Class Description
What makes a true story frightening? Why do some real events linger in our minds long after we've heard them, while others fade away? How do we build suspense in our nonfiction stories?
This class explores the craft of writing horror from real life. Through examples by memoirists and essayists like Carmen Maria Machado, Katy Massey, Cheryl Strayed, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, we'll examine how writers transform factual events into compelling narratives filled with suspense, dread, and emotional impact. We’ll look at how these published writers create big fear out of small moments, and navigate telling the scariest stories without turning them into gimmicks. Students will learn techniques for building tension, controlling information, establishing atmosphere, and using detail to evoke fear without sacrificing truth.
We'll discuss the psychology of fear, the ethics of writing about real people, and the unique challenges of creating suspense in both short-form and long-form nonfiction stories. Through guided writing exercises, participants will develop their own nonfiction horror narratives based on personal experiences, historical events, local legends, and other true stories.
Whether you're interested in memoir, personal essays, hybrid writing, flash, or narrative nonfiction, this class will help you uncover the frightening possibilities hidden within reality itself. Writers will NOT be expected to write, read, or do any preparation outside of sessions. Writers will be asked to prioritize their creativity, authenticity, vulnerability, and play in their writing (as opposed to prioritizing productivity and “publishable”/”good” writing). Although students will not workshop writing in this class, there will be opportunities to share writing every week. Writers of all genres welcome!
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
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.