-normal anxiety? Also, yes.

Look, nobody wants a quarantine horror script, right? Well, yes and no. They will tell you they are sick of reading quarantine horrors until they read one so incredible that it gets made and changes the industry. 

Here are three tips for ripping stories from the headlines for your horror:

1. Find the story, then inverse it 
Early this month, I interviewed the writing team behind Anything for Jackson and they outlined how they got the idea for the story by flipping typical horror subject matter — an exorcism — on its head. The news is filled with horrifying headlines every day, all day. They’re easy to find. Instead of pulling from real-life tragedy, I have actually been doing the opposite and looking into some good news stories to find inspiration. For example, I saw a segment on the news the other day that the Girl Scouts have an excess of cookies due to social distancing practices, which prevent them from setting up outside of grocery stores. I took that headline and thought, "What if there were no cookies left in the world?" A little silly. But what if instead of cookies it was children? Congratulations! I have successfully conceptualized 2006’s Children of Men. It’s not a perfect formula, but it’s a fun exercise to get the creative juices flowing.

2. 'Based on a true story' sells
The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — horror films that can trick an audience into believing segments of the film were real usually have huge success because they merge horror fan groups and true crime/drama fan groups together. This is a hugely successful formula for The Conjuring series as well. Scan your local newspapers online and you’ll be surprised by how many true stories will strike your imagination.

3. Open your mind up to new platforms
We live in a digital age where paper is virtually obsolete. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are where half of the country's population gets their news, but they’re not the only platforms — true crime TikTok has become one of my favorite portals for inspiration. There’s a ton of good stories buried there from all over the globe in a digestible, feed formula. However, a word of caution: there is rampant misinformation on social media; so while I encourage you to try all the available platforms, don't forget to perform extensive research prior to settling on an idea.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have been actively avoiding the news throughout the past year as we try to navigate through the pandemic. I found my mental health was draining every time I would turn on the news, especially during last year’s election season. However, the news isn’t just current headlines or local ones; they are your sister’s chaotic birthday party or your mother’s bad haircut. Headlines are all around you, waiting to be turned into a great horror story. As writers, our inclination is always, "write, write, write," but sometimes the writing is in the research.