Teaching – upcoming courses / workshops
Ready to construct real fear on paper? In my course Horror: The Art of Fear, I’ll take you through the mechanisms behind good horror: monsters, tension, themes like the uncanny, and the surprising range of emotions the genre encompasses. The course isn’t tied to a single medium: whether you’re working on a short story, screenplay, novel, game, or play, the insights apply across the board. We’ll alternate theory with writing exercises — no prior knowledge needed, just an appetite for writing. The basic module starts on 17 October 2026 at the Schrijfhub in Antwerp-Berchem, with an advanced module following in spring 2027.
More info and registration: https://creatiefschrijven.be/cursussen/nieuw-horror-de-kunst-van-angst
Horror Thinking / Research
In 2023, I completed my PhD in the Arts, The Anxiety of Genre: Horror tussen vakkennis, theorie, en de Screen Idea Work Group. You can download the dissertation (in Dutch) here.
My research explores how theoretical concepts function not merely as analytical tools, but as active sources of creative inspiration in horror filmmaking and screenwriting. Rather than asking how theory explains finished films, I investigate how concepts derived from film theory, critical theory, and horror scholarship can actively shape the development of stories, characters, atmospheres, and cinematic form.
My work focuses on concepts such as the abject, the uncanny, the weird and the eerie, as well as on influential theories of horror itself, including John Clute’s model of horror narrative, Julian Hanich’s work on horror emotions, and David Church’s analysis of post-horror cinema. I am particularly interested in how filmmakers and screenwriters translate such concepts into creative decisions during the development process.
Drawing on practice-based and autoethnographic research methods, I examine the development of my short films Muil and Souvenir, and the feature screenplays Pan and Matriarch. To analyse the interaction between theory, creative practice, and collaboration, I employ Ian MacDonald’s concepts of the Screen Idea and the Screen Idea Work Group (SIWG).
More broadly, my research sits at the intersection of Horror Studies, Screenwriting Studies, and Artistic Research, with a particular focus on the relationship between theoretical thinking and creative practice.
Contact me for more information.
Publications
I’m writing a mainstream publication which collects and explains all relevant theoretical concepts and thinking about horror, aimed at a filmmaking audience. This is expected in 2027, and is currently in development based on my course https://creatiefschrijven.be/cursussen/nieuw-horror-de-kunst-van-angst
The aim is to help filmmakers think in new and refreshing ways about horror, deepening their (and mine) understanding of this genre, and hopefully helping in developing strong new horror films. Horror is a genre and an industry that craves new voices, new ideas and has a deep need of and a longing for innovation.
My first academic publication, Horror as Affective Estrangement is free available online here.
It has also been published in print in Spanish. You can buy it here.
You can find my academic CV here.
Horror 