Looks Creepy Cool Podcast: Horror Stories & the Creators Behind the Fear
Aug 20, 2026 · 31 min · 11 segments
Send us Fan Mail **What draws someone toward the darkness—and what can horror reveal about the person creating it?** **Horror author K. E. Koontz…
K. E. KoontzGuestReneeHostSo when you begin writing a horror story, what usually comes first? Is it the fear, the character, the monster, the setting, or simply an image or idea that won't leave you alone? It

You have fear from grief and melancholy, fear of being tracked, fear from a gory horror versus supernatural horror.

And usually what comes to me first is I want to write something that makes my reader feel this specific emotion.

And from there, then usually what happens is the set dressing, because I love the imagery and how different locations can affect horror.

A ghost story at the beach is totally different than a ghost story in a Victorian manor.
Wow.
So that's interesting.
A ghost story at the beach.
did you, did you, do you ever frighten yourself while you're writing? Like what's your, I'm always curious with writers, like what's your like ritual when you write? A lot of writers they'll, you know, it has to be fully dark, like the candle or not the candle.
Oh, maybe a candle, but like the light has to be a certain way.
Do you have any rituals when you write?

I like starting by taking notes on my phone so I can take them down whenever the idea hits me.

It's a bit anticlimactic that I don't have any rituals, but I think it also opens me up to being able to write anywhere at any time, whether the light is good or it's noisy or not.
Or it's noisy or not.
So when you begin writing a horror story, what usually comes first? Is it the fear, the character, the monster, the setting, or simply an image or idea that won't leave you alone? It

You have fear from grief and melancholy, fear of being tracked, fear from a gory horror versus supernatural horror.

And usually what comes to me first is I want to write something that makes my reader feel this specific emotion.

And from there, then usually what happens is the set dressing, because I love the imagery and how different locations can affect horror.

A ghost story at the beach is totally different than a ghost story in a Victorian manor.
Wow.
So that's interesting.
A ghost story at the beach.
did you, did you, do you ever frighten yourself while you're writing? Like what's your, I'm always curious with writers, like what's your like ritual when you write? A lot of writers they'll, you know, it has to be fully dark, like the candle or not the candle.
Oh, maybe a candle, but like the light has to be a certain way.
Do you have any rituals when you write?

I like starting by taking notes on my phone so I can take them down whenever the idea hits me.

It's a bit anticlimactic that I don't have any rituals, but I think it also opens me up to being able to write anywhere at any time, whether the light is good or it's noisy or not.
Or it's noisy or not.
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