Horror in Literature & Film

Catalog description

When the novel came into being in the middle of the eighteenth century, its most popular genre was the Gothic-the novel of horror. In fact, the modern era-the era of science, reason, and democracy-has been obsessed with terror, fear, and the unknown since its very inception. What is it about horror fiction that so appeals to modern culture? Beginning with one of the earliest Gothic horror novels, the course will trace out a literary, philosophical, and filmic history. Each unit of the course will explore how a different psychological/cultural concept of terror plays out in an aesthetic context.