Task 35: HORROR

Firstly, WELL DONE on your fantastic submissions for Task 34. Your moderators were treated to some very impressive writing, and some equally strong commentaries on your chosen opening.

I was a little disappointed with the number of typos and other careless spelling/punctuation errors, but I am confident you will be able to iron them out BEFORE posting for Task 35.

I shall be using a similar format for each of your prose tasks this term: a) a commentary on an excerpt of prose; and b) your own piece of original writing.


This week, we shall focus on writing in the HORROR genre.

TASK 35

1. Choose ONE of the FOUR excerpts and explain why you think it is an effective piece of HORROR fiction.
2. Write your own piece of HORROR fiction: it could be the 'opening' of a horror novel, or an 'abstract' from the middle of your imagined story. Whichever you choose, it should be between 200-300 words, and should achieve some of the objectives of horror writing (see below). As always, you should also give considerable thought to the beginning and ending of your piece.

N.B. When you are producing your own piece of writing, you are NOT being asked to REWRITE your chosen excerpt. I am looking for a piece of ORIGINAL WRITING - but one which uses some of the TECHNIQUES you have observed in your commentary.

A Warning: It is often too easy to indulge in graphic, gory detail - but remember that sometimes the scariest writing leaves as much as possible to the imagination of the reader. The best HORROR writing is a masterclass in the 'Show, don't Tell' technique; so don't drown us in blood and gore and anything too obvious or melodramatic.

Your submissions should be posted by MIDNIGHT on SATURDAY 7TH FEBRUARY.

Good luck!