Class Description
Whether you write commercial or genre fiction, love Gone Girl or American Psycho, there are plenty of opportunities to “get dark” in your prose. In this class, we’ll explore the craft of dark fiction. Each week, we’ll look at examples including neo-noir, horror, and classic and gothic literature, and we’ll discuss the evolving definition of dark fiction along the way. Through in-class and take-home exercises, we’ll experiment with the unique tools that dark fiction writers use to draw readers in, taking our inspiration from drama, the contemporary and classic honchos of horror, and our own experiences. You'll have the opportunity to share your work in class for on-the-spot feedback, with the goal of pushing your stories beyond tropes and getting into the truly dark matter. We’ll be reading, among others, Angela Carter Octavia Butler, M.R. James, Edgar Allen Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, Neil Gaiman, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.