Young Writers Society

In my mystery novel, the antagonist is trying to make the victim believe he saw a ghost. He has done so by using a projector to project artificial footage from a ''ghost'' on see-through fabric. The antagonist has also given the victim a fear stimulating drug, to increase the effect.

My question is, do any of you know some kind of drug which stimulates fear? And would you happen to know its name?

Ps: I am also looking for beta-readers. Should anyone want to read the mystery novel, you can contact me for the details.

It's pretty rare you need to get to that level of specific when you're writing.

The thing you have to keep in mind for writing illegal activity or illegal acts is: it could be used as an instruction manual for those actually committing those acts.

So you have to weigh the pros (being specific, sounding scientific/legitimate) with the cons (somebody might actually use this) and the risk (an editor might look at that and either force you to cut it or not pick up the book for publishing because it's seriously creepy to have that level of detail for drugs).

I'd personally not do it, just because the cons and risk are huge and the detail is so small it's not worth being specific for.

I'm actually the opposite to Rosey in that I really love seeing that level of detail in a story and that can make or break my belief of the events. Poisons and herbs are a particular favourite field of speculation for me (I love, love Robin Hobb for her exploration of them) and I'd not worry too much about the copy cat element. If the information is already out there enough that you can research and include it in a novel then criminals can get their hands on it and reading a mystery book wouldn't be their first choice of research material so the level of responsibility is minor.

As for what to use, there's an article here which may give you some ideas: https://io9.gizmodo.com/5851559/nine-su ... -and-dread

The one I've heard about a lot is Dopamine. It's used quite a it in horror books and films. There are some less common ones mentioned as well or you could also turn to herbology for something - I know nightshades are also mentioned a lot in books as being anxiety causing. Here's another article - https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/di ... d-insomnia

To start with, let's look at the Mayo Clinic talking about treatments of fear and a bit of citation from the DSM-5.
[https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355162 ]

For something like this relating to fear and perhaps phobias, remember that fear is an anxiety. That by purposely stimulating fear in a person (which is most often highly fictional), it doesn't always take a drug.

So let's say that it is a drug, just for the sake of conversation.
If you type "fear-stimulating drug" into google, you're most likely going to turn up with some fictional results. If you're looking for a bit of realism, it's better to consider the wide array of drugs that have a side effect of anxiety.

Often in drug trials, they'll find out that a drug meant for treating one thing, works out well for another. You can use that in reverse here. The antagonist might be on some medication, and finds a way to produce it into the victim's environment.

[This also brings me into a side tangent about how you would be exposing the substance to the victim. it's possible to do aerosol, and that would be the easiest way, if you find an appropriate drug.]

So there's also the possibility of using street drugs, when introduced to a person who has never used them and in the right environment, could cause fear. For someone to go on a trip when not expecting it and already lacking in sleep and being exposed to suggestive images, some sort of hallucinogen, would probably be your best bet here.
The most common hallucinogen is of course LSD.

A hallucinogen is of course, a drug that causes hallucinations. NIDA has a fair bit of information about just the generalized bits. I know you're looking for a fear drug or a nerve gas or whatever, but if we're talking realistically, this is going to be one of your best bets.

If we're not talking realistically, you could take over this DC Nerd discussion thread.

I've also heard of capsaicin possibly being used to create a fear gas.

WebMd has a kind of generalized list.
They are somewhat accurate in their information, giving an ADHD drug to someone without it, will cause some opposite side effects.

I almost meant to respond to something said by the last poster, in the relation to dopamine causing fear. This is a little bit off and something that, yes, we do see a lot in horror writing but isn't entirely there. From what I remember from psych, you would have a lot of issues with using a neurotransmitter like dopamine, since the effect isn't really targeted. It's involved with a lot of processes in the body and since you can use an adrenaline like shot, I don't see the bother in gambling with other things.

Adrenaline injections can exist for certain medical things.
Epi pens can also be used in some ways to cause fear, but wouldn't have too much of a reaction, depending on the physical status of the person involved. If your character could obtain some black market adrenaline shots and wants more likely guaranteed results, an adrenaline rush might cause the fear that you're looking for.