Checkpoint 6 · Paper 2 writing (fiction)

Horror (Spooky) Stories

How to write a gently spooky story that builds suspense with sounds, shadows and one impossible detail — no gore needed — with features, a five-part plan, phrases, vocabulary and a strong 250-350 word sample.

British & IGCSE › Checkpoint 6 English (Cambridge Primary 0058)

1. What is a horror (spooky) story?

A horror story puts an ordinary character in a strange, lonely place and slowly builds fear and suspense — through sounds, shadows, cold air and small things that should not be there. The best spooky stories make the reader unsure what is real.

At Year 6, think spooky, not gory. You do not need blood, monsters or violence to frighten a reader. In fact, those things often make a story weaker. A piano playing in an empty room, a door that was locked and is now open, footsteps that stop when you stop — these are far more frightening because the reader imagines the rest.

Keep it suitable

Your story is read by an examiner who wants to see controlled, careful writing. Gory details (blood, injuries, cruelty) do not earn extra marks and can make the story feel silly or unpleasant. Fear that comes from suspense and the unknown is what scores well.

	Horror (spooky)	Mystery	Adventure
The main feeling	fear and suspense	curiosity	excitement
The setting	dark, empty or lonely place	an ordinary place with a secret	a real, wild place
The ending	often not fully explained — something lingers	the question is answered	the hero is safe and changed

Purpose: to make the reader feel nervous, curious and a little afraid. Audience: the examiner, who should want to keep reading even though they are scared of what comes next.

Where it sits in the exam

Paper 2 is the Fiction paper. It lasts 1 hour and is worth 50 marks: Section A Reading (25 marks) and Section B Writing (25 marks).
The suggested time for each section is about 30 minutes. That means you have about 30 minutes to plan, write and check your story.
Section B is one writing task. It can ask you to write the opening of a story, to continue a story, to write a complete story on a theme, or to describe a setting or character inside a story. It can be linked to the extract you read in Section A, and it usually gives you bullet points to include.
The task will not always say "write a spooky story". It gives you a theme. YOU decide that this genre fits the theme — then you stay inside the genre from the first line to the last.
Your story is marked by Cambridge examiners, not by your teacher, so it must make sense to a stranger who has never met you.

Themes that suit a spooky story: an empty building, a strange sound, something that should not be there, a dare, a lost object, an old photograph, a place nobody visits, a warning that is ignored.

How your story is marked (25 marks)

Mark category	Marks	What the top band looks like in this genre
Creation of texts	5	The story answers the theme and every bullet point. Suspense builds steadily. The main character is ordinary and believable, and the reader feels his or her fear. The ending leaves a lasting effect.
Vocabulary and language	3	Words chosen to build an eerie mood (creaked, flickered, drifted, icy, silent). Sound and touch used to create fear. Controlled imagery — one image at a time.
Structure of texts (Text structure)	7	A clear shape: calm → first strange sign → fear grows → climax → ending that lingers. Paragraph length used for effect (one-line paragraphs at frightening moments).
Grammar and punctuation (Sentence structure, punctuation & grammar)	7	Short sentences at moments of fear, longer ones to build tension. Accurate punctuation including speech, ellipsis and dashes. Past tense throughout.
Word structure (spelling)	3	Common and harder words spelled correctly (silence, whispered, frightened, ceiling, corridor, believe).
Total	25	Marked by best fit: the examiner reads the whole story and chooses the band that describes it best in each row.

Rules that can cap your mark

20 words or fewer scores 0.
An answer of 21-60 words can get no more than 7 marks out of 25.
If you write the wrong text type (for example, a diary or a letter when the task asks for a story), Creation of texts can be capped at 1 and Structure of texts at 3 (sometimes 2).
If your story moves away from the task's theme or forgets a bullet point, you lose Creation marks even if the writing is lovely. Keep the bullet points in front of you.

2. Features of spooky stories

Feature	What it means	Example sentence
An eerie, lonely setting	An empty school, an old house, a dark garden, a lift at night	The corridor stretched ahead, long and grey.
An ordinary main character	Someone the reader can imagine being	Nour had only come back for her maths book.
Suspense	The reader waits and worries — the answer is delayed	She reached for the handle. Then she stopped.
Strange sounds	Sounds are scarier than sights because we cannot see the cause	Somewhere above her, a door closed softly.
Something that should not be there	A small, impossible detail	The stool was still warm.
Cold and darkness	The body feels the fear	She could see her breath in the air.
Isolation	Nobody is nearby to help	The caretaker's office was at the other end of the building.
Not knowing what is real	Was it the wind? Was it a person?	She told herself it was the radio. She did not believe it.
A twist or lingering ending	Something is not fully explained	In her bag was a page that had not been there before.

Language and layout features (these earn Structure and Grammar marks):

Feature	How to use it	Example
A title	Name the place or the strange object	The Music Room / Room 13 / The Last Bus
One-line paragraphs	Stop the reader at each frightening moment	The music stopped.
Short sentences	Show fear and shock	It was hers.
Repetition	Shows the character trying to stay calm	She told herself it was a teacher. She told herself it was a radio.
Personification	Makes the place seem alive and watching	The windows stared down at her.
Senses (especially sound and touch)	Put the reader inside the fear	The handle was icy under her fingers.
Ellipsis	Creates a pause or suspense	Slowly, the door began to open…
Questions	Show confusion and fear	“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Show less, frighten more

Never describe the "ghost" in full detail. The moment the reader can see it clearly, it stops being frightening. Give ONE small detail — a warm piano stool, a name on a page, footsteps that stop — and let the reader's imagination do the rest.

3. How to structure a spooky story

Plan with G.C.S.P.P. first: Genre (spooky — what is the strange event?), Characters (one ordinary main character + maybe one other person who appears briefly — fewer people = more lonely and frightening), Setting (one empty or dark place you can describe with sounds and cold), Point of view (first person "I" makes the fear feel close, and third person also works — keep it the same), Plot (whole story, opening or continuation?).

Then use the five-part spooky arc. Every stage should make the reader a little more nervous than before.

Stage	Paragraph(s)	What to write	Tip
1. Opening — calm, but strange	1-2	A short hook line, then an ordinary reason for being there. The place is quiet — too quiet.	A hook like "The school was different after six o'clock." works better than a scream.
2. Build-up — the first sign	3-4	Describe the setting with sounds and silence. Then ONE strange thing happens: a sound, a light, an open door.	Use a one-line paragraph for the first sign.
3. Rising fear	5-6	The character moves closer. More signs. Cold, darkness, his or her heart beating. The character tries to explain it away.	Make the reader shout "Don't go in!" — that is suspense.
4. Climax — the frightening moment	7	The impossible detail is seen or heard. Very short sentences.	Show one detail, not a full monster.
5. Ending — it lingers	8-9	The character escapes or the moment passes — but something is still not explained.	End on a final small detail that brings the fear back.

Minutes	What you do
0-4	Read the task twice. Underline the theme and every bullet point. Plan with G.C.S.P.P. (Genre, Characters, Setting, Point of view, Plot) and jot one note for each paragraph. Write your strange event and your final twist in one line each.
4-26	Write. Many strong answers are about 250-350 words. At minute 15 you should be at the problem (the middle of your story). If you are still describing the setting, move on.
26-30	Check: spelling of your best words and names, full stops (no long chains of commas), speech marks, capital letters, and the same tense all the way through.

Plant your twist early

Mention an ordinary object near the start (a maths book, a key, a photograph). Bring it back in the last line in a strange way. The examiner sees a story that was planned from the first word — Structure marks.

4. Useful phrases and vocabulary

Change the words in brackets to fit your own story. Use one or two in each stage — restraint is what makes a story spooky.

Openings

The [school / house / street] was different after dark.
Nobody ever went into [Room 13 / the old garden]. Everybody knew why — or thought they did.
It was only supposed to take five minutes.
The [house / library] was silent. Too silent.

Describing the setting

The [corridor / stairs / garden] stretched ahead, long and [grey / dark / silent].
The windows stared down at [him/her] like empty eyes.
Every [floorboard / step] creaked as if the house was complaining.
The only light came from a single flickering [bulb / candle].

The first strange sign

That was when [he/she] heard it.
Somewhere above, a door [closed softly / creaked open].
The [music / footsteps / whispering] stopped the moment [he/she] spoke.
The [door / window], which had been locked, was now open — just a crack.

Building fear

[He/She] told [himself/herself] it was the wind. [He/She] did not believe it.
[His/Her] heart was beating so loudly that [he/she] was sure someone could hear it.
The air grew colder with every step.
“Hello?” [His/Her] voice sounded thin and small.

Climax

[He/She] reached out… and stopped.
There, on the [desk / step / mirror], was [his/her] own name.
It was impossible. And yet there it was.
For a moment, nobody breathed.

Endings

[He/She] did not look back.
The next morning, everything looked normal. Almost everything.
And in [his/her] pocket was something that had not been there before.
Some nights, [he/she] still hears it.

Word / phrase	Meaning / use
eerie	strange and frightening in a quiet way — an eerie silence
deserted	empty, with nobody there — a deserted building
creak	a long, low sound of old wood or a door moving
flicker	to shine on and off unsteadily — the light flickered
shiver	to shake with cold or fear
whisper	to speak very softly
echo	a sound that comes back to you — her voice echoed
shadow	a dark shape made when something blocks the light
dread	a strong feeling that something bad is going to happen
uneasy	worried and nervous, not comfortable
motionless	not moving at all
ghostly	pale, faint and strange, like a ghost
chilling	frightening, making you feel cold inside — a chilling sound
gloomy	dark and sad-looking — a gloomy hallway
peculiar	strange and unusual

5. Strong sample answer

Spooky story — The Music Room338 words · Strong answer — Creation 5/5 · Vocabulary 3/3 · Structure 7/7 · Grammar & punctuation 7/7 · Spelling 3/3

Task: Write a story about a strange event that happens in an empty building. In your story you should: describe the building and how the main character feels there, describe the strange event and explain how the story ends.

The school was different after six o’clock.

Nour had only come back for her maths book. The caretaker, Mr Fathy, unlocked the side door, yawned and said, “Five minutes. I’ll be in my office.”

The corridor stretched ahead of her, long and grey. Without the shouting and the slamming of lockers, every sound seemed too loud: her trainers squeaking, the hum of the drinks machine, the drip of a tap. The posters on the walls watched her pass with their bright, frozen smiles.

She found her book in Classroom 6B and turned to leave.

That was when she heard the piano.

It drifted down the stairs from the music room: a slow, sad tune, played softly, as if someone did not want to be heard. Nour stopped. The music room was always locked after school. Everybody knew that.

“Hello?” she called. Her voice came back to her, thin and small.

The music stopped.

Nour told herself it was a teacher. She told herself it was a radio. She did not believe either, but her feet carried her up the stairs anyway, one careful step at a time. The air grew colder as she climbed; by the top, she could see her breath.

The music room door was open, just a crack. Inside, moonlight lay across the old piano like a white sheet. The stool was empty. The lid was raised. On the stand stood a single page of music, yellow with age.

Across the top, in neat, old-fashioned handwriting, someone had written a name.

It was hers.

Nour ran. She ran down the stairs, along the corridor and out into the warm evening, where Mr Fathy was waiting.

“Who plays the piano in the music room?” she gasped.

He frowned. “Nobody, my dear. That piano has been broken for thirty years. It hasn’t made a sound since I started here.”

Nour did not sleep well that night. And when she opened her maths book the next morning, a single page of yellow music slid out onto the floor.

Why this gets the marks

Creation of texts 5/5 — all three bullet points: the empty building and Nour's feelings (the school after six o'clock, paragraphs 1-3 and 9), the strange event (a broken piano playing and a page of music with her name, 5-12), and the ending (the caretaker's twist and the page in her book, 13-16).
Creation — spooky, not gory: the fear comes from what Nour hears and half-sees, never from blood or monsters. The reader is left unsure what is real, which is exactly what makes a spooky story work.
Creation — an ordinary, believable heroine: a girl collecting a forgotten maths book. Her Thoughts ("She told herself it was a teacher") and Actions ("one careful step at a time") show her fear (STEAL).
Vocabulary 3/3 — words that build an eerie mood: stretched, frozen smiles, drifted, thin and small, a crack, yellow with age. Imagery: personification "The posters… watched her pass" (3), simile "moonlight lay across the old piano like a white sheet" (10).
Structure 7/7 — the five-part spooky arc: hook and ordinary setting (1-4), first sign of fear — the piano (5-8), rising fear — climbing the stairs and the empty room (9-11), climax — her own name (12), unresolved ending — the page in her book (13-16).
Structure — pace and cohesion: one-line paragraphs (1, 5, 8, 12) stop the reader at each frightening moment. The maths book in paragraph 2 returns in the final line, so the ending is planned, not random.
Grammar & punctuation 7/7 — sentence variety: very short sentences at the climax ("It was hers."), repetition for effect ("She told herself… She told herself…"), a list of three sounds, and a rule of three in action ("down the stairs, along the corridor and out into the warm evening").
Grammar & punctuation — range: colon for a list ("too loud: her trainers squeaking, the hum…, the drip of a tap"), colon for explanation ("from the music room: a slow, sad tune"), semicolon joining two related sentences ("colder as she climbed; by the top, she could see her breath"), and correct speech punctuation including a question inside speech marks.
Spelling 3/3 — tricky words correct: caretaker, corridor, squeaking, machine, frozen, believe, either, careful, old-fashioned, frowned. Apostrophes accurate (o'clock, I'll, hasn't).

6. Common mistakes and final checklist

Common mistake	Why it loses marks	Fix
Blood, violence and gory details	Unpleasant and not controlled — it does not build suspense	Frighten with sounds, cold and one impossible detail.
The ghost appears in the first paragraph	No suspense left (Structure)	Delay it. Build up with small signs first.
"Suddenly" in every paragraph	It stops working and sounds repetitive (Vocabulary)	Use one-line paragraphs or "That was when…" instead.
Too many characters screaming and running	Fear needs loneliness	One main character, alone or nearly alone.
Describing the monster in full detail	The reader stops imagining	Show one small detail only.
Ending "…then I woke up. It was a dream."	Cancels the story (Creation)	End with a small detail that brings the fear back.
Lots of capital letters and !!!!!!	Grammar & punctuation	Let your words create the fear; one exclamation mark is enough.
Changing tense when it gets exciting	Grammar & punctuation	Stay in the past tense from start to finish.

Checklist before you hand in

I answered the theme and every bullet point.
My main character is ordinary and alone (or nearly alone).
My setting uses sound, cold and darkness.
The fear builds slowly: calm → first sign → closer → climax → lingering ending.
I used at least two one-line paragraphs at frightening moments.
My story is spooky, not gory.
I used correct speech punctuation and at least two of: colon, dashes, ellipsis, semicolon.
My ending brings back something from the beginning.

قصة الرعب في الصف السادس: مخيفة لا دموية

الخوف الحقيقي يأتي من الأصوات والبرد والأشياء الغريبة الصغيرة، لا من الدم والوحوش.
لا تُظهر الشبح أو الشيء المخيف في بداية القصة، بل ابنِ التشويق خطوة بعد خطوة.
استخدم جملًا قصيرة جدًا وفقرة من سطر واحد في اللحظة المخيفة، مثل: It was hers.
لا تُنهِ القصة بعبارة "واستيقظتُ فوجدته حلمًا"، فهذا يلغي القصة كلها. اختم بتفصيلة صغيرة تعيد الخوف من جديد.

Practice tasks

Practice task 1: Write a story about a character who is alone in a place at night and hears something strange. In your story you should: describe the place, describe what the character hears and does and explain how the story ends. Write a G.C.S.P.P. plan.
Show answer
G: spooky story. C: Adam (10, sleeping at his grandmother's flat for the first time), his grandmother (asleep, appears only at the end). S: Grandma's old flat in a quiet building, a long dark hallway, an old wall clock. P: first person, past tense. Plot — 1 hook: "Grandma's clock had stopped at 3:15 years ago." 2 Adam cannot sleep. The flat is silent. 3 first sign: at night he hears the clock ticking. 4 he walks down the hallway. The ticking grows louder and the air is cold. 5 climax: the clock's hands are moving — and they stop at 3:15 as he looks. 6 morning: Grandma says the clock was Grandpa's and "only ticks for people he would have liked". 7 ending: Adam looks at the clock; its hands have moved one minute.
Practice task 2: Make this sentence more spooky without using any gory details: "There was a scary ghost in the room with blood everywhere."
Show answer
Possible answer: "The room was empty. But the rocking chair by the window was still moving, slowly, as if someone had just stood up." — fear comes from an impossible detail, not blood.
Write three different one-line paragraphs you could use at frightening moments in a spooky story.
Show answer
Possible answers: "Then the lights went out." / "The footsteps stopped." / "Someone had written her name."
In the sample, why does the writer repeat "She told herself…" in paragraph 9?
Show answer
Possible answers: (1) it shows Nour trying to calm herself down and find an ordinary explanation. (2) it shows that she is frightened, because she has to keep convincing herself. (3) it builds suspense, because the reader feels her explanations are not true. (4) it creates a rhythm that slows the story down just before the climax.
In the sample, why does the writer use a colon in paragraph 3 ("every sound seemed too loud: her trainers squeaking, the hum of the drinks machine, the drip of a tap")?
Show answer
The colon introduces a list. The list gives examples of the sounds that seem too loud, so the reader hears the silence of the empty school and starts to feel how lonely and uneasy Nour is.

All pages in this course

Start here: the exam

Reading: grammar & punctuation

Reading: understanding texts

Paper 1 writing: non-fiction

Paper 2 writing: fiction