The Horror, The Horror VI

This four-week workshop will teach you how to write horror that goes beyond the scares and beyond the gross-out, to compel, challenge, and move the reader.

Your Instructor: Brian Evenson, Bracken MacLeod, Letitia Trent, Joshua Gaylord

Where: Online — Available everywhere!

When: This class is not currently enrolling. To be notified when it is offered again, Click Here

Enrollment: 15 students

Price: $425

Class Description

There’s more to horror fiction than shock and revulsion.

Over the space of four weeks, a quartet of today’s leading horror experts will take you through the elements that go into constructing a better horror story.

The class will consider things like how to unsettle your reader, how to flesh out your villains, how to use setting to create atmosphere, and how to write dialogue that creates narrative—all aimed at helping you to take your tales to the next level.

And by the end, you’ll have a better appreciation of the tremendous possibilities horror fiction continues to offer the ambitious writer.

Over the course of your four weeks in this class, you will get:

  • Original lectures written by each instructor specifically for this course
  • The opportunity to study with four of today’s leading horror writers
  • Instructor and peer critique within a supportive environment
  • Writing assignments designed to help you to develop your ability to create evocative characters and to place them in dramatic, compelling narratives
  • Insightful commentary from all four instructors to help you to develop your writing more fully

What This Class Covers

WEEK 1: Brian Evenson

The Strange: Using defamiliarization and other tools to subtly unsettle your reader.

WEEK 2: Letitia Trent

Going Beyond 'It was a dark and stormy night': Using setting to create atmosphere.

WEEK 3: Bracken MacLeod

Writing Darkness With Affection: How to flesh out and give depth to an antagonist/villain.

WEEK 4: Joshua Gaylord

Words Walking Without Masters: Writing dialogue that creates narrative.

Goals Of This Class

  • Get the opportunity to study with four of today’s leading horror writers.
  • Get writing assignments designed to help you to develop your ability to create evocative characters and to place them in dramatic, compelling narratives.
  • Get feedback on your work in a collaborative environment.
  • Get insightful commentary from all four instructors to help you to develop your writing more fully.
  • Learn how to unsettle your reader using defamiliarization and other tools.
  • Learn how to flesh out your villains.
  • Learn how to use setting to create atmosphere.
  • Learn how to write dialogue that creates narrative.
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