In-Person Workshops
Currently located in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia), Dr. Jilly Dreadful is partnering with the indie bookstore Long Dark House in Alexandria, Virginia, and hosting local workshops (some free, some affordable). This page is always updated, so be on the lookout for future in-person workshops here.
You’ve felt it before: the specific tendril of dread that creeps its way along the back of your neck as you contemplate the vastness of the universe. In this workshop, you’ll experiment with how to write your own cosmic horror.
Cosmic Dread: Writing Weird Fiction with Dr. Jilly Dreadful
📅 September 17, 2026
🕕 6–8pm
📍 Long Dark House
🏷️ $15
Maximum: 8 writers
We’ll discuss strategies for evoking dread, how to name the unnameable, and how today’s horror writers are using the form to write about real issues while subverting the genre’s racist and misogynist origins.
Two guided writing exercises will get you creating your own cosmic horror on the spot. This is a generative writing workshop, so no previous ideas are necessary walking in. Just prompts, quiet time, community, and space to share (if you want).
Bring a notebook or laptop and an open mind about the size of the universe. Leave with new friends, actual paragraphs, and a healthy fear of the void.
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Free In-Person Workshops
Enrollment is deliberately capped to ensure individualized guidance, deep peer exchange, and measurable outcomes within a condensed timeframe.
The Brainery’s DMV Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop
September 30, 2026; 5-7pm
Dates
Location
Long Dark House, 1510 King St., Alexandria, VA
Pricing
Free
Free and invite only critique group for published writers modeled on the Cambridge Science Fiction Workshop. You must be previously published to be invited. We have space for 2 more writers.
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The Brainery’s Emerging Speculative Fiction Writers of the DMV
October 15, 2026; 5-7pm
Dates
Location
Long Dark House, 1510 King St., Alexandria, VA
Pricing
Free
For new(ish) writers, previously written work submitted ahead of time for critique. No experience necessary.
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