Burning Down the Haunted House (Trope): How Architecture Amplifies Horror: Craft Talk
*** NEW DATE October 24, 2025 ***
Virtual (Zoom)
COST: $40
This 75-minute craft talk explores how architectural elements in literature reflect and intensify horror, tracing a path from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” to contemporary works like “In the Dream House” and “Model Home.” The talk features a visual presentation, handouts, close readings, and discussion prompts designed to spark fresh thinking around horror and setting. Students will leave with new tools to expand their craft and reimagine the haunted house trope beyond its traditional forms into more inventive territory.
Atina Hartunian, a first-generation Armenian-American writer, earned her MFA from Pacific University in 2023. She received a Teaching Fellowship from Anaphora Arts (2024), a Pacific University MFA Merit Scholarship (2021), and residencies from Cambridge Writers’ Workshop and, most recently, from Rockvale Writers’ Colony.
She has led generative workshops using sensory-driven prompts and craft-based constraints, and has delivered craft talks exploring facets of the horror genre. Currently, she’s developing a four-part lecture series on horror. Atina Hartunian writes and lives in Los Angeles.