In this class, students will be reading “A Night in Lonesome October ” by Roger Zelazny and writing their own horror stories. He is a classic author in horror, science fiction, and fantasy.   He won 6 Hugos and 3 Nebula awards among other honors. 

Each week we will read a section of the novel, discuss it, and then study Zelazny's creative writing techniques.  We will be using videos on writing taken from Youtube (including the recordings of Brandon Sanderson's college class on writing Speculative Fiction) as background on writing topics that we will then discuss in class in depth. Each student will also write their own horror story, peer-edit another student’s work, and then revise and present their own.  

If a student would like to arrange for a half-credit class, this can be accomplished by adding a second “Speculative Fiction Reading and Creative Writing” class.

Class Outline


Week 1: 
Class discussion: Prologue, Chapters 1-10


Week 2: 
Class discussion:  Chapters 11-20
Writing: Turn in pre-writing

Week 3:
Class discussion: Chapters 21-26
Writing: Turn in a rough draft

Week 4:
Class discussion: Chapters 27-31
Writing: Peer-Editing

Week 5:
Class discussion: Sorting out the details! 
Writing: Revise

Week 6:  Story Presentations

Students' stories will need to be "school" appropriate.  Stories with graphic language, sexual content, or graphic violence are not acceptable in the class. I understand that this is a difficult balance in the horror genre.  However, our model text does it beautifully. In other words, all submitted stories need to be "pg." If you anticipate this being a problem, please contact me ahead of time. 

This is a discussion-intensive course that includes constructive criticism and editing of their peers. All students are expected to interact with respect and civility.  I understand that the topics and themes can be controversial and invite disagreement. However, kindness facilitates productive and persuasive conversation. 

 

In my classroom, there is acceptable and unacceptable AI use. 

ACCEPTABLE

You may use AI programs like Grammarly to REVISE your work only. This includes word choice, spelling, and grammar.  

UNACCEPTABLE

You may not use AI to generate text that you submit to me. 
You may not use AI to paraphrase material for you. 
You may not use AI to generate text and then “fix” a few things in order to make it seem to be yours.  (This is called “patchwriting”). 

If I suspect/find that you have done this, there are two consequences.  The first is that I will contact your parent and let them know what has happened.  The second is that I will not be providing feedback/grades on this assignment.  

The reasons for this policy are simple. Generative AI use in class does not meet students’ needs.  Students need to exercise their critical thinking skills.  They need to learn to be creative.  They need to learn to compose and organize their writing.  I would be remiss as a teacher if I encouraged or allowed this use. 

I am open to answering any questions you have about this new policy.  


If a student needs accommodations, I am more than willing to help out. Learners will never be required to read aloud in class. Please contact me before the semester begins to discuss your learner’s needs.