The Scream: horror in art history and how to write darker- part one
Zoom. Oct. 8.2024. 6 to 8 pm est. $35CAD/$25USD.
part 2: Oct. 15.2024. 6 to 8 pm est. $35CAD/$25USD.
Bring some blood red wine or your favourite witchy tea and join us online for this special two part scream fest.
Horror novels and slasher flicks may feel like recent inventions, but in fact, horror is as old as humanity in numerous arts including music, literature, and visual art. Reckoning with God or the gods, with evil spirits, with haunted houses and hearts, with murder, violence, and war: these things have always been part of our experience. Fear, grief, anxiety, pain, rage, trauma, desperation, shock, uncertainty, and yes- horror- are all valid emotions that we have addressed through various expressions throughout time.
Art history has endless examples of art that both witnesses and imagines various forms of terror: ghosts, demons, tyrants, hell, and all things unholy on earth and beyond. Folklore, mythology, and religion, as well as newspapers, pop culture, and personal life experience are huge sources of terror and horror, and they all inspire visual art.
We will be exploring a variety of frightening or dark artworks, and using some of them to inspire ideas and drafts for our poetry and fiction. We will also learn a little about the art and craft of writing horror to help us conjure brilliant and creepy stories and poems.
Trigger warning: The artworks we view may be disturbing, gruesome, or terrifying. We will be looking at, discussing, and writing openly and candidly. Some of the subject matter will be sensitive and shocking. Topics like suicide, corpses, demons, murder, nightmares, ghosts, war, apocalypse and more may be discussed, read, or shown in imagery.
This is a huge subject, so we have two parts. The material, imagery, and writing exercises will be completely different. You can take one or the other, no problem, but we highly recommend coming to both.