Writing Historical Horror

15th January 2025 7:00pm to 8:30pm, Online

Do you want to bring horror into your historical fiction?

Join award-winning author and poet A K Blakemore (The Manningtree Witches, The Glutton) to find out how to bring horror into historical fiction, and history into horror. A K will discuss how the genres can intersect, and how they can be used to balance and subvert each other. She’ll offer advice on building nuanced characters from real people, and navigating the research process. And she’ll share top tips for tapping into universal fears and unsettling ideas, to craft a terrifying tale.

A K will also shed light on finding your style as a writer, reflecting on her own writing process and style and how this has been impacted by her background in poetry. Finally, A K will touch on her journey to publication.

This masterclass will take place online via Teams. It will also be recorded so if you are unable to attend live, you'll be able to catch-up and access the recording for up to two weeks after the event has taken place. The session will end with a brief Q&A, so come ready with your questions!

This event is being run in collaboration with Book Aid International, with proceeds from ticket sales will go towards their Generation Reader campaign.

Speaker profiles
A K Blakemore

A. K. Blakemore is a poet and novelist from London. Her first novel, The Manningtree Witches, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for Best First Novel and was shortlisted for the Costa and RSL Ondaatje Prizes. Her second novel, The Glutton, was published by Granta Books in 2023.

About Book Aid International

Book Aid International LogoBy 2030, over a third of the world’s young people will be in Africa. Millions of them will have no books at all. That’s an estimated 733 million children and young people who could become future doctors, teachers, business leaders, writers and more.

But, for millions of children and young people in Africa there is a real risk they will not realise their potential and be able to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty, because they lack access to books and quality education. Together, we can get them the books they need.

Through Generation Reader we will work with our partners to scale up our vital work, creating access to books in even more schools, more public and community libraries and more universities across sub-Saharan Africa. We must act now to have an impact on the next generation of young people in Africa.

Proceeds from your tickets sales will go towards Book Aid International’s Generation Reader campaign. You can find out more, and donate further, here.

Booking & payment

The workshop fee of £30 (incl. VAT) is payable in full online. Please note that payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.

This is a live online event which will be presented using video conferencing software. Joining instructions and full guidance will be provided by the W&A Team a week before the event start-date. Please note, all event timings are in UK time.

To view our event refund and cancellation policy, please click here.

Accessible to All

  • It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
  • Payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
  • At the speaker's discretion, event materials will be made available to attendees after the masterclass.
  • A link to a recording of the masterclass will be circulated after the event. This will be made available to event attendees only, and for a time-limited period.
  • If you'd like to receive a transcript of the session, please do let us know and we can circulate following the session.
  • This event will include written text and visuals. Please contact us in advance so that we can make arrangements to be sure all documents appear in a format that works for you.
  • If you’d like to attend but have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, then please email AccessWA@bloomsbury.com

You might also be interested in

The Writing District Prize
The Writing District
The Writing District is open internationally for short story entries until May 31st. 1st prize: $1000 2 runners-up: $100 each.
UK Ghost Story Festival 2024
Museum of Making
Silk Mill Lane
A week of events exploring the ghost story, featuring interviews, panels, workshops, talks and more!