Veterans in Horror
Posted inArnzen News

Veterans in Horror

I rarely talk about my days in the military. I am also anti-war and loathe the crassness of July 4th (as does my cat). But freedom means everything to me, and I'm proud to be a veteran. Serving in the Army helped me not only meet some amazing people and make good lifelong friends, but supported my first-generation entry into college afterward. It was also where I wrote my first horror story, because I was reading so much of it, and tried on a lark to see if I could be as clever as Stephen King. I wasn't. But even…
November 11, 2022Posted inArnzen News
Horror U Class Banner
Posted inArnzen News

New Online Course: Treacherous Settings

"Treacherous Settings": Live Monday, Jan 31st 2022, 8 P.M. EST -- Horror University Online Also Available Asynchronously Following the Event! DESCRIPTION: In space, no one can hear you scream. Here there be monsters. Who’s behind the door? Settings can be as scary and surprisingly deadly as the creatures and killers who populate our books. From craggy caverns to undersea cities, haunted houses to alien landscapes, they can threaten characters with their very lives, and their inherent fear factor always offers a potential stage for delightfully dangerous action, creative conflict, and shocking surprise. In this 2-hour session we'll discover different methods…
December 24, 2021Posted inArnzen News
Stoker-Inspired Special Spring ’21 Update
Posted inArnzen News

Stoker-Inspired Special Spring ’21 Update

Spring is springing and I thought I'd share a general update, sparked by my registration for StokerCon this May... StokerCon -- the annual convention of horror genre professionals run by the Horror Writers Association -- announced it was going virtual this year (due to the Covid pandemic; a wise move), so I registered and WILL be attending and probably be a part of the program in some fashion. I'm proud to report that there are several alumni from the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program (where I teach horror) in the running for the Bram Stoker Award to be given…
March 4, 2021Posted inArnzen News
Posted inAmbulations

StokerCon 2019 Recap

The Horror Writers Association now runs the dominant convention for writers on the dark side, StokerCon -- named after Bram Stoker (author of Dracula) and the trophy of the award the association gives to the top books in the horror genre each year. StokerCon convenes annually for serious horror professionals who want to learn and reconnect with the horror genre through topical panel discussions, excellent author readings, significant writing workshops, a mass booksigning and varied presentations… climaxing in a formal Bram Stoker Awards banquet, which celebrates the genre’s top practitioners with what I think remains the coolest trophy in the…
May 16, 2019Posted inAmbulations
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

HWA Poetry Showcase V

[NOTE: Submissions are now closed and the book is being edited now published in Fall 2018!  Preview the TOC. Read my Goodreads review. ] April is National Poetry (& Poetry Writing) Month -- and the Horror Writers Association is celebrating with a call for submissions of poetry to their next anthology, the HWA Poetry Showcase V! Deadline is end of April 2018. Guidelines appear down below. I'm on the jury vetting the entries alongside Mercedes Yardley and editor Stephanie Wytovich. You do need to be member of the HWA to be accepted, sure -- but...If you're a pro horror writer,…
April 7, 2018Posted inArnzen News, Instigation