Do you remember being afraid of the dark as a kid? How it felt to be so scared you were even afraid to move, for fear of whatever was out there in the dark seeing the movement and getting you? How it felt when your parents made you do whatever it was you were supposed to do in the dark anyway, so you had to hum to yourself while your hair-trigger nerves exploded with every half-sound your little ears picked up?

This week, let’s write about how the dark makes your subject feel — here are three dark pieces to get you started.

Henry Fuseli, Lady Macbeth Seizing the Daggers, circa 1812. Oil on canvas. Tate collection, London.

Magnhild Opdøl, from the series We’re afraid to go home in the dark, 2013. Black marker on card. 

Jon Klassen, illustration from the book The Dark, by Lemony Snicket. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013.

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Hey You!

This week, Online Open Mic is back after last month’s hiatus! Submit your work-in-progress prose or poetry piece today or tomorrow, and it’ll go live for feedback from your fellow writers on Wednesday. Hop to it!