Don’t Go Into the Woods at Night! - Making and Reading Dark Stories

With Lauren Brazeal Garza, presented by The Writer's Garret

Dallas 2025, Saturday 18 October 2025

In this generative two-hour workshop, we will explore the global evolution of scary stories and the important functions they’ve served over time. We will also look at what makes a story scary, and why we are often drawn to horror as a genre. Finally, we will begin working on our own dark narrative based on a writing prompt designed to inspire creativity. Participants will be invited to read their work to the group.

Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of four books of poetry and fiction, including her memoir-in-verse, Gutter, which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager. Her most recent chapbook, Santa Muerte, Santa Muerte: I was Here, Release Me, features fictional interviews with ghosts. She earned her M.F.A in creative writing from Bennington College and her Ph.D. in Literature from The University of Texas at Dallas, with a specialty in testimonial literature and narratives from marginalized voices. Lauren teaches literature at UT Dallas and regularly offers creative writing workshops at independent writing schools like Writing Workshops (partnered with Electric Lit) and Hudson Valley Writers’ Center.