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#ScaryStoryIn5Words Blowing Up Twitter: Make Yours Awesome

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 07:07 PST, Oct 20, 2015

It’s Halloween season again, and #ScaryStoryIn5Words is streamlining the October thrill-fest. With big-budget flicks like Crimson Peak tanking at the box office and eating up 2 whole hours that you’ll never get back, it’s no wonder. The trending hashtag is letting people tell their scariest tales in (bet you haven’t figured it out yet) only five words. #ScaryStoryIn5Words is blowing up Twitter, and folks are having a great time sharing and reading #ScaryStoryIn5Words. #ScaryStoryIn5Words is even out-trending Oscar Pistorius in South Africa, reports News 24. So far, the hashtag has been tweeted almost 140k times, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing. Well, at least until about the first of November.

So what can you do to make your #ScaryStoryIn5Words awesome, favorable, and retweetable?

Artwork: By John Leech
[Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty Images]
There are a few good ways to get a lot of play for your #ScaryStoryIn5Words. First, know what you’re going for. Do you want to be satirical, scary, or gory? You’ve got five words, you’ve got to make them count. Most of the more popular #ScaryStoryIn5Words tweets are funnier than scary — things like “My science midterms are tomorrow” or “My new girlfriend is late.” Scary, true, but more intended to generate a laugh than nightmares.

If you want to go scary, it’s best to stick to twists on the classics. “Scratching from under the bed” or “Then I heard it again.” Five words that inspire scary imagery. “The graves were all empty.”

Other ideas include plays on existing, iconic, or political stories. Creep them up a little bit, or turn them into a pun. “Trump wins in a landslide,” or “Norman’s mommy issues finally peaked.” (Spoiler, a lot of people seem to be horrified by Trump being elected. The #ScaryStoryIn5Words hashtag is plagued with variations on that theme.) If you have some good background in horror, trends, or pop culture, you can push it further. People don’t seem to be too afraid of offending with the #ScaryStoryIn5Words trend. Ultimately, this is taking over Twitter, so being edgy and a bit controversial will probably give your #ScaryStoryIn5Words some traction. Keep it somewhat classy, though. This is social media — once you put it out there, it’s impossible to take it back.

Another way to make your #ScaryStoryIn5Words awesome is to meme it up a little. You know, throw in a picture or photo or something to add some depth to your five words. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, so you could up your #ScaryStoryIn5Words to closer to 1005 with the addition of an appropriate image.

Because the #ScaryStoryIn5Words trend only takes, well, five words, you don’t have to get it right the first time. It’s only five words. You can tweet about it until Halloween, and you probably will. You’ll be getting in on the #ScaryStoryIn5Words with your friends, your social media friends, random Twitter strangers, and probably everyone else on the planet. This will give you plenty of times and takes to get your #ScaryStoryIn5Words perfect. Seriously, #ScaryStoryIn5Words will turn into a brainworm. #ScaryStoryIn5Words will infiltrate your dreams. Your every waking and sleeping moment will become devoted to #ScaryStoryIn5Words. Your every experience will become a #ScaryStoryIn5Words. Your nightmares will become repeated, tiny #ScaryStoryIn5Words.

Peter Cushing Anthony Nelson Keys
[Photo: Terry Fincher/Express/Getty Images]
Or maybe you’ll get sick of the whole trend really quick. It’s doubtful, but it could happen. Not everyone’s cut out to be a #ScaryStoryIn5Words Shakespeare. Then again, part of the joy of #ScaryStoryIn5Words is that you don’t have to be a Shakespeare to have a blast.

In the time it took to write this #ArticleIn600Words, over 1,000 more #ScaryStoryIn5Words were shared. This trend has blown up like crazy, and people are just getting started. There are only so many five word combinations that form complete thoughts, let alone a #ScaryStoryIn5Words. You don’t want to plagiarize someone else’s #ScaryStoryIn5Words, there’s no fun in that.

So, what’s crazier? Going on 150k #ScaryStoryIn5Words tweets or reading a 600 word article for tips on how to write a #ScaryStoryIn5Words? Leave your thoughts on that, and your #ScaryStoryIn5Words, in the comments.

[Image Courtesy: Suhaimi Abdullah / Getty Images]

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