My Most Successful Classroom Horror Writing

Activities
by Michael A. Arnzen (http://gorelets.com)
Presented at the 36th International Conference on the Fantastic in the
Arts 36 (21 Mar 2015). http://fantastic-arts.org
Resources for this presentation are available at:
https://www.scribd.com/collections/13790895/TEACHING-HORROR
or https://www.scribd.com/Dr_Arnzen
AUDIO:
Analysis of a dark song (recommended: Black Sabbath by Black
Sabbath)
After a discussion of sensory appeals and imagery in horror
fiction, ask students to write down every horror reference/trope
and atmospheric reference they can hear as you play aloud a
song that is consciously framed as a horror genre song. I like
to use the heavy metal song, Black Sabbath. The song is
littered with tropes from thunderstorms to church bells and
the lyrics are rife with horror clichs, as well. Yet the structure of
the music is itself is something to call attention to, in the way it
uses distortion to set mood, and how the tone of the third
chord of the riff feels out of step and disturbs the listener with a
sense of unexpected progression.
Example: Link to Black Sabbath on YouTube
Mystery sound prompts on Soundcloud.com
For homework, ask students to use the Soundcloud app on their
phones or tablets to explore their environments and record a
uniquely scary or disturbing sound and post it online -- but to
not name the source of the audio in any way, leaving it a
mystery. Then, students can be asked to write an image-rich
passage of horror that is inspired by the sound and which
imagines its source. These passages need not have narrative
context; they can also be posted as comments on soundcloud.
Example: What Is That?
Others might be found in class group:
https://soundcloud.com/groups/el231-horror-writing-spring-2013

Removing the Sight or the Sound of a Horror Film Scene

In class, play a scene from a horror film (preferably a foreign
film) that is dominated by the score and/or sound effects, and
with minimal dialogue. TURN OFF THE PROJECTOR (or otherwise
use a pre-recorded excerpt of the audio alone), so that only the
audio is heard and students cannot see what happens narratively
or visually in the film. Have students write a horrifying scene,
drawing inspiration from the sounds.
Have a few student volunteers read what they came up with.
Afterward, reveal to the class the full scene with the projector on.
Discuss.
[An alternative to this activity is to first watch a horror scene
without any sound and to ask students to write down how they
would conduct the music or how they would add sound effects
(and what those effects would be). Afterward, watch the film and
compare their choices to the directors choices for audio cues.
Discuss.]
Example: Clip from Argentos Suspiria (1977):
https://youtu.be/l3akP01sgrM
Scream Attendance
More of a mood-setter or a fun way to loosen students up, this
activity is just goofy fun that leads to student risk taking and raw
expression. Before you take attendance with a roll sheet, simply
ask the students to scream like a horror movie victim when you
call their name. If necessary, frame it as role-playing: they are
to scream as if it is a screen test of sorts, and they are
competing for a role in a horror film.
I use this to introduce the Screams from Somewhere Else
writing activity and as a way to relieve midterm stress.
Audio example: https://soundcloud.com/dr-arnzen/scream

Backward Roll Call

Another somewhat goofy mood-setter, this attendance-taking
activity asks students to say their last name backwards when
you call on them by their first name. It defamiliarizes language,
and can open a conversation about satanic speak or warped
reality. Ive used it to set up the Draw a Monster (I) activity
below.
Audio example: https://soundcloud.com/slago52/backward-role

VISUAL
Draw a Monster I:
The Tfarcevol -- Invent a Lovecraftian Creature
Ask students to write their last name backwards at the top of the
page. This will be the name of an imaginary creature they must
invent. The task is to create an original monster that goes by
that name and draw this creature on the page. Later, they can
employ this beast in their fiction or in a journal entry.
This activity works well after reading Lovecraft, encouraging
students to appreciate the authors playfully weird use of
language. For creative writers, it inspires originality by avoiding
reliance on stock monster types, like vampires and
werewolves.
Example: The New Cthulhu/Flickr gallery of student drawings:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gorelets/sets/72157633176801632
/
Draw a Monster II:
First Monster Viewpoint Draw a creature that is only described via
first person.
A great choice for this activity is Born of Man and Woman by
Richard Matheson, which is told via first person journal entires
of a sort. The story progressively reveals that the childlike
narrator is a mutant or monstrous offspring, but we only get
vieled clues about its physique and appearance. Have students
survey the text for physical description and attempt to visually
depict the creature that the author himself does not fully depict.
Example: X - Born of Man and Woman (2013)/Flickr gallery:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gorelets/sets/72157632773404660/
Analyze a horror paperback book cover:
Have students find (via research or purchase) a paperback
horror novel and scan the graphic into their text. Ask them to
write a brief analysis of all the elements that code the book as
a member of the horror genre from colors to font style to
images in the cover art. Obviously, this exercise can lead into

conversations about genre conventions and how they are

reproduced to index the genre and meet audience expectations.

Adapt a High Intensity Film Clip to Flash Fiction

While perhaps any horror film clip could do, it is educational to
study the editing of the shower scene from Hitchcocks Psycho.
Watch it, perhaps several times, and talk about such issues as
timing, pace, showing vs. implying, and of course, the sound.
Then play this scene on loop while students are asked to write
the scene as if it were a flash fiction.
If this clip is too familiar or conventional, try using the hospital
nurse attack scene from Exorcist III.
Psycho: https://youtu.be/8VP5jEAP3K4
Exorcist III: https://youtu.be/zH8ynu0jRvY

LITERARY
Compare and Contrast Medical Writing vs. Horror Literatures
Description of Gore
Any gory scene will do; research medical literature for a related
piece, and then ask students to compare and contrast diction,
imagery, and presumed purpose of the authors. Often reveals
the importance of showing vs. telling. Likely will reveal
rhetorical framework of both, and an appreciation for the artistic
craftsmanship that goes into even the basest of horror
descriptions: word choice, mood, and atmosphere in fiction.
Example: Arnzen handout on Michael Sheas The Autopsy vs.
The Routine Autopsy by Ed Uthmann, M.D.:
http://scribd.com/Dr_Arnzen
Research Hunt: Find a Lovecraft-inspired work of Popular Culture
Invite students to surf the internet for songs, artpieces, films,
games, fan fiction and other works of popular culture that overtly
refer to the work of HP Lovecraft. This can be light duty for a few
minutes in class, or a find and report project delivered in the
following class period or even an assigned essay analyzing the
effectiveness of the derivative work.
Can be used to teach genres as communities and fan culture,
art of adaptation, issues in influence (or remixing), and so on.
Screams from Somewhere Else
This extended in-class writing activity can build well on the
scream attendance activity described above.
Read out loud to the class (and have them read along) Roger
Rosenblatts article from Time magazine (16 Nov 1987),
Screams from Somewhere Else
Discuss the various issues in Rosenblatt raises about human
nature, fear, and the function of the scream. Extend the
conversation to include the motif of the scream in horror films.
Have students write an atmospheric narrative from the

perspective of someone who walks past a dark alley at night and

hears a bloodcurdling scream from somewhere in its recesses,
right at the moment when they make a choice to either
investigate or flee.
Related: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/mikearnzen/praxis/shoutingin-cla.html
Michael Arnzens articles and tools for horror genre
instructors:
The Unlearning: Horror and Transformative Theory Transformative
Works and Cultures 1 (2008). Online.
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/37
Horror and the Responsibilities of the Liberal Educator. Dissections:
The Journal of Contemporary Horror (May 2009). Online.
http://www.simegen.com/writers/dissections/May
2009/dissections_page_03.html
Grossing Out Teacher: A Horror Writer in the Writing Classroom. The
Broadsheet (25 May 2005). Online.
http://broaduniverse.org/blog/2010/09/22/grossing-out-teacher-ahorror-writer-in-the-writing-classroom-may-2005-bs-c-0505ma/
Pedablogue entries on horror:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/mikearnzen?s=horror
Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side (ebook):
http://gorelets.com/books/mastication-publications/instigation/
Diabolique Strategies (online prompt generator):
http://diaboliquestrategies.com/
Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction (Textbook).
Co-edited with Heidi Ruby Miller. Headline Books, 2012.
http://manygenres.blogspot.com

Graduate/MFA Matters:
Degrees of Dread. In On Writing Horror. Writers Digest Books (2007).

Learn more about Seton Hill Us low residency Master of the Fine Arts
program in Writing Popular Fiction:
http://fiction.setonhill.edu