Writing Gothic Fiction: Atmosphere, Character, and the Uncanny

Course summary: Learn to write original Gothic fiction by turning a haunting premise into an emotionally grounded story. Across forty focused lessons, explore the Gothic tradition, dread and suspense, charged settings, morally complex characters, doubtful narrators, symbolic details, scene construction, and revision. Build a Gothic story through step-by-step exercises and finish with a revised 2,000–3,000-word narrative, an annotated craft map, and a reflection on deliberate writing choices.

Course overview: Intended for emerging and intermediate fiction writers. No previous Gothic writing is required. Allow about 2–3 hours per lesson for reading and drafting, plus time to revise the capstone. Read lessons in order or use individual lessons for targeted practice. The course emphasizes literary craft, not paranormal claims: ghosts, curses, and unnatural events are treated as fictional choices.

Learning outcomes: Identify Gothic conventions and explain their narrative purpose; draft clear stakes and character agency; design settings that shape choices; manage uncertainty, narration, and symbolic motifs; compare draft alternatives; assess a story against a published set of criteria; revise a complete short story.

AI writing partner: Optional. Ask a tool to play a skeptical first reader, identify possible contradictions, or propose alternative questions. Keep your own prose and creative decisions; check all claims and do not upload private stories without permission. A no-AI option is to use the self-check answers and ask a trusted reader the same questions.

Completion standard: Complete each lesson’s named deliverable; assemble a draft, evidence of one substantial revision, a craft map, and a short reflective memo. The capstone is assessed against the 100-point rubric in Lesson 10.4. A score of 70 or higher is a suggested completion target; revise any lower-scoring element before final submission.