25 Midjourney Prompts for Horror Art

Horror art has a unique power to thrill and terrify us. It taps into our deepest fears, creating images that linger in our minds long after we’ve looked away.

As an enthusiast, I’ve found Midjourney to be an incredible tool for bringing nightmarish visions to life. In this post, I’ll share 25 prompts I’ve used to create spine-chilling horror art with Midjourney.

Horror art is all about evoking fear, disgust, and unease through visual means. It’s a genre that pushes boundaries and challenges viewers, often leaving a lasting impact.

Throughout history, artists have used horror elements to express societal fears, personal anxieties, and the darker side of human nature.

Common themes in horror art include:

• Death and decay
• Supernatural entities
• Body horror and transformation
• Psychological terror
• Dark surrealism

These themes often play on universal fears and taboos, making horror art relatable yet unsettling. Artists use various techniques to heighten the horror effect:

• Strong contrasts between light and shadow
• Distorted proportions and perspectives
• Unsettling color palettes
• Graphic depictions of violence or gore
• Subtle, creeping dread in seemingly normal scenes

As we move into the digital age, tools like Midjourney have opened up new possibilities for horror artists. They allow for the quick creation of complex, detailed scenes that might be challenging to produce through traditional means.

How to Create Good Midjourney Prompts for Horror Art

Creating powerful horror art with Midjourney boils down to writing good prompts. Here’s what I’ve learned about making prompts that consistently produce chilling results:

• Be specific: Vague prompts lead to mixed results. Instead of “scary monster,” try “towering creature with twisted limbs and glowing red eyes.”
• Set the scene: Context adds to the horror. Describe the environment: “abandoned asylum corridor with flickering lights.”
• Specify art style: This greatly influences the final image. “Oil painting style” or “pencil sketch” can dramatically change the feel of your horror art.
• Add lighting details: Lighting is crucial in horror. Mention things like “harsh shadows,” “eerie moonlight,” or “dim candlelight.”
• Include color information: Colors set the tone. “Muted palette with splashes of crimson” or “sickly green hues” can enhance the horror vibe.
• Mention textures: Describing textures adds depth. “Slimy skin,” “rough bark,” or “cracked porcelain” make images more tactile and unsettling.
• Combine unexpected elements: Juxtapose contrasting ideas for unsettling effects. “Cute teddy bear with razor-sharp teeth” creates cognitive dissonance.
• Don’t shy away from the disturbing: Horror is meant to unsettle. Be bold in your descriptions, but remember to stay within Midjourney’s content guidelines.

Use art parameters: Aspect ratios (–ar) and version numbers (–v) fine-tune your results. I often use “–ar 3:4” for portrait-oriented horror scenes.

With these tips in mind, let’s look at 25 prompts I’ve used to create some truly haunting horror art.\

25 Horror Art Prompts

Here are 25 example prompts I’ve used to create horror art with Midjourney. In these examples, you can see parameters such as Aspect ratios (–ar) and version numbers (–v). I often use “–ar 3:4” for portrait-oriented horror scenes.

Grim Forest Pencil Sketch

Prompt: Grim forest with twisted, gnarled trees, dark skies, and eerie fog, pencil sketch horror art, highly detailed shadows. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt creates a classic horror setting. The pencil sketch style adds a raw, unsettling quality. Highly detailed shadows emphasize the eerie atmosphere. Expect a foreboding forest scene with intricate, twisted trees looming under dark skies.

Moonlit Cat on Tombstone

Prompt: A black cat sitting on a tombstone under a full moon, ink horror art, vintage illustration style. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This image plays on classic horror symbols. The vintage illustration style gives it an old-world feel. You’ll get a striking black-and-white scene with strong contrasts, perfect for a book cover or Halloween decoration.

Haunted Victorian Doll

Prompt: A haunted Victorian doll with cracked porcelain skin, pastel and pencil horror art, soft yet disturbing. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

Dolls are inherently creepy, and this prompt amplifies that. The mix of pastel and pencil creates a deceptively soft look that contrasts with the disturbing subject. Expect a doll with an unnervingly lifelike quality and subtle signs of decay.

Demonic Emergence

Prompt: A demon with glowing eyes and sharp horns emerging from a fiery pit, horror art in digital airbrush, glowing effects with smooth gradients. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt aims for a modern, dynamic horror scene. The digital airbrush style allows for smooth blending of the fiery elements. Look for a dramatic, colorful image with the demon as a focal point, surrounded by hellish flames.

Sinister Clown

Prompt: Sinister clown emerging from the shadows, wide grin, bloodstained hands, bold marker horror art, exaggerated features. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

Clowns are a staple of horror, and this prompt pushes that to the extreme. The bold marker style emphasizes the clown’s unsettling features. Expect a garish, high-contrast image that’s both cartoonish and deeply disturbing.

Rising Zombie

Prompt: Zombie emerging from the ground, reaching out with decayed fingers, oil painting horror art, gritty texture. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This classic horror scene gets a textural boost from the oil painting style. The gritty texture adds to the decay theme. You’ll see a richly detailed zombie with an almost tangible quality to its rotting flesh.

Vampire’s Gaze

Prompt: A vampire with blood dripping from its fangs, staring at the viewer, horror art in comic-style, sharp lines and intense expressions. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The comic style gives this vampire a bold, graphic quality. Sharp lines and intense expressions create a confrontational image. Expect a striking, poster-like result with the vampire’s gaze as the focal point.

Blood Moon Werewolf

Prompt: A blood-soaked werewolf howling under a blood-red moon, horror art in pencil and pastel, with rough strokes. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt combines multiple horror elements for maximum impact. The pencil and pastel technique with rough strokes adds a feral quality to the scene. Look for a dynamic, textured image with strong red accents.

Cursed Mirror Reflection

Prompt: A cursed mirror reflecting a twisted, demonic version of the viewer, horror art in surrealist style, vibrant but disturbing. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The surrealist style allows for a mind-bending take on the cursed mirror trope. Vibrant colors contrast with the disturbing content. Expect a psychedelic, unsettling image that plays with perception.

Lurking Monster

Prompt: A monstrous figure lurking behind a cracked door, only its glowing eyes visible horror art in pastel, with a misty effect. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt plays on the fear of the unknown. The pastel technique and misty effect soften the scene, making the glowing eyes stand out more. You’ll get a subtly creepy image that suggests more than it shows.

Tragic Teddy Bear

Prompt: A torn and bloody stuffed teddy bear lying on a dark, dusty floor, horror art in colored pencil, soft tones contrasting with the horror theme. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The contrast between the innocent teddy bear and its grim state creates instant unease. Colored pencil adds a childlike quality that heightens the horror. Expect a poignant, disturbing image that tugs at the heartstrings.

Reaper in the Field

Prompt: A hooded reaper standing in a field of withered flowers, watercolor horror art, soft colors with sharp contrasts. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt juxtaposes the gentle watercolor style with a grim subject. Soft colors and sharp contrasts create a dreamlike yet ominous scene. Look for a hauntingly beautiful image with the reaper as a stark, dark figure.

Witch’s Cauldron

Prompt: A witch’s cauldron bubbling with green smoke in a dark, candle-lit room, horror art in pointillism, intricate patterns. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

Pointillism adds a unique texture to this classic witch scene. Intricate patterns create a sense of movement in the smoke and bubbles. Expect a detailed, atmospheric image with a strong focus on light and shadow.

Ominous Raven

Prompt: A raven perched on a dead tree, surrounded by fog and bones, horror art in digital airbrush, atmospheric and ominous. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt evokes a sense of foreboding. The digital airbrush technique allows for smooth blending of the foggy atmosphere. You’ll see a moody, textured scene with the raven as a bold silhouette against the misty background.

Shadow in the Forest

Prompt: A shadowy figure with glowing red eyes lurking at the edge of a dark forest, horror art in stippling technique, eerie effect. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

Stippling creates a grainy, old-photo feel that adds to the creepiness. The shadowy figure with glowing eyes plays on primal fears. Expect a subtly terrifying image where the horror lies in what’s barely visible.

Demon from the Earth

Prompt: A demon emerging from a crack in the earth, flames surrounding it, horror art in graphic novel style, sharp contrasts. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The graphic novel style gives this hellish scene a bold, dramatic look. Sharp contrasts emphasize the divide between our world and the underworld. Look for a striking, action-packed image with vivid colors and stark shadows.

Menacing Jack-o’-Lantern

Prompt: A sinister jack-o’-lantern with a menacing grin, glowing from within horror art in gouache painting, vivid contrasts and eerie lighting. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

Gouache painting adds a rich, matte quality to this Halloween staple. Vivid contrasts and eerie lighting enhance the jack-o’-lantern’s menacing aspect. Expect a boldly colored, textured image with a strong play of light and shadow.

Bloodstained Altar

Prompt: A bloodstained ritual altar surrounded by flickering candles, horror art in oil painting style, deep shadows and warm, sinister light. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt creates a sense of dark ritual and forbidden practices. The oil painting style allows for rich textures and depth. You’ll get a detailed, atmospheric scene with an almost tactile quality to the bloodstains and candlelight.

Faceless Child

Prompt: A faceless child holding a broken doll in the middle of a dark forest, horror art in crosshatching technique, with high-contrast details. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The faceless child is deeply unsettling, and the broken doll adds to the wrongness. Crosshatching creates texture and emphasizes shadows. Look for a stark, graphic image with a strong sense of isolation and dread.

Blood Moon and Wolves

Prompt: A blood-red moon casting shadows over a pack of rabid wolves, horror art in watercolor, with soft transitions and eerie tones. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt combines several horror elements for maximum impact. Watercolor softens the scene, creating an dreamlike quality that contrasts with the savage subject. Expect a moody, atmospheric image with the blood moon as a striking focal point.

Screaming Banshee

Prompt: A banshee screaming in the night, her mouth unnaturally wide, horror art in digital painting, with strong lighting effects and motion. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The digital painting style allows for dynamic lighting and a sense of motion in this ghastly scene. The unnaturally wide mouth adds body horror to the mix. You’ll see a dramatic, possibly abstract image capturing the banshee’s otherworldly scream.

Skeletal Horseman

Prompt: A skeletal horseman riding through a storm, with lightning flashing in the sky, horror art in pencil and watercolor, dynamic and eerie. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt evokes the Wild Hunt or the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Pencil and watercolor create a sketch-like quality with moody washes of color. Look for a dynamic scene with the skeletal figure stark against a turbulent sky.

Grotesque Creature

Prompt: A grotesque creature with elongated limbs and sharp teeth, digital painting horror art, surreal and nightmarish. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The digital painting style allows for precise detailing of this surreal monster. The description leaves room for Midjourney to generate truly bizarre forms. Expect a vividly colored, highly detailed creature that defies natural laws.

Graveyard Skeleton

Prompt: A skeleton wearing a top hat, standing in the middle of a graveyard, comic-style horror art, bold lines and colors. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

This prompt adds a touch of the macabre to a comic book style. The top hat adds personality to the skeleton. You’ll get a boldly outlined, vibrantly colored scene that’s more fun than frightening, perfect for a lighter take on horror.

Hollow-Eyed Woman

Prompt: A woman with hollow eyes and a stitched mouth, holding a candle chalk and charcoal horror art, ghostly aesthetic. –ar 3:4 –v 6.1

The chalk and charcoal style adds a ghostly, ethereal quality to this disturbing figure. The stitched mouth implies a dark story. Look for a haunting, textured image with strong contrasts between the pale figure and dark background.

With Midjourney, creating unsettling and captivating horror images has become more accessible than ever. The 25 prompts I’ve shared are just the beginning – they’re meant to spark your imagination and get you started on your own horror art journey.

I hope these prompts inspire you to create your own nightmare fuel. If you make something you’re proud of (or something that genuinely scares you), consider sharing it online. There’s a whole community of horror art enthusiasts out there who’d love to see what you come up with.

Now go forth and create some art that will keep people up at night!