For our October meeting, come in disguise. You can opt for a good, old-fashioned plastic Halloween mask, or come dressed up as your favorite dead poet. We’ve got a haunting agenda planned with time for writing, socializing, and sharing.

During the writing portion of the meetup, professional ghostwriter Autumn Ware will ghoulishly guide you through a series of quick, creative exercises in building suspense. All you’ll need for this mini-workshop is a standard spell book, a magic wand, and your brain – though you can substitute with a notebook, pencil, and someone else’s brain in a pinch.

We’ll also have time at the mic for writers who have a story or poem to share (four minutes per reader).

No story or poem? No problem. You’ve got time between now and then. Get a head start on suspense-building and craft a scary story to read at the event. Consider one of these prompts for inspiration.

• Your character is a ghost stuck haunting a chewed up pencil, a coffee pot, or some other mundane object.
• A team of archaeologists quickly discover that they’ve uncovered something that should have stayed buried.
• You are in possession of a possessed book.