Book an event for reluctant readers this Autumn / Winter – Uncle Zeedie by Colm Field

Perfect for the colder months, The Blood Texts by Colm Field are an excellent YA anthology horror series for readers who have fallen out of love with reading. Colm’s energising and approachable workshops and assemblies are perfect for getting your reluctant readers not only turning the pages, but maybe even picking up a pen.

The assemblies are packed to the brim with audience participation; questions and opinions both invited and welcomed throughout. The workshops incorporate group activity throughout, in which the participants develop their own basic outlines for a horror story.

About the event

Structure

A 30 – 60 minute workshop / assembly structured around the three elements Colm argues are needed for a decent horror story – Monsters, Scares, and Cares.

The optimal time for an assembly has over time proven to be between 45 – 60 minutes. However, it can be made as short as 20 minutes, or lengthened to 80 minutes.

The assembly is divided up into 3 equal parts, with a brief epilogue.

MONSTERS

In the ‘Monsters’ section, Colm talks readers through some famous (and less famous) horror monsters – both supernatural and otherwise. They talk about what a story can get from the monster used – be it an added element of tragedy, a commentary on society’s ills, or just straight up grotesquery.

They also discuss the option of using a monster based on something unexpected – for example, the Easter bunny, or Winnie the Pooh. When the audience are asked to identify a facet of these cuter creatures that could be manipulated to frightening effect, it helps illustrate the extra thematic dimension that helps make a horror monster that bit more frightening.

SCARES

For the middle third, they discuss horror scares on two different levels. Firstly there are the different types to be found – Jump scares, Repulsion, Atmospheric Dread to name a few. To illustrate these examples, Colm reads a creepy passage from one of his books, and asks the audience to offer an ending using one or more of these scares.
Secondly, they discuss the ‘Hierarchy of Scares’ as described by Stephen King. Following his argument that while cheaper, ‘Gross-Out’ scares are perfectly fine, writers should be looking to reach his gold standard of ‘Terror’, Colm argues that you can only reach them if you have the third element within a horror story: Cares.

CARES

In ‘Cares’, the final section, they consider different ways to imbue characters – and horror – with this extra meat. Whether it be the ‘sisters’ fear and guilt as described by Shirley Jackson, or the stomach-churning love and grief of Pet Sematery, these are the subjects that often influence our enjoyment of stories in ways we’re not even conscious of.
If the audience is willing to, they get into discussions of their own greatest fears – not phobias, but nightmarish dreads. It is a discussion that can prove quite emotive, but also fulfilling.

EPILOGUE

If time allows, Colm follows this discussion with some basic tips for writing – such as Write on your phone! – before finishing the talk with a Q&A.