What Sleeps Beneath is an online magazine that explores the horror genre as one of the most important cultural vehicles of our time. It is a home for all horror-loving nerds, and a space to investigate what the genre tells us about ourselves. We write book and movie reviews, conduct interviews, and write original academic research.

Browse the full archive, or search for a specific article. Not sure where to start? Use the drop-down to browse by topic, format, or subgenre.

Arran Crawley 10/17/23 Arran Crawley 10/17/23

The Horror Structure Paradigm: A Guide to Writing a Horror Screenplay

Investigating screenplay genres and how they are narratively separated based on their relationship to death.

Arran Crawley 7/2/23 Arran Crawley 7/2/23

The Mainstream Horror Protagonist – A Guide to Writing a Horror Screenplay

Arran Crawley discusses writing the horror screenplay and protagonist: There’s more than one way to structure a story—particularly horror with its detailed sub-genres.

Arran Crawley 5/20/23 Arran Crawley 5/20/23

Monsters vs. Ghosts: A Guide to Writing a Horror Screenplay

Screenwriter Arran Crawley examines the differences between two common types of stories in horror film and how you can use them to create engaging plots in your own writing.

Ande Thomas 5/13/23 Ande Thomas 5/13/23

Writing a Scene Analysis: Creep (2014)

Writing a scene analysis can be a great step toward forming a broader thesis when discussing a film. Using Creep (2014) as an example, this article analyzes the opening scene and shows how it can be used to guide a deeper look into the film.

Arran Crawley 3/18/23 Arran Crawley 3/18/23

Writing the Feature-Length Ghost Story: Six Observations

“The ghost story is a form of horror loved by those who don’t love horror.” Guest author Arran Crawley explores six themes in the making of the traditional British Ghost Story.