Notes of Latest Meeting

Our meeting of 9th July 2025 was a talk/discussion by Peter called “You Want it Darker?”

Denise announced that she had had two acceptances in the magazines “Does it Have Pockets?” and “Temple in a City”

Peter then started by saying that the idea was to have a discussion rather than a one way talk. The first point he made was, why write a dark story? One simple answer is that there are a lot of dark pieces about, particularly on the TV. So dark stories are definitely not a rarity. The conclusion was that some dark stories are often more realistic. Peter then talked about what makes people scared. He volunteered what makes him afraid. and recommended the films “The Wicker Man” and “Don't Look Now”.

Peter then went on to suggest that in order to write in any genre you need to read some literature in that genre. And it is a good idea to use what makes you frightened. Peter admitted to being frightened of spiders, the dark, and the current threat of world war III, which caused him to dig out his copy of “When the Wind Blows”. Denise recounted her experience when in Robin Hood's Bay about experiencing bats in the roof.

Joan recounted a story from her youth of finding an old bag of sweets with which she opened and found a writhing set of grubs. Peter then talked about what he read in the past which influenced his attitude towards dark stories. This included Dennis Wheatley (who wrote extensively about Satanism) James Blish (who wrote about demons taking over the world) and Quatermass. He then mentioned “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari”. Denise mentioned the Misty, a Girls' magazine which was very dark. And Wuthering Heights and Thomas Hardy who wrote many dark novels.

Peter then talked about atmosphere and the use of the senses in stories. Also he talked about monsters that could be used in stories.

The group then discussed the story “White Hunter” that Peter had circulated before the meeting.

Our next meeting on 23 July is the adjudication of the Article Competition. Details of our programme can be found online at https://harrogatewriterscircle.weebly.com. If you want to improve your writing then why don't you pop into the next meeting.