5 Spooky Writing Exercises for Your Little Monsters

Halloween is a great excuse for a little creative writing! Here are five ideas to add a little Halloween writing fun to your homeschool this fall.

The Haunted Mansion :: Creative Writing

Draw a creepy haunted mansion. Then do some research into the conventions of gothic literature. Write a gothic short story that’s set at your haunted house.

Monster Parts :: Expository Writing

Choose a partner, and then go into separate rooms, where each of you will draw a monster. Don’t share your monster drawings yet! Then, being as specific as possible, write directions for your partner to recreate your monster. Exchange directions and draw your partner’s monster exactly as directed. (No adding extra parts, and no oral additions to the directions!) Compare the original monsters to the partner-drawn monsters. 

Garbage Pail a Menu :: Descriptive Writing

Have you noticed the Cabbage Patch dolls in the toy department? Back in the 1980s there was a yuckier counterpart to the sweet Cabbage Patch Kids, the Garbage Pail Kids. Their faces were drawn in a like fashion, but that’s where the similarities ended. Garbage Pail Kids were delightfully disgusting, so parents hated them, and kids loved them. Characters included Orange Julius, whose skin was being peeled off like an orange, Freddy Spaghetti, who had noodles oozing out of every hole in his head, Foul Bill, whose face was being smashed in by a foul ball, and Doughy Chloe, who was mixing her own head in a bowl.  

Find a restaurant menu online, and then write a Garbage Pail Kids-style rendition of each item. Enjoy making your readers squirm with all of your graphically gross descriptions.  

Flash Fiction :: Creative Writing

Flash fiction works are stories with a low word count, ranging anywhere from just a few words that imply a story to a couple of pages. Ask a member of your family to give you a number between 5 and 10. Write the scariest story possible using only that number of words. Write several very short stories, and then ask your family to vote on which one is your scariest.

Urban Legends :: Creative Writing 

Urban legends are the scary folklore of our time. They aren’t true (though some of their elements may be based on facts), but people spread these tales to their friends and family as though they are, often warning them about some danger. 

Read some examples of urban legends here. Then invent your own urban legend. You’re all set for your turn at storytelling the next time you’re sitting around a campfire!