Exploit the Familiar: How King Scares Us

Scaring someone on the page is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve. It's not enough to have a frightening idea or to describe the horrific entity in your head. You need a strategy to make the horror feel real inside your reader. No one has done this more times than Stephen King.

 

In this class, we'll dissect the principles underpinning King's worlds, the rhetorical techniques he uses to disarm our disbelief, and most importantly, his exploitation of interiority. These concepts will be supported by close readings of excerpts from King's earlier works -- Salem's Lot, The Shining, Pet Sematary, IT - group discussions, as well as writing exercises designed to be low-pressure, generative, and freeing. By the end of the class, you will have the foundations of a practical approach that Stephen King has used to turn our inner worlds against us.

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Classes are scheduled on-demand with private classes available for groups of 3 or more. Each class is available as:

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• 1 3-hr session - $150 per student

• 2 3-hr sessions - $300 per student

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Email ahsan.butt@gmail.com with subject line: "Classes Inquiry - King"