Photo courtesy Andriyko Podilnyk via Unsplash
The students in my Reading & Writing Horror class are currently writing short essays evoking Disgust, since Disgust is an important and legitimate aspect of Horror. The challenge here is how might we as writers elicit strong responses from our readers, while also creating Art. What’s beautiful about gross bodily habits? What’s essential about writing on topics that no one should write about? How can something that’s disgusting also be meaningful? How will paying attention to specifics such as altering the length of one’s sentences, tone, and point of view make one a better writer, not just of Horror but all other kinds of writings as well? Tone is especially key here. What emotion do we want to evoke in our readers? Horror-comedy, horror-tragedy, horror-fear or something else?
In any case, I am reading their responses right now, and it’s a weird feeling, this combination of Pride and Disgust/Horror that their writing is evoking. Clearly, this is a challenge they have taken to with great joy!