5 Stereotype Characters I Used To Add in My Short Horror Stories
We have those same typical characters we use in all of our writing. In the horror genre, I used to have five specific types of characters in all of my stories. I’m not talking about the five main horror stereotypes: the final girl, the nerd, the jock, the hot girl, and the stoner dude. Back in college, I tended to have very different type of characters that are considered my stereotypes. These five characters were always presented in the same old scenario; a slasher killer or a supernatural monster is hunting them down.
Every past horror story that I wrote in college had these five characters, or at least several of them, and they were always dissected by my college classmates and professors.
Or heavily criticized, to be put in a lighter tone.
1. The Supporting, Smart Girl Character that is Secretly Hot
In the majority of my short stories, I always add the smart girl, or the nerd in horror stereotypes. She tends to come off very intelligent in the beginning of the story, annoying or irritating the group. One guy in the group happens to like her, and then during some ‘alone time,’ he witnesses another side to the nerdy girl: the naughty side.
This idea has been done loads of times, the girl with glasses is actually hot looking. Like come on, why do I do this to myself? The majority of my readers always see it coming a mile away…my college courses were not a fan of this trope.
2. That Dude that is Scared of Everything
You know that annoying character in all those horror movies that can’t stop screaming? It’s always the female characters that are always the ones keeping up the scream queen era. I like to use men as the scared ones, since I feel we don’t normally see them in horror movies as often.
This guy in my stories is always having breaking points, screaming in every bad moment, or the first one who runs away, leaving his friends or family to die. I had one class in college that noticed this character last semester, and I was informed to stop using this scared dude in multiple stories. So glad they caught this, and I immediately learned my lesson after that.
3. One of Them Has Killer Tendencies
I would constantly do this in all of my past short horror stories. In a group of five people, there is that dude or chick that is already secretly a lunatic. This person already has kills or is planning to wipe out each of their friends. Sometimes it’s for a reason, or for no particular reason at all. I loved placing this idea in all of my past stories, the concept of that person hiding in sheep’s clothing among a friend group is an idea I have been obsessed with for years.
Surprisingly my college classes were never against this idea, but they did mention that I should add more hints to the twist of the person being a killer. The amount of advice I was given from my classmates was great. So, this character in my stories wasn’t exactly a backfire or an annoyance.
4. That Person You Hope Dies First
Let’s face it, there is always going to be that character you hope dies first in the movie. That man or woman is extremely obnoxious, and only values themselves. This character in my stories wouldn’t exactly die first, but they would receive the worst death by far. In one of my stories, this crazy teen that was selfish throughout the story was decapitated by a mystery killer with a knife. Yes, I tend to have them tortured before they 100% die.
My classmates and my professor in college always told me to tone down the deaths a little, since I liked a lot of gore in my stories. Sometimes they told me to add human elements to make the characters complicated. This was a fun piece of advice I was given, and I started to add these traits to these characters. Their deaths became more impactful in my stories later on.
5. ‘The Final Boy’
Yes, I’m very aware of the Final Girl trope in all horror movies. It’s always been the main stereotype; a girl that is the underdog of the group is the one that will be the last one standing during a final confrontation with the killer. In my opinion, this trope has been done way too many times. I would like to switch up the formula a little, by having the Final Boy be the survivor. I did this idea a lot, to have my readers/audience least expect this mini twist.
Everyone is so used to the girl making it until the end, that you wouldn’t expect a boy to be the last one standing. In my college courses, no one was ever against this idea, everyone thought it was interesting that a guy was the one to live in the end. I wish horror movies would tackle this concept so much more. One of the few horror movies that had two men as the last two alive was the film, Deep Blue Sea.
Do I still use these characters in my new horror stories today?
Yes.
Is it overdone?
Not really. At least the writing for these characters is a little better.
That I can say has worked out for me as a horror writer!
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