Writing Horror Fiction 2026
From monsters to ghosts, murderous clowns to the gothic, horror stories have been keeping readers up at night for as long as we can remember. Writing Horror Fiction with Kirsty Logan is dedicated to the craft of writing horror fiction and is designed to take you through everything you need to know to send chills down a reader's spine. Attendees will explore how to develop the seed of an unsettling idea, discover through plotting and writing techniques how much to leave to the reader's imagination, and analyse what makes a good horror story for the 21st century. You'll delve into psychology and common fears, develop a character and learn how to put them in a compelling conflict, and experiment with different prose styles. Through a combination of discussion, analysis and plenty of fun-but-challenging writing exercises, you'll leave each class with more ideas to pursue. Come ready to think, discuss, create and write!
This course includes:
- Five online sessions, 1.5 hours in length, for a maximum of 20 students
- Practical workshops with takeaway exercises to be applied to your own work and put each session's learning into practice
- In-depth analysis of the horror genre, using books, films and TV shows as reference
- Course materials available to view ahead of each session, including stories and excerpts to read, plus catch-up recordings
- A private online forum, to share discussion and writing throughout the course and stay in regular contact with your tutor
- A copy of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2026
- A horror fiction book bundle from Bloomsbury Publishing
As an optional extra at a cost of £50, you can get bespoke feedback from Kirsty on up to 2,000 words of original writing (one-page synopsis can be included in addition to the 2,000 words)
Schedule: Wednesday 22nd April - Wednesday 27th May
Week 1 – Wednesday 22nd April
What scares us – and why? We start by digging deep and getting real, asking ourselves: what are the real roots of common fears? What creeps us out and makes us feel unsettled? And how can we use that knowledge to construct vivid, compelling, emotionally real stories that will connect with readers? We’ll explore examples of classic and modern horror, then play with a combination of universal human fears and your own unique viewpoint. We'll end by crafting two-sentence horror stories, so you'll end this evening with some brand new finished work.
Week 2 –Wednesday 29th April
Throwing Rocks at Your Characters
How do we start a story? We create a character, and then we put them in an impossible situation – one that will compel your reader to keep turning the pages because they must find out what the character does next. Through story examples and lively discussion, we'll explore the importance of a 'threshold moment', and how you can use them to produce your own unique, original and addictive horror story. We'll end by creating a brand new character and putting them in a sticky situation.
Week 3 – Wednesday 6th May
Make It Feel Real with the Right Detail
One common writing mistake is to try to describe everything. Every shriek of terror, every bit of gore, every gleam of light on a creature’s fangs. But does the kitchen-sink approach lead to the scariest stories? This week we'll learn how to select the strongest and scariest details. We'll read and discuss several examples of classic and modern horror, analysing how and why they use the elements they do – and why they leave out others. As always, we’ll do timed writing exercises so that you can create your own original horror story.
Week 4 – Reading & Writing Week - Wednesday 13th May
Week 5 - Wednesday 20th May
Selecting the Perfect Words
We know what we want to say – but how do we say it? Getting started can feel like the easiest and hardest part of writing, so we'll start with opening lines. What makes an effective start to a story? What pitfalls should be avoided? Then we’ll experiment with different writing styles to see what effect this brings to our stories, and consider the importance of white space on the page. How can you make silence and space work for you, and use the power of what's unsaid? Together, we'll figure out the perfect words to tell your story.
Week 6 – Wednesday 27th May
Hello, World!
We've worked with the door closed – but now it's time to let your story greet its readers. How do we present and discuss our stories in a compelling way? How do we make it clear what's going on in a story without confusing or boring the listener? By discussing a selection of horror book descriptions, we'll clarify how to discuss your work that makes a reader, agent or editor desperate to hear more. You’ll end the course inspired, prepared and raring to put the finishing touches on your brand new stories.
Joining instructions:
We are really looking forward to welcoming you to ‘Writing Horror Fiction’ with Kirsty Logan. From monsters to ghosts, murderous clowns to the gothic, horror stories have been keeping readers up at night for as long as we can remember. Writing Horror Fiction with Kirsty Logan is dedicated to the craft of writing horror fiction and is designed to take you through everything you need to know to send chills down a reader's spine.
You will explore how to develop the seed of an unsettling idea, discover through plotting and writing techniques how much to leave to the reader's imagination, and analyse what makes a good horror story for the 21st century. You'll delve into psychology and common fears, develop a character and learn how to put them in a compelling conflict, and experiment with different prose styles.
JOINING INFO
The key details of the course are below, as well as the link you’ll need to join each class..
When: Wednesday 22nd April - Wednesday 27th May, 7:00pm - 8:30pm (UK Time)
Where: Online
Joining Link: Writing Horror Fiction | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams
You can download Teams free on your computer, or join via the web: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-teams/download-app
READING
Below you can find the list of books and TV/film clips you'll be analysing. These are entirely optional – you'll be looking at extracts and clips during the class provided by Kirsty, so don't have to read/watch anything in advance. It's just in case you want to be extra prepared or fancy a good horror marathon!
Week 1:
Things We Say in the Dark – Kirsty Logan (2015 book)
The Shining - Stephen King (1977 novel)
The Shining (1980 film)
You Are Not My Mother (2021 film)
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses – Jan Carson (2025 book)
Week 2:
Oddity (2024 film)
Barbarian (2022 film
Léon (1994 film)
Femme (2023 film)
Week 3:
Now She is Witch – Kirsty Logan (2023 book)
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (1959 book)
Coraline – Neil Gaiman (2002 book)
Dark Matter – Michelle Paver (2010 book)
It – Stephen King (1986 book)
Bird Box – Josh Malerman (2014 book)
A Quiet Place (2018 film)
Optional extras (you won't be looking at these in class, but they're useful for learning how to write better horror): https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/kirsty-logans-horror-reading-must-watch-list
Kirsty will also be sharing a PDF with any links and extracts after each class.
BOOK BUNDLE
As part of your course fee you are entitled to a book bundle which includes the Writers & Artists Yearbook 2026 and two books from Bloomsbury’s imprint Raven, which specialises in books with a touch of the dark side!
Please email amelia,[email protected] with your address, and the two books you would like to select. You can find the available selection at the following link: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/raven-books/. Please ensure you select paperbacks that are under the £9 mark. Please send me your address and your choices by Tuesday 6th May, and we will get your books in the post!
SLACK
Finally, we will be using Slack during the course, which is a free, easy-to-use platform that enables everything related to the course to be stored in one place. Please click on the below link to gain access to the Slack workspace that we’ve created for this course:
https://join.slack.com/t/writinghorror-ndo1606/shared_invite/zt-3tq122d5j-0hyuQI8Mz~_R4luBOhzh3Q
When you arrive in Slack you’ll see the workspace is called ‘Writing Horror Fiction 2025’, with several channels within that workspace. A quick bit of guidance on how these different channels will work:
- Course Etiquette: We’ve put together some course etiquette guidelines. Please have a read and comment to confirm that you’ve seen them.
- General: This is a general discussion board. Kirsty, James and myself will all have access but it’s not something we’re going to get involved in. This is for you guys to chat amongst yourselves, discuss, share advice and book recommendations! A great way to start would be to introduce yourselves, share info about your writing journeys so far and let the rest of the group know what you’re working on and why you’re here.
- Writing Horror Fiction 2026: We will be sharing the homework in here each week for your reference, as well as recordings of every class.
Everyone involved in the course will have access to all channels by default. It’s therefore important to make Slack work for you, so please take a bit of time to manage your notifications. You can do this by right-clicking on the channel and then selecting ‘Change notifications’.
We will also be sharing recordings and homework by email, but this is a space for you guys to connect with each other and build your writing community. Myself and James will also be available via email so if you’d prefer to reach out to us via email then please do get in touch.
