Teach-Primary-Issue-19.8

60 | www.teachwire.net My new series Fear Files began with my discovery of the DARKIVE – a top-secret database of young people’s first-hand accounts of strange and unexplained experiences. You see, there is only one emotion that is as old as life on Earth – and that emotion is fear; a primal reaction that has evolved to protect every living thing against any perceived threats and dangers. But the dangers we face are constantly evolving and so are our fears – and these are contained within the DARKIVE… The first book in the Fear Files series is Hide and Seek , a story inspired by the childhood game of the same name, which is genuinely the most terrifying game ever invented. Terrifying for the hider – are you going to get caught, or – worse – forgotten? Terrifying for the seeker – who or what is going to jump out at you when you go looking for them? In Fear Files: Hide and Seek , Adam and his best friend, Sol, discover an abandoned ghost town and find themselves playing a strange game of hide and seek. But who or what is trying to find them? And can Adam stay one step ahead of the shadowy figure of the Itter? In this extract, Adam discovers an overgrown phone box and thinks this gives him the chance to phone for help before the Itter can find him. But the Itter has other ideas… I n my books, from Escape Room to Black Hole Cinema Club , I’m always trying to write thrilling stories where readers have to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. Writing a truly terrifying scene in a horror story works in exactly the same way, but with a twist – you want to create the same thrills, but you also have to add a frisson of fear to your writing, making the reader almost too scared to turn the page, but they have to as they still want to find out what happens next, even if they might dread it! Fear Files: Hide and Seek WAGOLL Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge (£7.99, Walker Books), is out now 1 How writers can create a scary scene There are lots of ways authors create thrilling fears for their readers, and Christopher Edge uses many of them throughout the first of his Fear Files novels, Hide and Seek . This particular extract exemplifies two brilliant, classic techniques: giving the main character a feeling of potential escape or relief and then ripping it away; and having the threat take the form of something that’s normally associated with safety, innocence and happy memories (in this instance, the threat – the Itter – speaks in playground rhyme). Edge also throws in a jump-scare for good measure! Techniques a writer could use to create a scary scene: First, make the main character/ first-person narrator desperate to escape from the setting, and decide on the form of the threat that is chasing them. Keep in mind that this threat needs to use, or represent, something that is usually associated with safety, to create that extra-terrifying atmosphere! Most stories are written in the past tense, but authors sometimes write in the present, and this works well with an urgent horror story like this. Using the present tense will help make your readers feel a part of the scary scene. Also, if conjunctions are purposefully kept simple (Edge mostly uses as and but in this scene) it feels as though the narrator is talking – telling us about what’s happening – rather than writing a story. Opening with explicit relief – perhaps preceded with a fronted adverbial that shows the ongoing struggle – will help to lull readers into a false sense of security: Pushing past the leaves, I breathe a sigh of relief as I… Cover and background illustrations © Mathias Ball Resources © Lindsay Pickton. primaryeducationadvisors.co.uk 1 Resources © Lindsay Pickton. primaryeducationadvisors.co.uk Teaching notes Creating a scary scene KS2 teaching pack In a spooky story, one of the scariest things is when an apparent hope or source of rescue is snatched away – or even becomes a source of danger. One thing that might be even scarier, though, is when the source of danger is – or uses – something that normally feels safe, friendly and familiar. Great writers control these contrasts to create that thrilling sense of fear so beloved of many readers; like the ebb and flow of a rollercoaster ride. This resource pack, linked with the Teach Primary article by the author himself, will help you guide KS2 children through the process of analysing a seriously unsettling scene in Christopher Edge’s relentlessly thrilling Hide and Seek (the first book in his new Fear Files series) and selecting the techniques they will adopt to craft terrifying scenes of their own. The extract can be used in isolation, as a means for teaching certain techniques beloved of horror writers – especially the dashing of hope, and the potential creepiness of childhood rhymes! The process will also increase enjoyment of Hide and Seek as the class novel; or, for those children who relish the thrills found in the scene, the extract may well lure them into reading the Fear Files for themselves! Teachers’ notes are included here with suggestions of how you might use these resources with your class. What’s Included • Extract from Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge • ‘How writers can create a scary scene’ poster • ‘Exploring Writers’ techniques’ worksheet • ‘Exploring Writers’ techniques’ working wall display • Location, potential means of escape and threat ideas • Planning sheet Cover and background illustrations © Mathias Ball DOWNLOAD RESOURCES AT Download your FREE , exclusive teaching pack to help you explore both this extract and the rest of the book with your class. tinyurl.com/tp-Ffiles Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge Chapter 11 Pages 76-77 Pushing past the leaves, I breathe a sigh of relief as I spot the silver and black telephone that’s fixed to the rear wall. I left my mobile back at the campsite, but now I’ve finally got a way to escape from this nightmare. A black handset with a silver metallic cord rests in a cradle of moulded plastic. I stare at the numbers on the keypad and rack my brain, trying to think of who to call. Every number I know is stored on my phone – Mum, Dad, Gran, Sol too – and I can’t remember a single one. I jump in surprise as the telephone rings. For a second, I just stand there, staring at the handset as it vibrates in time with every ring. Then I snatch up the phone, lifting the handset to my ear as I babble into the mouthpiece. Cover and background illustrations © Mathias Ball primaryeducationadvisors.co.uk Resources © Lindsay Pickton 1 5 TIPS FOR CREATING A TERRIFYING SCENE 1. FIRST AND PRESENT To give your reader maximum chills, the choice of a first-person narrative voice told in the present tense can make them feel as though they’re stuck inside your horror story. This mode of writing can also help to build suspense, as the reader only shares the narrator’s viewpoint and, just like them, can’t see what might be waiting around the corner. 2. DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS Think about what scares you and draw on these fears when choosing descriptive details to evoke a sense of horror. These creepy details should appeal to the full range of readers’ senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. 3. STRUCTURE Sentence structure and paragraph lengths can help you to control the pace of your scene. For example, you could use longer sentences and paragraphs to build suspense and then shock the reader with a short, single sentence paragraph when something scary happens, creating an abrupt change of pace. 4. PUNCTUATION Avoid using exclamation marks too often, as this can reduce their impact. Instead, think about how you could use ellipsis to build suspense, e.g. by suggesting something is too terrible to describe, letting the reader’s imagination fill in the gap. 5. CHARACTERISATION If we’re going to be scared, we need to care! Make characters distinctive in the dialogue you choose for them, the ways they act and react, and, most importantly, their thoughts and motivations. Peer inside the mind of the author, and help pupils understand how to create a terrifying scene Resources © Lindsay Pickton. primaryeducationadvisors.co.uk Cover and background illustrations © Mathias Ball Present tense to give a sense of the action happening now 1 Examples of how authors have created a scary scene using… Exploring writers’ techniques