Writing Craft : Keith Cadieux

Sunday, December 12, 2021 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm Archived

Online, Zoom,

Horror and The Weird: Using dread and fear in fiction featuring Keith Cadieux author of Signal Decay

As a literary genre, horror is notoriously difficult to define since it describes an intended effect on the reader rather than any indication of subject matter. This has resulted in a slew of sub-genres, one of which has seen steadily growing popularity: The Weird. Much like Capital H horror, The Weird relies mostly on the effect it elicits from the reader. You can feel a weird story, much the same way you feel a horror story.

The term horror, especially in literature, is often derided, though it shouldn’t be. Many important literary works, not saddled with the label of horror, use many of the same elements as successful horror. In this workshop we will examine how to use dread and fear—specific emotional responses often best served by horror and the weird—in order to advance storytelling and other literary elements like theme, character, tone, conflict.

By looking at a few popular examples of successful horror and non-horror works which utilize the same elements, we will strive to better understand what makes horror literature scary (and great) and how to best use it in our own writing.

Everyone has a story to share—that is one of the fundamental truths that powers our team. Writers invest in refining their stories, to maximize their impact on readers. Our Writing Craft workshops give all interested writers, whatever their experience, a chance to soak up the expertise of some of the amazing writers featured at THIN AIR 2021. Each workshop is 90 minutes long, and thanks to our partnership with the Winnipeg Public Library and support from Taylor McCaffrey, we are thrilled to offer them without charge!

Sign up—then show up!

Register HERE via Eventbrite