Horror and story shorts: prompt recipes

Slow-burn horror, bedtime twists and first-person dramas. The recipes keep people out of the picture (empty places and objects) or use a stick figure, and open on a concrete detail instead of a scene-setting line.

3 recipes on this page: 0 verified, 3 untested. Our videos are AI-generated and say so when we post them. Connect AutoShort first with the steps on the MCP page, then paste a brief into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Gemini CLI.

How to read a recipe

  • Verified means a real video was made through the product from this recipe or its direct predecessor, and the card links the public video and states the honest result, including low view counts.
  • Untested means we have not rendered a video from it yet. Drafting, editing and pricing are free; rendering costs credits.
  • The brief builds a draft you read before anything is charged. The assistant should call autoshort_render_draft only after you say yes. Prices come from the live price list: see pricing and costs. You can try the script step free on the free script preview.

Honest limits for this channel type

  • Handwriting, signs and screens come back as pseudo-text, so show them closed, blurred or from behind.
  • Faces and limbs in the first frame are the biggest risk: the first frame is the longest-watched one.

Recipes (3)

A slow-burn original ghost story, no gore, no people on screen, a quiet twist in the last two sentences.

Untested. We have not rendered a video from this brief yet. Rendering costs credits, so it has not been run; the draft steps (scenes, edits, price quote) are free.

Hook (nine words or fewer)

“The logbook was filled in again this morning.”

Frame 1, already in motion

A logbook open on a wooden table, wet ink glistening, a lamp flame flickering, camera already pushing toward the page.

The brief to paste

Make a 45-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "The logbook was filled in again this morning."
Frame 1 is already moving: a logbook open on a wooden table, wet ink glistening, a lamp flame flickering, camera pushing toward the page.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the logbook.
2. The new caretaker arrives at a foggy lighthouse cottage; the log is empty.
3. Day two: an entry is there. The handwriting is not theirs. The ink is wet.
4. Day three: two entries. The caretaker locks the door and stays awake.
5. Night: the lamp turns without anyone touching it.
6. Twist in the last two sentences: the final entry describes this exact night, written before it happened.

Look of every image: photographic, dark and moody, fog, waves, a flickering lamp, empty rooms, a closed door. No people, no faces, and no legible handwriting: show the logbook from a distance, closed, or with the page out of focus.
Ending: Quiet twist, then a hard stop. No gore, no real places, no real people.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Art style
AUTOSHORTS (Professional). Photographic and people-free, so the fear comes from places and objects.
Length and format
45 seconds, 9:16.
Language
Narration: English (en).
Voice
Not selectable on the draft path: the product narrates with its default voice. Steer the delivery with short sentences and plain punctuation; premium ElevenLabs voices are a separate paid option (see the options table). For a whispery feel, write short sentences with silence implied by full stops.
Caption look
Picked automatically through MCP. In the dashboard's Motion graphics (beta) style, the "Mono" look is the first one listed for this genre.
Estimated cost
40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.
Tools it triggers
  • autoshort_list_options
  • autoshort_draft_video
  • autoshort_get_draft
  • autoshort_update_draft
  • autoshort_estimate_cost
  • autoshort_render_draft

Visual direction for the images

  • Handwriting is the trap: any visual that asks for readable writing comes back as pseudo-letters. Show the book closed, from behind, or blurred.
  • One wrong detail per scene (a lamp on the wrong way, a door ajar), not a crowd of effects.
  • Use hands or the back of someone only if you must; the default style removes people, so prefer empty rooms.
  • Keep frame 1 a close detail, not the lighthouse from the sea.

Two variations

Shorter, 30 seconds: “Someone else has been writing in my logbook.”

Same story in 30 seconds with four scenes and the twist in the final line.

Make a 30-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "Someone else has been writing in my logbook."
Frame 1 is already moving: a pen lying beside an open logbook, ink still wet, lamp flicker, slow push-in.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the pen and book.
2. The caretaker finds an entry she did not write.
3. Second night, a second entry, in the same stranger's hand.
4. Twist: the last entry is dated tomorrow.

Look of every image: photographic, dark, fog, lamp glow, empty rooms. No people, no faces, no legible writing.
Ending: Quiet twist, hard stop.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 70 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Different place, same recipe: “The lift stops on a missing floor.”

Swap the lighthouse for an invented office building; keep one wrong detail per scene.

Make a 45-second scary story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "The lift stops on a missing floor."
Frame 1 is already moving: a lift display glowing over closing doors, the number between two floors, slow push-in.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the display.
2. Night shift: the security guard rides to the top floor as always.
3. The lift stops one floor early; the corridor lights are already on.
4. Every door on that floor has his name on it, blurred.
5. He presses the button; the doors do not close.
6. Twist: the floor is the one he works on tomorrow.

Look of every image: photographic, cold fluorescent light, empty corridors, closed doors, no people, no faces, no readable signs or numbers (show them blurred).
Ending: Quiet twist, hard stop. No gore, no real building.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.

Do not

  • Do not put a "bare feet" or other body part in the hook frame. The first frame of a horror short is the one a viewer sees longest, and a malformed limb ends it.

    What we saw: Dark-ink horror story: the hook frame showed bare feet that looked malformed; replaced by a door with a shadow. (our note: qa.md, line 18.)

  • Do not ask for legible handwriting, signs or numbers in an image. Ask for the object, not the words.

    What we saw: The long uppercase no-text block made the image model redraw garbage text on 3 of 11 trial videos; a short "Pure illustration with no writing in it." replaced it. (our note: howto.md, line 7.)

  • Do not open with a wide establishing shot of the lighthouse or a line like "In a small coastal town...".

    What we saw: A bedtime story opened on a wide establishing frame and a 16-plus-word "In a soft watercolour world..." first sentence. (our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 20.)

Related real videos (not made from this recipe)

Also see Horror and story shorts use case, all prompts and what each step costs.

First-person narration, short scenes, a last line that opens a question. Drawn as a stick figure so no human-like face is generated.

Untested. Our real first-person drama series (The Last Subscriber) was made on a different, costlier path with realistic fictional characters, so it does not verify this stick-figure brief.

Hook (nine words or fewer)

“I thought it was a small mistake.”

Frame 1, already in motion

The stick figure staring at a phone, the screen glowing, arms rising in alarm.

The brief to paste

Make a 30-second first-person drama with AutoShort. Art style STICKMAN, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "I thought it was a small mistake."
Frame 1 is already moving: the stick figure staring at a phone, screen glowing, arms rising in alarm.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook: the moment something goes wrong.
2. What the narrator expected, in one image.
3. The first sign it is not true.
4. The cost of finding out.
5. Final frame: a closed door, with the unanswered question in the last spoken line.

Look of every image: flat 2D stick figure, one red scarf as the only accent colour, flat peach background, one prop per scene, no writing anywhere (the phone screen is a plain glowing rectangle). Any second person is another stick figure in a single accent colour.
Ending: The last narrated line is a question the next episode would answer.
First-person, present tense, one short sentence per scene. No real people, brands or company names.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 70 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Art style
STICKMAN (Stickman). The one style that can tell a story about people without drawing a human-like face.
Length and format
30 seconds, 9:16.
Language
Narration: English (en).
Voice
Not selectable on the draft path: the product narrates with its default voice. Steer the delivery with short sentences and plain punctuation; premium ElevenLabs voices are a separate paid option (see the options table). First person, short sentences.
Caption look
Picked automatically through MCP.
Estimated cost
40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.
Tools it triggers
  • autoshort_list_options
  • autoshort_draft_video
  • autoshort_get_draft
  • autoshort_update_draft
  • autoshort_estimate_cost
  • autoshort_render_draft

Visual direction for the images

  • The character lock is added by the product for STICKMAN; describe only the pose, the prop and the background.
  • A phone or laptop screen is a plain glowing rectangle. Ask for no writing.
  • One prop per scene, a medium shot every time.
  • Emotion by posture only (hands on cheeks, arms up, arms crossed).

Two variations

Money-free version: “I thought the door was locked.”

Swap the business setup for a household mystery.

Make a 30-second first-person drama with AutoShort. Art style STICKMAN, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "I thought the door was locked."
Frame 1 is already moving: the stick figure turning a key, a door swinging open slowly.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook: the open door.
2. What the narrator expected: an empty hallway.
3. The first sign: a second set of muddy footprints.
4. The cost: the narrator sits down on the stairs.
5. Final frame: a closed door, and the unanswered question.

Look of every image: flat 2D stick figure with a red scarf, flat peach background, one prop per scene, no writing.
Ending: Last line is a question.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 70 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Comic payoff: “I thought the cake was safe.”

A comic cliffhanger instead of a dark one.

Make a 30-second first-person comedy drama with AutoShort. Art style STICKMAN, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "I thought the cake was safe."
Frame 1 is already moving: the stick figure holding a plate, a cake with a missing slice in front of them.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook: the missing slice.
2. What the narrator expected: a whole cake.
3. The first sign: crumbs leading under the table.
4. The cost: the narrator crawls under the table.
5. Final frame: two eyes in the dark. Who is it?

Look of every image: flat 2D stick figure with a red scarf, flat peach background, one prop per scene, no writing.
Ending: Last line is a question.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 70 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.

Do not

  • Do not open with an 11-word sentence over a static face: it failed the hook rule.

    What we saw: An 11-word first sentence over a static face failed the 9-word hook rule (YouTube swiped away 92.6 %). (our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 13.)

  • Do not cast a realistic human lead: the style that draws one without a face is STICKMAN.

    What we saw: STICKMAN is the one way to tell a story about people without a human-like face: the figure has two dot eyes and a line. (our note: art-styles.ts, line 181-182.)

  • Do not expect the same lead in every episode without a character lock: our drama series changed its lead.

    What we saw: The lead of a drama series was a different person in episode 3 than in episode 2. (our note: quality-benchmark-2026-10-27.md, line 63.)

Related real videos (not made from this recipe)

  • The Last Subscriber, ep 2 (Character Studio path)

    Real video from our account on a different path. YouTube: 6 views at the 28 Oct read, 25.0 % stayed / 75.0 % swiped away. Episode 3: 8 views, 85.7 % swiped away. Median of our posts then: 5 views.

    Our note: measurements-2026-10-28-autoshort.md, line 8,10.

Also see Horror and story shorts use case, all prompts and what each step costs.

A specific time and place in the first line, one wrong detail per shot, and a twist that re-reads the first line.

Untested. We have not rendered a video from this brief yet. Rendering costs credits, so it has not been run; the draft steps (scenes, edits, price quote) are free.

Hook (nine words or fewer)

“Every night at 3 a.m., the swing moves.”

Frame 1, already in motion

An empty playground swing moving slowly in the dark, chains creaking, camera already moving closer.

The brief to paste

Make a 45-second short horror story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "Every night at 3 a.m., the swing moves."
Frame 1 is already moving: an empty playground swing moving slowly in the dark, chains creaking, camera moving closer.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the moving swing.
2. The narrator describes the routine: the same hour, the same creak.
3. The swing moves again, a little higher. The wind is not blowing.
4. The narrator walks to the fence and looks closer. The seat is warm.
5. Twist: the narrator has been the one pushing it in their sleep. Re-read the first line.

Look of every image: photographic, night, cold street light, empty playground, closed gates. No people, no faces, no signs with legible text.
Ending: The final line re-reads the hook with a new meaning. No real places, crimes or victims.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Art style
AUTOSHORTS (Professional). Photographic and people-free: the empty place does the work.
Length and format
45 seconds, 9:16.
Language
Narration: English (en).
Voice
Not selectable on the draft path: the product narrates with its default voice. Steer the delivery with short sentences and plain punctuation; premium ElevenLabs voices are a separate paid option (see the options table).
Caption look
Picked automatically through MCP. In the dashboard's Motion graphics (beta) style, the "Mono" look is the first one listed for this genre.
Estimated cost
40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.
Tools it triggers
  • autoshort_list_options
  • autoshort_draft_video
  • autoshort_get_draft
  • autoshort_update_draft
  • autoshort_estimate_cost
  • autoshort_render_draft

Visual direction for the images

  • One wrong detail per scene, each a little closer than the last.
  • The swing is the subject in every scene; vary the distance and angle, not the object.
  • No legible signs; ask for "a blurred sign".
  • Keep frame 1 on the detail, never a wide establishing shot of the neighbourhood.

Two variations

Bedtime-safe version: “Every night at 8, the nightlight changes colour.”

A gentle story with a warm twist instead of a frightening one.

Make a 45-second gentle bedtime story with AutoShort. Art style WATERCOLOR, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "Every night at 8, the nightlight changes colour."
Frame 1 is already moving: a small round nightlight glowing blue, then turning green, a stuffed rabbit beside it.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the nightlight.
2. The routine: blue at 8, green at 9.
3. One night it turns gold.
4. The rabbit on the shelf has moved to face the window.
5. Twist: the gold light is the sunrise through the curtain; it is morning.

Look of every image: soft watercolour bedroom, nightlight and stuffed animals only, no people, no human-like faces, hands or bodies, no writing in images.
Ending: A calm last line.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.
Different object: “Every night at 2, the stairs creak upward.”

Same shape, different place and wrong detail.

Make a 45-second short horror story with AutoShort. Art style AUTOSHORTS, 9:16, English narration (language en).

Hook, my first spoken line and first caption: "Every night at 2, the stairs creak upward."
Frame 1 is already moving: a dark staircase, one stair dipping as if weight is on it, camera moving closer.

Scenes, one idea each:
1. Hook over the stair.
2. The routine: the same creak, the same step.
3. The creak climbs one step higher each night.
4. The narrator looks closer: the dust on the step is disturbed.
5. Twist: the creak is going down tonight.

Look of every image: photographic, night, dim hallway light, stairs and doors, no people, no faces, no legible text.
Ending: The final line re-reads the hook.

Write the scenes yourself and show me the narration and the visual of every scene before anything renders. Keep the narration to about 108 words. Price it with autoshort_estimate_cost. Render only after I say yes.

Do not

  • Do not start with "In a quiet town..." or a wide establishing shot of the place.

    What we saw: A bedtime story opened on a wide establishing frame and a 16-plus-word "In a soft watercolour world..." first sentence. (our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 20.)

  • Do not show feet, hands or a figure in the hook frame; the image model gets limbs wrong and the first frame is the longest-watched.

    What we saw: Dark-ink horror story: the hook frame showed bare feet that looked malformed; replaced by a door with a shadow. (our note: qa.md, line 18.)

  • Do not write a first sentence longer than nine words.

    What we saw: Hook rule: first sentence at most 9 words, no scene-setting opener, a face or a concrete action in the first shot. (our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 22.)

Related real videos (not made from this recipe)

  • StoryShort dark-ink horror shorts, 28 Oct (sibling product, same still-image path)

    Made in StoryShort with a 40-credit still-image render. Second knock passed QA after a retry (the first hook frame had malformed bare feet); voicemail passed after the pictures were re-timed to the voice. These are QA results only: view numbers for the horror stories are not in our files yet.

    Our note: qa.md, line 5,18,20,29-30.

Also see Horror and story shorts use case, all prompts and what each step costs.

More

Questions

Is any horror recipe verified?

No. We made horror stories in our sibling product StoryShort and passed them through QA, but nothing was made from these exact briefs through AutoShort, so every recipe here is marked Untested.

Why no gore?

The ready template for this genre is written "no gore, no real places or people", and these recipes keep to the same rule: the fear comes from a detail, not from violence.