SETTING THESAURUS

HAUNTED HOUSE



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HELPFUL TIP:

Settings should always be chosen with care. Consider the emotion you want your viewpoint character to feel and how setting choices, weather elements, and symbolism might build a specific mood in the scene, create tension and conflict, or even raise the stakes.
SIGHTS:
Dust and cobwebs
Sheets covering furniture 
Broken tables, chairs, windows, and lamps
Cloudy or cracked mirrors
Peeling wallpaper and discolorations
Gaps in the floorboards
Holes in the walls
Flickering lights (if there's electricity) 
A chandelier with broken strings of crystals
Glass shards on the floor
Spiders, cockroaches, ants, and rodents
Rusty pipes
Mildew stains on the ceiling and walls
Ripped curtains or rotten lace
Shadows that feel occupied by something
Gloomy staircases with creaky or soft steps
Old portraits and paintings
Cracked or dirty doors
Shadows that shift
Half-glimpsed outlines of people and objects moving by themselves (doorknobs turning, doors opening, cups falling out of cupboards, cutlery clattering, chairs rocking or sliding across the floor)
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SOUNDS:
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SMELLS:
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TASTES:
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TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
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POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT:
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PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND IN THIS SETTING:
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SETTING NOTES AND TIPS:
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SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE:
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TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED:
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DESCRIPTIVE EFFECTS:
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