In choosing a scare (fright, horror) score for a book, I use the following scale:
- 0 – A walk in the park. Focus is on solving puzzles, mysteries, or related plot elements. May have some suspenseful moments, but nothing overtly scary.
- 1– Contains some suspenseful moments and mild tension, but not overtly scary elements. May have a couple of minor jump scares, but this would not be considered scary or horror if it were a movie.
- 2 – May have some unsettling scenes. Psychological elements, darker themes, and/or eerie scenes may be introduced. It may feel safer reading with the lights on.
- 3 – High suspense, mid to high tension. May have several frightening scenes, but it’s not horrific. This may be starting to edge into horror or edgy territory. Has psychological, dark, or eerie elements. The lights are on while reading. and it may not feel safe to get out of the bed to pee in the middle of the night in the dark.
- 4 – May have graphic disturbing content that might be a little hard to read at times. If I were to explain this story to someone who doesn’t read thrillers, I’d need to leave a lot out. The lights are on all night. Even with the lights on, getting out of bed to pee is iffy.
- 5 – Horror. Maybe explicit gore. Deeply unsettling. I wonder if the author is okay. I may be sure the author is NOT okay to have written this. I may wonder if I’m okay after reading this.