Things that Go Bump in the Night: Writing Horror • Reedsy

📚 Overview

Writing stories that keep readers up at night takes more than ghosts and things that go bump in the night. In this two-hour workshop, you’ll learn how to craft dark, suspenseful stories that keep readers flipping the pages with the lights on.

From writing the uncanny to building tension and dread, you’ll get expert-led lessons on how to crawl under your reader’s skin. You’ll leave this workshop with an understanding of the horror genre and the tools to write nail-biting scenes, gradually rising tension, and hair-rising revelations that will stay with your readers long past the final page.

🎓 What You’ll Learn

How to master the art of suspense through pacing and foreshadowing

Ways to incorporate the uncanny in your writing

Techniques for writing unsettling descriptions

Strategies for creating a threat that feels emotionally personal to the reader

Schedule

EVENT

3pm - 3:55pm EDT

The Uncanny Valley of the Everyday

Sometimes the most terrifying things are the ones we thought we knew best. Join Bram-Stoker nominee Rachel Moulton to learn how the ordinary can be twisted into the uncanny. Drawing on current examples and using practical writing exercises, Rachel will take you through how to make the familiar feel wrong, and how to make your imagery pack just as much fear as your plot.

EVENT

4:05pm - 5pm EDT

The Anatomy of Fear

A good horror story keeps your reader sitting on the edge of their seat. In this session, editor Hannah VanVels Ausbury will map out the emotional framework of horror, showing you how to build anticipation, raise the stakes, and incite dread through pacing and foreshadowing. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of how to forge an emotional experience for your reader, playing on their fears to create scary moments that linger.

Speakers

Rachel Moulton

Author and Editor

Rachel Eve Moulton is a long-lister for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and nominee for both Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker awards. She has written and published multiple short stories, and is an associate fiction editor for Narrative Magazine. She’s spent most of her life as an educator, writer, and editor.

Hannah VanVels Ausbury

Editor

Hannah VanVels Ausbury is an editor, writer, and book coach. Over the years, she’s worn many bookish hats: bookseller at Barnes & Noble, freelance editor for scholarly journals, editor at a children's imprint with HarperCollins, and literary agent. With over a decade of editorial experience, Hannah has edited everything from sweeping fantasies and fast-paced thrillers to immersive historical fiction, romantic comedies, and heartfelt contemporary stories.