Wednesday, October 19, 2011

So You Want To Be A Horror Writer

From the wandering mind of Tamela Buhrke

In honor of Halloween, I thought a few resources for horror writing might be in order. I was shocked to discover that there weren’t very many. Hopefully, these few will help you get started:

The Horror Writers Association - This association began as the Horror/Occult Writers League (HOWL) in 1984 by Robert R. McCammon. In 1986, Dean Koontz was chosen it’s first president. The group offers horror writing awards, known as the Bram Stoker Award, each year. More information can be found at www.horror.org

On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association - 41 essays on the craft of horror writing, edited by Mort Castle, with contributions from dozens of well-known HWA members.
www.horror.org

On Writing by Stephen King - Not specifically about horror writing, though it is written by the master of horror himself.

Odyssey, The Fantasy Writing Workshop - This 6 week workshop has become one of the most highly respected workshops for writers of fantasy, science fiction and horror. For more details: http://www.sff.net/odyssey/

Horror Writing Contest - A convenient list of many different horror writing contests: http://horrorwritingcontest.com/

Please feel free to add to my list by commenting.

2 comments:

Patricia Stoltey said...

I guess in this case one learns to write horror by reading horror?

Tamela Buhrke said...

Always the best way to learn! There are a few options out there. I'd take advantage of The Horror Writers Association. They seem like the best bet.