Posted inArnzen News

Dissecting Arnzen

Those with an academic inclination might be interested in DISSECTIONS: The Journal of Contemporary Horror. This brand new journal from the UK seeks, according to editor Gina Wisker, "to encourage and develop ongoing dialogues about horror, its origins, formats and effects, in a way which celebrates an age-old, newly metamorphosing scariness, and the way it homes in on our cultural, social, psychological and personal fears, disturbing what is familiar." The debut issue includes my essay, "Scary New Media," which explores the way the internet is used as both an artistic and commercial medium to supplement horror stories and films. Dissections…
January 11, 2007Posted inArnzen News
Posted inNot Dead Yet: Print Reviews

Screaming in Code

Have you ever read Thomas Wiloch? If not, maybe you should. Don't just take my word for it. Thomas Ligotti says Wiloch is writing "what deserve to be included among the best prose poems ever written in any language." And like Ligotti, Wiloch has been quietly working away in relative obscurity in his own "niche" for two decades, developing a one-of-a-kind approach to a form he almost entirely owns. Wiloch writes surrealist short-short pieces, often no longer than a page long, that are as philosophical as they are whimsical, as clever as they are poetic, and as disturbing as they…
December 12, 2006Posted inNot Dead Yet: Print Reviews
Posted inInstigation

Twisted Prompts for Sicko Writers

+ What does the moon say to the lycanthrope? Write a monologue. + A wife suspects her husband is a serial killer when he's not. Script their argument one night when he comes home late from work. + Torture a competitive eater. Don't use hotdogs. *** If you publish something instigated by this department, let me know and I'll mention it here!
December 12, 2006Posted inInstigation
Posted inArnzen News

On Writing Horror

The book, On Writing Horror, is among the best "how-to" books for writers working in the genre of fear, and a newly revised edition has just been published. Any writer who hopes to terrify their readers should pick up a copy of this newly updated edition of the classic textbook in writing and marketing horror fiction. Written by members of the Horror Writer's Association (contributors include Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, David Morrell, Harlan Ellison, Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccirilli and many more!), the book covers a surprisingly wide range of issues with insight -- from how to craft monster stories…
December 1, 2006Posted inArnzen News