Horror Novel Writing Workshop: Sustain Dread | Feb 2027 Online

Sustaining Dread Writing Workshop: Writing the Horror Novel with Fin Leary

Begins Monday, February 1, 2027
Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Mondays, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET (Sessions: February 1, 8, 15, and 22)

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone:

• Los Angeles (PST): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Chicago (CST): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• New York (EST): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Fin Leary (they/them) is a transgender and autistic author, a program manager at We Need Diverse Books, and an instructor at Emerson College, GrubStreet, and the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop. Fin is the 2026 Young Adult Writer-in-Residence at Porter Square Books, and the 2026 Westfield State University Alumni of the Year. Fin was a 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow for Young Adult Fiction. They are a contributor to the young adult horror anthology These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer (Page Street Publishing, 2025). Their fiction has been supported by the McCormack Writing Center (formerly Tin House), Lambda Literary, the St. Botolph Club Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Sundress Academy for the Arts, and Narrative Initiative, and their poetry has been supported by GBH and the City of Boston Mayor’s Poetry Program. Fin lives with their orange literary cat and a rainbow bookshelf outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

Who is this class for?

This intermediate online writing class is for fiction writers who have begun a horror novel and are in the early drafting stages, or who are just starting to outline and draft. It is also a strong fit for horror writers who keep trying to draft a novel but continually feel stuck.

What to expect:

Sustaining Dread is a 4-week horror writing workshop for writers working toward a complete first draft of a horror novel. Short stories can live on a single spike of fear. A novel has to hold dread across hundreds of pages. This course focuses on the strategies horror authors use to sustain dread, pacing, and escalation for the length of a book, so readers keep being surprised and the emotional intensity keeps building without wearing them out.

Each live Zoom session builds your horror craft and moves your novel forward. You’ll start with character wants, fears, and flaws, including what your reader fears. Then you’ll work on escalating emotional tension, craft strategies for the murky middle and the climax, and endings that feel earned. Starting in Week 2, you’ll build an outline for your novel that escalates the threat, controls the pacing, and gives you a structure that holds. Readings focus on the essential elements of an effective horror novel and on keeping your drafting momentum. Plan on 2–3 hours of work outside of class each week.

This creative writing course includes a full workshop. Each student submits one piece of up to 6,000 words and receives written feedback from Fin along with feedback from peers. You’ll leave this online fiction workshop with a clear plan for the rest of your draft.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will produce a detailed outline for their horror novel along with a revised first chapter. Each student will submit one piece of up to 6,000 words from their novel-in-progress for workshop and receive written feedback from the instructor along with peer feedback.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White, Model Home by Rivers Solomon, and In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Your Characters: Wants, Fears, and Flaws
A particular focus on character fears, and reader fears! How do we build believable and interesting fear in a horror novel, and how does this set the stage?

Week 2: Escalating Emotional Tension
What does it look like to employ emotion on the page, and how do we escalate tension and dread? During Week 2, writers will begin their outlines for their horror novels.

Week 3: Fear and the Long Haul
We’ll discuss craft strategies specific to writing the murky middle and the climax of the novel, and how to continue to surprise your readers, throw in plot twists, and elevate the dread and fear without leaving your readers frustrated or exhausted. We will also discuss how to figure out what length your horror novel should be and what it means to create a compelling timeline and pacing that works for the story you’re telling.

Week 4: Writing Endings that Work
What makes the ending to a horror novel feel earned? How much hope versus hopelessness do we imbue in our endings? To what extent do all plot lines need to feel wrapped up, and which questions are left answered versus unanswered?

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• A detailed outline for your horror novel, built to sustain dread and escalate the threat across a full-length manuscript
• A revised first chapter of your novel-in-progress
• Written instructor feedback and peer feedback on up to 6,000 words of your novel
• Strategies for building believable character and reader fears that set the stage for the whole book
• Tools for pacing the murky middle and climax, surprising readers, and building intensity without exhausting them
• A framework for writing a horror ending that feels earned

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $330 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Fin Leary
• Begins Monday, February 1, 2027
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Mondays, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $330 USD.