Class

Creature Feature: Monsters in Scary Stories

From classic werewolves to never before seen creatures that came from a painting, we love to be scared by otherworldly beings. What makes these monsters frightening and how do we as writers create them? In this class we will take a deep dive into the classics like vampires and the pieces inspired by them such as Vampires of El Norte, A Dowry of Blood, and even Twilight; but we will also look at newer supernatural beings like Erin E. Adam’s Jackal, Akwake Emezi’s Pet, and the water-creature-wife Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea, to name a few. In exploring these well-known monsters we can look at how they inspired contemporary creature features and how we can further take these ideas and make them our own or make something completely new. Using guiding prompts we will generate new writing every class and can workshop up to five pages written to receive feedback from peers in later sessions. Students will be expected to read another student's work and write feedback notes prior to the following week. Feedback will be specific and not speak to the "goodness" of the work but be more detailed, discussion will follow in class.

No class on July 3.

This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book; we encourage participants to be fully vaccinated and masked in the interest of everyone’s safety. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.