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Exploring fear and fascination with a Popular Horror class

Exploring fear and fascination with a Popular Horror class

When George Mason University English professor Eric Gary Anderson steps into the classroom to teach ENGL 419 Popular Horror, he’s not just talking about things that go bump in the night—he and his students are exploring what makes people seek out horror in the first place.

Visiting Writers • Spring 2026

Visiting Writers • Spring 2026

George Mason University’s Creative Writing Program joins Watershed Lit and Mason’s University Libraries in presenting the Spring 2026 Visiting Writers Series.

Five Questions With Holly Mason Badra

Five Questions With Holly Mason Badra

Holly Mason Badra, MFA ’17 and now Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies, recently published Sleeping in the Courtyard: Contemporary Kurdish Writers in Diaspora (University of Arkansas Press).

Laura Scott honored with distinguished alumni award

Laura Scott honored with distinguished alumni award

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to honor Laura Scott, MFA Creative Writing ’93, with the 2025 Distinguished Faculty Alumni Award. Scott has spent her career shaping the next generation of storytellers at George Mason University. After earning her degree, she joined the English department as an academic coordinator and instructor, where she now teaches fiction writing and guides students as they begin their journeys as novelists.

Rachel Lindsey honored with distinguished alumni award

Rachel Lindsey honored with distinguished alumni award

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to honor Rachel Lindsey, MA English ’05, MEd Counseling and Development ’14, with the 2025 Distinguished Staff Alumni Award. Lindsey is the assistant director of career education, where she manages career preparation courses that reach more than 500 students annually.

Fox City Lit

Fox City Lit

Just over a year ago, three English Department professors—fiction writers Michael Don and Billy Howell and poet and essayist Liz Paul—joined local poet Erika Ostergaard to launch a new literary series in downtown Fairfax. Fox City Lit hosts quarterly readings as well as weekly writing get-togethers—both celebrating and encouraging literary talent from the local area and throughout the DMV region.