Talking Scars: Creating the Literature of Fear and Pain
New Exclusive Cult Master Class
Note: Class is now officially underway. Congrats to all our students!
He takes us to the places we fear and shows us real-life monsters, sometimes through a child’s eyes. You don’t have to cue the campy music. You don’t have to invoke the supernatural. You will be scared, but exhilarated, repulsed and attracted at the same time. As Hannah Arendt told us in a book from 1963 about those who abetted the Nazi regime, the surprising thing about evil is “the banality evil.” When you read a Jack Ketchum novel, you realize that the evil thing you fear could be living right next door, doing laundry in a faded sundress or supplying discipline to somebody’s children. And the way the worst of it creeps up on you, seductively, before going farther than you could have imagined—you don’t sense exaggeration when Stephen King says that Jack is the writer who scares even him. But it runs deeper than fright, deeper than scare tactics.
What I’ve noticed in books like The Girl Next Door is that Jack consistently challenges the reader to confront and consider. He entertains, but he also shows us something terrifying set amid everyday life. Ultimately, you’re left with a human riddle to think about, instead of just a frenzied run to your next distraction. Jack’s characters and the often horrifying situations they face stay with us, somehow, in the best possible way. There’s a redemptive finish, even if it only completes itself inside of you.
This is why we’ve been after him, of course. That chill in his own spine, that scary thing that went looking for the creator of so many scary things—it was just us. “Trick or Treat. The Cult has come for you, Jack. We want you to teach us everything that you know.”
After the second approach, Jack said ‘Yes.’ (Keep reading to grab an exclusive seat.)
Of course, there’s a bit more to the story, like the several months it took to line this up with a decent span of downtime or even half-time in his schedule: a quiet moment to be found; a month when he isn’t due on set with the latest film adaptation of his work.
But now we’ve got him. [Cue evil laughter here…]
For the month of November, the Master of Horror and Suspense, Jack Ketchum, is here for you at The Cult. He will be spilling the magic beans in one of our most exciting intensives yet:
Talking Scars: Creating the Literature of Fear and Pain
What We Will Cover
- Writing from the Wound
- The Abyss that's Looking Back
- “Method Acting” for Horror Writers
- Choosing a theme for a horror or suspense story & the versatility of the form
- Horror and Suspense as Cautionary Tales
- Creating Suspense - sentence-level techniques
- The bookstore browser test for your opening paragraph
- Communicating your deeper meaning through genre fiction
- Important tips for a good writer turning pro
The Details
Talking Scars: Jack Ketchum Cult Exclusive Master Class
Dates: November 9th – December 9th
Hard Limit: 20 Students Only
Class is now officially underway. Congrats to all our students!
Comments
Burning out from the Clevenger intensive, writing projects outside that class, work, and life but...
I'm in bitches!!!
See ya there
This looks amazing. I wish I had the money to do it. Seeing as though I've only just started dabbling in genre stuff lately this would be perfect for me, alas, no cashola and very limited time.
Find a way to make it bro
After Craig's class wraps up i'm diving straight into a re-write of my novel. I'm gonna be flat-out with that. And I just laid down 500 bucks to go to a five-day festival with Dylan headlining, so I don't really have the dough right now either. But I have a feeling this class is going to be very special.
Oh... But... Uh... And then... But...
Screw it, where's my credit card?
Wish I had enough left on my VISA limit. Damn, shouldn't have bought my tabs and paid my tickets. I really, really want to do this.
Yeah. This, too, looks very very good.
Cult's blowing my mind lately. I need to get busy.
"...when he isn’t due on set with the latest film adaptation of his work."
http://www.youtube.com/moderncine#p/c/4150D43500A3A5EC/5/pcFCHEvuNOc
Damn. These things always open up way too far from pay day. Going to have to knock over a liquor store for this one.
Vig, can you give a note when registration starts getting towards the cutoff?
Vig, can you give a note when registration starts getting towards the cutoff?
Yeah, I can do that. Right now I can tell you I expect this course to be full up in about 48 hours.
I wish I took my writing more seriously. This is one course I would love to take. Too bad I'm trying to pay all of my bills off and stuff...
Stupid adulthood.
/homer
I'm in bitches!!!
See ya there
Same deal. So tired, but I'm in!
can i mail you a box of cash, VP? no questions asked?
Count me in too.
And yes, I agree with Nic and Wookie. But who really needs sleep anyway?
Looking forward to working with everyone!
You in R? Would be great to work with you.
Okay...used plastic and I'M IN. Been a while since I've done an intensive...pretty pysched and a little scared!!
Let me think about it. Okay, go ahead.
Looking forward to this. My first Cult workshop!
Josh
www.JoshuaJabcuga.com
Twitter: @Jabcuga
Well hell. This looks too good to pass up. Damn. I may have to resort to incurring a little plastic debt. >.<
Can I do this to myself and take a third one in a row?
I'm in.
You gonna do it, Wickerkat? That'd be great if you can make it happen.
Josh
www.JoshuaJabcuga.com
Twitter: @Jabcuga
Aaaagh!
Is there any way you can give people more lead time for these classes? I can't fit this in on top of my job and Nanowrimo.
Bugger.
I'm afraid a third intensive will be too much for me right now, so I won't be able to... Wish you all a great time though.
sigh...i think i'm in, cost be damned, i've been a long time fan of ketchum, read all of his work, next to maybe king, straub, and clive barker i can't think of another author of dark fiction i'd rather work with, study under
in
i'm all tapped out. bummer.
I'm in. Finally, back to this. Greetings, all. Some of you I know, some of you I don't, but that will all change. For the better, if needed of course.
Cool! See everyone on Monday. Anyone on Twitter? I'm @Jabcuga.
Also, for those that don't know, Jack Ketchum is on Twitter: @JackKetchum.
Until Monday then!
Josh
www.JoshuaJabcuga.com
Twitter: @Jabcuga
Just made it. I'm in.
Sweet! See you there.
I've never done an online course ever before, but a good friend of mine sent me a link describing this course, and it looks like fun, so I'm in.
Anyone know what the mandatory scheduled time commitment for this is? (when meetings etc are?)
Hi, Nathan,
I just spoke to you by e-mail, but I'll go ahead and answer this question right here in case anyone else is wondering.
1. We don't have set meeting times.
We consider it a chief advantage of learning online that you can make it work with any schedule, regardless of your other commitments. Therefore, we deliberately avoid building a class around chatrooom simulations of an old-fashioned classroom.
Instead, you log in whenever you like. Your class is available 24 hours per day. And you'll likely find yourself interacting with fellow students from all over the world, regardless of Time Zones and work schedules.
That's why learning this way rocks. Well, it's at least one of the reasons.
There will be assignment deadlines, of course, but nothing to dictate what time of day or night you actually get the work done. After you post something, you can take of and go to work or do whatever you need to do... come back in a few hours or the next day and you'll find new responses to what you've posted, and lots of other new content, as well.
Our classes are intensely interactive, but in an ongoing and flexible way. Only the two conference calls will require a bit of schedule synchronization. We like to build our sense of a writers' community through direct voice contact... but those calls are optional and generally hosted on weekends.
Anyone with more questions, please fire away. Maybe two seats remain to be grabbed, and we fire on all burners starting Tuesday.
2. Everyone enrolled will receive an orientation e-mail from me late tonight (Monday night.)
Talk you you soon.
Mark Vanderpool,
Writers Workshop Administrator
& Director of Education Services
www.chuckpalahniuk.net
Nathan Wrann, Do It Up! I am a fairly new member of the Cult and I just took an intensive with another author -and it was bar none, the best learning experience of my life.
It's a nice duality -not only is the course super flexible as Mark's saying, but you also Learn more than you ever will in any college day course that's overly structured.
I know I did. I had some amazing direct interations with the instructor, also with Mark, and other students enrolled. Your writing, your focus, and your confidence will Improve Tenfold, all within four weeks. That much, I can guarantee you.
You will absolutely not regret the experience.
i'll just add that if you write dark fiction, if you write horror, you need to sign up
Hey Mark, I'm looking forward to this big time. Just letting you know that I didn't get an official orientation e-mail tonight, but maybe it happens tomorrow.
Just making sure I didn't slip off the list!
Jason.
Just making sure I didn't slip off the list!
Jason.
This goes for me, too.
Just making sure I didn't slip off the list!
Jason.
This goes for me, too.
And me.
Thanks for letting me know. It could have just been delayed delivery, but strange if you're still not seeing it in your inbox. I'll double check everyone's primary e-mail address from the orders against the list I've culled together for e-mail blasts.
In the meantime, all you really need to get started is the following link:
http://chuckpalahniuk.net/forum/1000708
Anyone not enrolled will get an error message. For those enrolled, the link will open our main index page for the class. Be sure to bookmark that page so you can easily return to it. Once there, visit the Introductions section, then the Week One forum.
Thanks, guys.
Unfortunately it took me a long time to decide for this course. And when I finally tried to enroll it was already closed. Good luck to everyone who did.