A Terrifying Addition to Creative Writing

Just in time for the spooky season, ECE Creative Writing instructor, Will Amato has developed a new course: Terrifying Short Stories. For six chilling weeks, students will study the art of horror and explore nightmarish tales of ghosts, monsters, witches and all things frightening while creating their own terrifying story. We asked Will to tell us more about the class and about the inspiration to share his love for the genre with students.

ECE: What first drew you to writing scary stories?

Will: Historically, I worked as a “scaractor” for Dorney Park in Allentown, as a creepy exterminator. I was a street performer and carried a giant cockroach around to the horror and delight of the guests. Screams were currency, and I was rich.

Later, I played a puritan being burned at the stake by witches for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando. My job was mostly to moan over a smokestack and shout things like, “I’m roasting like a chicken.” I distracted the guests so the evil witches could execute a jump scare.

Then, I was a writer on a campy horror film in college called Easter, Bloody Easter. It’s about an evil jackalope who terrorizes a small Texas town. Writing bunny horror taught me how comedy and horror are close cousins. Both comedy and horror work well when the audience experiences the unexpected.

These strange occult experiences instilled a love of horror that continues to influence my own writing creatively.

ECE: What inspired you to design this class?

Will: Fear is fun! I love reading scary stories and learned from several students at Emory how they wished we offered a class in horror writing. I decided to accept the challenge. I’m especially interested in the science of fear, and what makes something scary.

Fundamentally, horror works best when it comes from a real place. Walking alone in the deep dark woods, for example, inspires a tingling feeling that monsters might be lurking in the dark. My favorite horror writers exploit real fear with creative, “what if?”

I also love exploring how horror is evolving in 2025. Genres, while important, are merging left and right. The movie Sinners is a great example of a mash up between historical fiction, music, and horror. There is so much opportunity for creativity in the genre, and I’m eager to support the next generation of horror writers.

ECE: What’s your favorite part about teaching creative writing?

Will: At Emory, I love supporting writers as they generate new material every week. As a cheerleader, I encourage students to finally tell stories they are dying to write. The gold that is mined from the permission to sit down every week, write something original, and share it for immediate feedback with a supportive class is magical. Creative writing courses are an excellent springboard to launch students into productive writing habits.

Also, as writers we tend to live in a vacuum. And yet it's the community and support from others that keeps us going. Several of my students developed long term friendships and writing partners from these courses, which brings me great satisfaction.

ECE: How do you make the process of writing fun rather than intimidating?

Will: I believe wholeheartedly in the Anne Lamott theory of terrible first drafts. Writers tend to overthink every sentence and self-edit. I find in my own work, and that of my students, that blazing through a first draft without being precious yields better results. Everyone writes terrible first drafts, myself included.

There is so much freedom creatively when writing freely without fear of judgment or worrying that fresh writing has to be good. The key is to sit down and write consistently, complete a draft, put it away for a while, then begin a revision.

I also believe in The Artist’s Way philosophy by Julia Cameron, which encourages writers to connect with their inner child, and write what is fun. Writing is strongest when we play on the page and create an environment where writing is joyful and comes from the heart.

By encouraging writers to enjoy the process and stop taking the work so seriously, we avoid fear and enjoy the stories together as they come to life.

ECE: Will students get the chance to share and workshop their writing?

Will: Yes. Every week students write 500 words and receive comments from their peers. We also rely on breakout rooms to workshop stories and ideas with fellow writers.

I’m also exploring a homework assignment where students record their stories out loud and upload them for the class to hear. With the popularity of eBooks and audio books, it’s especially exciting to experiment with audio stories, and perhaps pop in some creepy music and sound effects.

ECE: What’s one tip you can share right now for writing a great spooky story?

Will: Generate story ideas by exploring a real, tangible, fear. For example, sci-fi/horror is especially popular right now since the collective consciousness is intimidated by AI and the power of technology. Imagining a world where technology takes over and exploring the consequences could be great fodder for a scary story. Regardless of the fear, starting from a real place is always scarier.

Love scary stories? Want to try writing a spine-chilling one of your own? Join Will Amato this fall for the debut of Terrifying Short Stories!