Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person

Harlan Coben, the mega-bestselling thriller writer who has produced twelve series for Netflix, has a surprising take on the craft of writing suspense: he is a "very lazy researcher" who believes the best way to terrify a reader is to keep the violence off the page. "I have no interest in action movies or action things," he says. "I never have them in my books." Instead, he aims for an internal experience—making the reader feel the fist flying toward them, not the impact itself.

The Mechanics of Suspense

Coben’s approach to building tension relies on what he calls "the one moment that brings it all to life." He recalls a conversation among top mystery writers about the scariest noise in the world. The winning answer? A toilet flushing in an empty house. The logic is that the sound implies an unseen presence, and the fear is entirely psychological. Coben applies this principle by setting his stories in placid, suburban environments. "If I'm writing that book in a churning ocean, I can throw as many rocks as I can into that ocean," he explains. "You're not even going to see them here. So you need the placid pool in order to make those ripples." This insight is confirmed by Netflix’s own data: when the streaming service tested dozens of poster designs for Coben’s shows, the one that consistently performed best was a picture of a suburban house.