Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word

"Horror isn't just a genre of stories but an outlook on life," Matthew Warner writes in his foreword to Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word: Essays on Writing & Appreciating the Genre. In this collection of articles published between 2002 and 2007, the author of The Organ Donor, Death Sentences: Tales of Punishment & Revenge, and Eyes Everywhere challenges us to look beyond the stereotypes associated with a much-maligned type of fiction. Horror empowers us to cope with our fears by teaching us about them, he says, either overtly or through symbolism. It's not just about blood and guts.    The book consists mostly of editorials written for the Horror World website, plus selected articles from venues such as Hellnotes Newsletter. Warner runs the gamut in subject matter--everything from ghost hunting, to gory holiday decorations, to effective writing techniques--in his meditations about horrific things, whether they be fictional or real.    Contents include some of his most controversial columns: "My Summer with a Book Doctor: An internship at Edit Ink, a Notorious Scam Operation," "Message Versus Medium: The Agenda of Left Behind," "Addictive Plotting as Taught by Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Obscenity v. The First Amendment: Why the Prosecution of X-rated Films Affects Books."

Literature & Fiction

Warner, Matthew

Genre Fiction

Guide Dog Books

History & Criticism

Monstrous Creatures: Explorations of Fantasy Through Essays, Articles and Reviews

Monstrous Creatures: Explorations of Fantasy through Essays, Articles and Reviews

JEFF VANDERMEER

An entertaining, eclectic chronicle of modern fantastical fiction, Monstrous Creatures delivers incisive commentary, reviews, and essays pertaining to permutations of the monstrous, whether it's other people's monsters, personal monsters, or monstrous thoughts. A two-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, Jeff VanderMeer is one of speculative fiction's foremost voices. For the past 20 years, he has not only written weird literary fiction translated into 20 languages, but written about it extensively, influencing the way people think about fantasy through reviews in major papers like The Washington Post and The New York Times, as well as through interviews, thoughtful essays, blog posts, teaching, and guest-speaking. Monstrous Creatures, a follow-up to his 2004 nonfiction collection Why Should I Cut Your Throat?, collects all of his major nonfiction from the past five years, including such controversial pieces as "The Romantic Underground," "The Triumph of the Good," and "The Language of Defeat". Interviews with writers like Margo Lanagan and China Miéville are an added bonus, creating a dialogue with VanderMeer's own interpretations of the monstrous in the fantastical.

VanderMeer, Jeff

Who says you can't teach creativity?
Ideal for individual or classroom use, ARCHITECTURES OF POSSIBILITY theorizes and questions the often unconscious assumptions behind such traditional writing gestures as temporality, scene, and characterization; offers various suggestions for generating writing that resists, rethinks, and/or expands the very notion of narrativity; visits a number of important concerns/trends/obsessions in current writing (both on the page and off); discusses marketplace (ir)realities; hones critical reading and manuscript editing capabilities; and strengthens problem-solving muscles from brainstorming to literary activism.
Exercises and supplemental reading lists challenge authors to push their work into self-aware and surprising territory. In addition, ARCHITECTURES OF POSSIBILITY features something entirely lacking in most books about creative writing: more than 40 interviews with contemporary innovative authors, editors, and publishers (including Robert Coover, Lydia Davis, Brian Evenson, Shelley Jackson, Ben Marcus, Carole Maso, Scott McCloud, Steve Tomasula, Deb Olin Unferth, Joe Wenderoth, and Lidia Yuknavitch) working in diverse media, providing significant insights into the multifaceted worlds of experimental writers' writing.
"Through examples and samples, through exercises designed to pique your brain, even through interviews with authors, this book lays the groundwork for the birth of new ideas. It is a honeycomb filled with thousands of blastocysts from which you—each of you—can nurture and grow new literary children."—Daulton Dickey

Architectures of Possibility: After Innovative Writing

Reference

Olsen PH.D., Professor Lance

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

In this timely collection of essays and "quasi-essays," acclaimed novelist and critic Harold Jaffe explores the intricate vicissitudes of millennial culture. Gesturing, in a philosophical shorthand, toward a kind of pop Armageddon, Revolutionary Brain is at once thesis, allegory, and surreal comedy, demonstrating just how far we, and the natural world we have debased, have fallen. Obsessed with technology, we are incapable of reconstructing ourselves. By way of Jaffe's elegant prose and perfect pitch, our collective disability is laid bare at the 11th hour. REVOLUTIONARY BRAIN is a powerful cry for a brave new aesthetics that turns towards, not away, from our tormented globe.

Revolutionary Brain

Jaffe, Professor Harold

Essays & Correspondence

Writing in the Dark

In this comprehensive textbook devoted to the craft of writing horror fiction, award-winning author Tim Waggoner draws on thirty years' experience as a writer and teacher. Writing in the Dark offers advice, guidance, and insights on how to compose horror stories and novels that are original, frightening, entertaining, and well-written. Waggoner covers a wide range of topics, among them why horror matters, building viable mongers, generating ideas and plotlines, how to stylize narratives in compelling ways, the physiology of fear, the art of suspense, avoiding clichés, marketing your horror writing, and much more. Each chapter includes tips from some of the best horror professionals working today, such as Joe Hill, Ellen Datlow, Joe R. Lansdale, Maurice Broaddus, Yvette Tan, Thomas Ligotti, Jonathan Maberry, Edward Lee, and John Shirley. There are also appendices with critical reflections, pointers on the writing process, ideas for characters and story arcs, and material for further research. Writing in the Dark derives from Waggoner's longtime blog of the same name. Suitable for classroom use, intensive study, and bedside reading, this essential manual will appeal to new authors at the begins ning of their career as well as veterans of the horror genre who want to brush up on their technique. Book jacket.

Waggoner, Tim

Product Description WINNER OF THE 2020 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR NON-FICTIONIn this comprehensive textbook devoted to the craft of writing horror fiction, award-winning author Tim Waggoner draws on thirty years' experience as a writer and teacher. Writing in the Dark offers advice, guidance, and insights on how to compose horror stories and novels that are original, frightening, entertaining, and well-written.Waggoner covers a wide range of topics, among them why horror matters, building viable monsters, generating ideas and plotlines, how to stylize narratives in compelling ways, the physiology of fear, the art of suspense, avoiding clichés, marketing your horror writing, and much more. Each chapter includes tips from some of the best horror professionals working today, such as Joe Hill, Ellen Datlow, Joe R. Lansdale, Maurice Broaddus, Yvette Tan, Thomas Ligotti, Jonathan Maberry, Edward Lee, and John Shirley. There are also appendices with critical reflections, pointers on the writing process, ideas for characters and story arcs, and material for further research.Writing in the Dark derives from Waggoner's longtime blog of the same name. Suitable for classroom use, intensive study, and bedside reading, this essential manual will appeal to new authors at the beginning of their career as well as veterans of the horror genre who want to brush up on their technique. Review "I was part of one of Tim's writing workshops more years ago than I care to acknowledge. Soon after completing it, I began to sell professionally. Coincidence? I think not!" --Dave Creek, author of 40 science fiction and mystery short stories and 14 books"I still refer to handwritten notes I scribbled down as fast as I could during one of Tim's horror-writing classes. Absolutely incisive insights and practical know-how." --Tom Leveen, Bram Stoker finalist and author of Hellworld"As soon as I heard Waggoner was creating a book on writing craft, I knew I was buying it. His insights are gold." --Jay Wilburn, author of the Maidens of Zombie Kingdom trilogy"For some years now, Tim Waggoner's Writing in the Dark has been my go-to blog for sensible, actionable, sustainable tips for writers. Scarily good advice." --Lee Murray, author of The Path of Ra series"As a true newbie, I really didn't know much about the writing world. Tim was my HWA mentor in 2017. During our four months together, he critiqued three of my short stories and the beginnings of a novel. His advice was always on point with an eye toward pacing and story arc (my weaknesses). His advice is straightforward without being either condescending or cruel. Since working with Tim, I've had three short stories published (one at professional rates) and have drafted and revised my novel." --Valerie B. Williams, writer of dark fiction and two-time survivor of Borderlands Boot Camp"Tim's writing advice and lessons are simple, straightforward and always actionable. I must admit to having cribbed some of his approaches in my own classroom from time to time and, as all teachers know, theft is the best compliment we can give." --Anthony Klancar, High School English Teacher"Tim helped me find the writer in me. He encouraged me to appreciate and trust my voice to tell my stories." --Patti Balster, Student"When I engage with Tim Waggoner's writing advice, I can be sure it will be useful and practical. While realistic and sobering, his advice does so in a way that isn't discouraging or downbeat. It gives me a renewed sense of hope and new ideas to try that I hadn't considered before." --Eva V. Roslin, Librarian

Writing Poetry in the Dark

Pelayo, Cynthia

Addison, Linda D.

Writing in the Dark: The Workbook

Like Tim Waggoner's Bram Stoker Award-winning Writing in the Dark, a manual for how to write horror fiction, this workbook covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from monster, idea, and plotline creation to avoiding clichés and developing the art of suspense. The workbook, however, foregrounds practice over discussion to help writers master these concepts. Both texts stand on their own while working together to provide you with the direction and tools you need to maximize your own authorship.\nThe wealth of examples, exercises, and tutorials in Writing in the Dark: The Workbook are designed to inspire and stretch the imagination. Waggoner draws from his own experiences in addition to other professional writers, among them Laird Barron, Maurice Broaddus, Nadia Bulkin, Ramsey Campbell, Mort Castle, Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Grady Hendrix, Daniel Kraus, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Graham Masterton, Seanan McGuire, John Shirley, and many others.\nFeaturing an introduction by Michael A. Arnzen, Writing in the Dark: The Workbook will resonate with young authors who are just getting started on their careers as well as veterans of the horror genre and craft.

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Guide Dog Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Guide Dog Books

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Guide Dog Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word

Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word

Monstrous Creatures: Explorations of Fantasy through Essays, Articles and Reviews

Monstrous Creatures: Explorations of Fantasy Through Essays, Articles and Reviews

Architectures of Possibility: After Innovative Writing

Revolutionary Brain

Writing in the Dark

Writing in the Dark

Writing Poetry in the Dark

Writing in the Dark: The Workbook