Bloody note – Vintage inscription made by old typewriter, empty
The DHC virtual critique group meets the third Monday of every month at 6:30 pm MT, the next meeting October 20th. Entries should be under 7500 words. Novel section submissions should be accompanied by a chapter-by-chapter synopsis (the synopsis doesn’t count toward the word total).
We post the stories in a dedicated Dropbox folder, and the critiques themselves are over Zoom. If you are interested in joining the critique group, or simply sitting in to check out the group, drop us an email at steeringcommittee@denverhorror.com message, and we will send you the links. We ask everyone to to critique at least one set of stories before you can submit.
The critiques are informal and friendly, with an emphasis on specific, constructive criticism. While the critiques are open to all skill levels, the goal is eventual publication. Genres are horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. Stories critiqued in the group in the last several months have gone on to be published in the NoSleep podcast (more than once), Dusk, Stories to Take to Your Grave, A Procession of Faeries, Take a Breath: A Collection of Claustrophobic Horror, and DHC’s latest offering, Frontiers of Fright, and elsewhere.
There is also an invitation-only novel group, where entire novels are critiqued in one session. Email steeringcommittee@denverhorror.com for more details.
Everyone already knows the best way to improve your writing is to get your work critiqued. But few realize the next best way to step up your skills is by GIVING critiques.
How so? By analyzing the work of others—instead of your own stuff that’s hard not to personalize—you’re more likely to come up with ways to improve it. And through that process you’ll start to develop that inner editor to improve your manuscripts.
If you’re writing horror short stories, a novella, or a novel and aren’t in a critique group, you may be stunting your own growth as a writer, limiting the potential of your fiction, and curtailing your likelihood of publication, good reviews, or a loyal readership.
Lucky for you, Denver Horror Collective has three critique groups you can join. If you live near Denver, there’s the in-person group. If you’re anywhere else in the world—not just Colorado!—you can join our virtual critiques.
One focuses on short fiction and the other on novellas and novels. This summer, we have a few open slots for both, so if you’re interested be sure to email us at steeringcommittee@denverhorror.com. While we ask that anyone submitting a piece join DHC as a member (only $20/year, which we’ll prorate for half a year), you’re welcome to sit in or give a critique as a non-member.
Stop stifling your own horrific evolution and join a DHC critique group today!
Are you ready to start getting your work published (or more frequently)?
DHC’s virtual fiction critique is on the third Monday of every month, at 6:30 p.m. MT, over Zoom.
We accept both short stories and novel excerpts (we ask that the novel excerpts come with a full synopsis), 7500 word maximum, two story slots per session. The critiques are informal and friendly, with an emphasis on specific, constructive criticism. While the critiques are open to all skill levels, the goal is eventual publication. Genres are horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
Stories critiqued in the group in the last several months have gone on to be published in the NoSleep podcast (more than once), Dusk, Stories to Take to Your Grave, A Procession of Faeries, Take a Breath: A Collection of Claustrophobic Horror, and DHC’s latest offering, Frontiers of Fright. Join our horrifying community today!
How have Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edgar Allan Poe influenced your writing? What is it about these authors that attracted you to their stories?
I think that brooding, shadowy atmosphere that Poe was so effective in creating has certainly influenced me. He was so strong in creating a sense of dread and how his characters were sort of trapped in that world of dread.
I don’t think Verne or Stevenson have particularly influenced my writing as much as their great adventure novels fired my imagination as a boy and inspired me to want to be a storyteller.What do you hope your fans will take away from your stories?
First, that the story was worth reading and their time was well spent. Second, that the characters they encounter are people they can relate to and care about. Third, they experience a sense of unease and discomfort that causes a few shivers up their spine. And fourth, that they enjoyed the story enough to want to read more of my work.
If you had to choose one, what would be your favorite creature/monster?
I’d have to say the Gill-Man from The Creature from the Black Lagoon. But that’s a nostalgic kind of thing – the Black Lagoon movies were among my favorites as a kid. I just watched Creature a few days ago with my daughters. We even went to the theater a dozen or so years ago and saw it in the original 3-D.
What is it about the art of storytelling that excites you? And of course, what is the next story we can look forward to reading from you?
It’s that combination of finding the right characters, the right language, and the right sequence of events to create a compelling plot. For example, how much descriptive prose versus how much dialogue. I have a story in my collection The Preparer of Death titled “The Depths-Chant,” which is told completely in dialogue between two people.
It’s also that, when starting out, trying to find the correct path to move the story forward. Then it’s a case of playing around with different scenarios until something clicks and the story starts to move forward in an interesting and desired direction. Characters can be very playful, so managing them is necessary. But you also have to allow them to express themselves, so finding that balance is important. Once the writer has made that level of peace with the story’s characters, then again, the story moves forward in a productive way.
I just uploaded my latest novel, The Archer’s House, onto Amazon. It’s an homage to Fritz Leiber and takes its premise from one of his classic horror stories, “The Dreams of Albert Moreland.” I finished a draft of it some years ago but it just didn’t work. After several fits and starts, I finally unlocked it and substantially rewrote it, and now I’m quite a bit happier with it.
Bonus question:
In a past interview you’ve said that stories choose the author, not the other way around. This is a fascinating idea. How do the stories you tell make their presences known?
Stories that I’ve written and completed each have their own lives. Usually a story starts with an idea – it can be a place, an event from my life, a dream I’ve had, something I’ve read or seen in a film or TV program – and then I look to finding the language that might best describe what is to happen and the characters to populate the piece. A story that I end up finishing is one that has really grabbed hold of me and demanded to be told.
Denver Horror Collective 