It's Alive

Nightmares come to life in this comprehensive how-to guide for new and established authors…



Book two in Crystal Lake Publishing’s The Dream Weaver series picks up where the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Where Nightmares Come From: The Art Of Storytelling In The Horror Genre left off.



It’s Alive: Bringing your Nightmares to Life focuses on learning the craft in order to take your story from concept to completion.



With an introduction by Richard Chizmar and cover art by Luke Spooner. Featuring interior artwork from horror master Clive Barker!



Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Richard Chizmar


• Confessions of a Professional Day Dreamer by Jonathan Maberry


• What is Writing and Why Write Horror by John Skipp


• Tribal Layers by Gene O’Neill


• Bake That Cake: One Writer’s Method by Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale


• Ah-Ha: Beginning to End with Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Bailey (Discussing the Spark of Creativity)


• They Grow in the Shadows: Exploring the Roots of a Horror Story by Todd Keisling


• Sell Your Script, Keep Your Soul and Beware of Sheep in Wolves' Clothing by Paul Moore


• The Cult of Constraint (or To Outline or Not) by Yvonne Navarro


• Zombies, Ghosts and VampiresOh My! by Kelli Owen


• The Many Faces of Horror: Craft Techniques by Richard Thomas


• Giving Meaning to the Macabre by Rachel Autumn Deering


• The Horror Writer’s Ultimate Toolbox by Tim Waggoner


• Sarah Pinborough Interview by Marie O’Regan


• Conveying Character by F. Paul Wilson


• Sympathetic Characters Taste Better: Creating Empathy in Horror Fiction by Brian Kirk


• Virtue & Villainy: The Importance of Character by Kealan Patrick Burke


• How to write Descriptions in a story by Mercedes Yardley


• “Don’t Look Now, There’s a Head in That Box!” She Ejaculated Loudly (or Creating Effective Dialogue in Horror Fiction) by Elizabeth Massie


• Point of View by Lisa Mannetti


• What Came First the Monster or the Plot? In Conversation with Stephen Graham Jones by Vince A. Liaguno


• Building Suspense by David Wellington


• Conveying Horror by Ramsey Campbell


• Unveiling Theme Through Plot: An Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” by Stephanie M. Wytovich


• Interview with Clive Barker by Tim Chizmar


• World Building (Building a terrifying world) by Kevin J. Anderson


• Speak Up: The Writer’s Voice by Robert Ford


• Writing for a Better World by Christopher Golden


• Shaping the Ideas: Getting Things from Your Head to the Paper or on Screen. Interview with Steve Niles, Mick Garris, Heather Graham, Mark Savage, and Maria Alexander by Del Howison


• On ...