How to Write a Chilling Ghost Story Halloween Workshop
GoodStar Literary Events
Presented by: Goodstar Literary Events| 0 | RYE: The Mermaid Inn (info) |
|---|---|
| P | Friday 31st October, 2025 |
| N | Door time: 12:30pm Start time: 1:00pm |
| . | 18 and over |
| C | Literature |
Event information
Ever wanted to write a spine-chilling ghost story but not sure how to conjure genuine fear? It takes more than tortured groans and rattling chains to create something truly frightening. This workshop will explore where terror truly lies in narrative and how to evoke an emotional response that lingers with readers long after they have turned the final page. We will show you how to find inspiration for your stories then take your reader on a harrowing journey which chills them to the core. You'll learn about building tension and atmosphere, as well as ways to make a ghost story credible and compelling in a contemporary context while creating fascinating backstories and memorable characters.
Tea, coffee and refreshments will be served during the workshop. For anyone who dares, we will be taken on on a tour of the secret passageways of the Mermaid Inn and its cellar (built in 1156), hearing plenty of stories to spark our imaginations. The ancient hostelry was featured on an episode of The Most Haunted TV series and has the reputation of being one of the most haunted inns in the UK.
The tutored part of the event takes place between 1-6pm with refreshments and cellar tour.
But, if you want to stay on and join the fun later in the evening we'd love to have you. Meeting again at 7.30pm we'll be undertaking a ghost walk around Rye's spookiest spots. Then back to the cosy, but definitely haunted, Giant's Fireplace Room at the inn to tell our ghost stories around the fire.
The workshop will be run by Sara Starbuck and Ted Gooda of GoodStar Literary Events:
Sara has spent 28 years working in UK trade book publishing, as a commissioning editor, desk editor, a development editor and author’s agent. She is a freelance editor, proof-reader and writer, and the author of 9 published works.
Ted is an award-winning poet, playwright and short story writer. She is the ghost writer of a series of Sunday Times top ten bestselling memoirs, an editor at the National Writing Project (UK) and Chair of West Sussex Writers.
