Keep on Writing in the Dark
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

Keep on Writing in the Dark

If you came to this post looking for Instigation, you've got it. And there's a prompt at the very end. Today one of my favorite publishers, Raw Dog Screaming Press (the team who brought you The Gorelets Omnibus and 100 Jolts and others), announced that they are taking pre-orders for my friend Tim Waggoner's latest writer's how-to guide, Writing in The Dark: The Workbook. I want you to buy it (and when I get to teach horror writing at Seton Hill University -- where, incidentally, Tim has taught beside me -- you can bet I'll be assigning this book). It's…
March 31, 2022Posted inArnzen News, Instigation
Instigation: Prompts About Masks
Posted inInstigation

Instigation: Prompts About Masks

If you write horror or otherwise create "on the dark side," look into acquiring my prompt collection, INSTIGATION: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side. In my day job, I teach creative writing at Seton Hill University, and one of my many tasks is advising the campus literary magazine, Eye Contact. They are running a special theme issue on "Masks" for Spring 2021, in response to the Covid pandemic, and I made a list of prompts for one of their workshops, as well as for my current creative writing class. Since masks are an icon in the horror genre, I thought…
March 12, 2021Posted inInstigation
Posted inInstigation

Joe-La Dowdy Wins the Instigation Marathon!

Imagine a red devil jumping for joy, wagging its deadly tail, and applauding with hooves ablaze -- that's me, cheering for writer Joe La Dowdy, who just published her 365th creative blog entry, marking a full year of dark flash fiction and devious poems inspired by the 365 prompts in my book, Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side! That's right. She wrote 365 stories. Jealous? You should be. I am! READ THEM. Joe-La's accomplishment is not easy. It takes a tremendous amount of stamina and discipline to return to the computer, every single day, to do yet another exercise,…
July 5, 2016Posted inInstigation1 Comment
Posted inInstigation

Instigation Prompts: Scary Politics

In December’s issue of The Goreletter, I posted the following list of story starters for “Scary Politics.” As the primary season is heating up to the boiling point of hellfire, I thought I’d copy it here to the blog, as a reminder that there's no better place for reimagining the world -- and for doing so in horrific ways -- than in the real world of American politics. If you didn’t see this before, it’s because you don’t subscribe to my newsletter. SUBSCRIBE (or fill out the form to update your email address) and you’ll get Instigation fresh off the…
March 10, 2016Posted inInstigation
Posted inInstigation

Instigation Prompts: Horror for the Holidays

In last November's issue of The Goreletter, I posted the following list of story starters for "Horror for the Holidays." Since the season will soon be upon us, I thought I'd share it here on the blog, to help the sicko writers out there get started on corrupting their holiday imaginations early. If you didn't see this before, it's because you don't subscribe to my newsletter. SUBSCRIBE and you'll get Instigation fresh off the grill. And if you want whole trove of things like this, pick up my ebook, Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side Horror for the Holidays…
October 3, 2015Posted inInstigation