Instigation

Funereal Fun + Describe an operation or autopsy that transpires in total darkness. + Reveal a secret during an open casket funeral. + Discover a "pattern" among the gravestones. *** Review the entire "Instigation" department for more prompts. You can share your writing here on The Goreletter by clicking on the 'comment' link.

+ Write a poem that draws language directly from all the song titles from a death metal music album. (Here's a list of some at the Cannibal Corpse fan site). + Craft a story around a doctor, dentist, or other health worker who secretly uses one of the job's instruments for his or her own unhealthy pleasure. (Here's a list of health care jobs from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics) + Describe a mass hallucination in a surreal and dreamy manner, using first person plural ("we"). (Here's some historical inspiration from the Skeptical Inquirer). *** Review the entire "Instigation"…

+ Write about a WOMAN-eating plant (as opposed to just a man-eater). + Everyone says they're afraid of clowns.  What are clowns scared of?  Depict their worst nightmare. + Ever heard the expression, "Let your freak flag fly"?  Write a story or poem about a freak nation and its hallowed flag.  (Option: try drawing or describing the iconography of the flag before you begin). *** Review the entire "Instigation" department where you can now post your writing!

+ Reverse the roles in an alien autopsy. + Choose an inanimate object from your kitchen cabinet. Give it a mouth. Allow it to unexpectedly speak one morning to a child while he is preparing his own breakfast. + Speculate on paper: If you were to eat your own brain matter, what do you think it would taste like? Describe it, appealing to the senses, evoking the texture and flavor. Then begin the next paragraph. See if you can keep going, unfolding a plot that explains why you would be eating your own brain to begin with. Don't force it...discover…

+ Write a story from the viewpoint of a groundskeeper at the graveyard -- avoiding any of the typical trappings of the horror genre. Make it mundane, even. Avoid using speculative fiction technique at all until you get to page three. Then, if you need to jazz things up, let her rip. + Devise a plot surrounding a schoolyard bully...when he's elderly, in the nursing home. + Describe a tuft of stiff hair that has grown in a very unexpected place on your main character's body. *** If you publish something instigated by this department, let me know and I'll…