Posted inArnzen News

A New Blog: “The Popular Uncanny”

I'm building a new weblog here on gorelets.com called THE POPULAR UNCANNY. It's a supplement of sorts for my upcoming non-fiction title from publisher Guide Dog Books by the same name. The book is a critical study of theories of the Uncanny/"das Unheimliche" as they appear in advertising, film, bestsellers, and online. Chapters include examinations of such topics as the icon of the dismembered hand in the history of horror cinema, and a treatment of the advertising world's "Doublemint Twins" as uncanny doppelgangers. (The Popular Uncanny, btw, was originally my doctoral dissertation at the University of Oregon.) While the entries…
July 4, 2008Posted inArnzen News
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 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
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

Reader’s Guide to 100 Jolts

Because my flash fiction collection, 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories, was getting some attention from creative writing teachers -- and because I know some folks were teaching selected excerpts to various classes -- my publisher and I thought it might be worthwhile to produce a free teacher's guide/reader's guide to accompany it. I finished writing the guide this summer and you can now download it free as an .rtf file (MS Word ~500k) or .pdf file (Adobe ~100k) If you're a teacher or someone who's running a lecture on the craft of horror fiction, you might find it useful, whether…
September 3, 2004Posted inArnzen News, Instigation