Restricted to first semester UHP freshmen.
As applied to creative disciplines, the term horror has many connotations
that reflect diverse aesthetic styles and ideologies over what is arguably a
long span of time. Like other genres, horror is also deeply imprinted by the
entertainment industry, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries. This
section of HON 203 will examine the genre through a variety of literary and
cinematic texts (among others, including music and painting) with the aim of
gaining insight into the central question of why we are drawn to horror as
entertainment and cultural practice. Additionally, the course will explore
five commonly overlapping aspects of the genre: the psychology of
spectatorship, horror as cultural commentary, gender, religion, and the
democratization of discursive and visual art forms.
Students will be asked to engage with readings ranging from literary to
theoretical texts on the aesthetics and psychology of horror as it relates
to each medium. Most films will be viewed outside of class at designated
times and places or at the student's convenience, though we will watch clips
in class. Evaluation will be based on class participation, one response
essay, a longer research-based essay, and a final exam.
Fiction
Don DeLillo, Point Omega
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
M. R. James, "The Ash-Tree"
H.P. Lovecraft, "Dreams in the Witch House"
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"
Film
John Carpenter, Halloween
Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, The Blair Witch Project
Roman Polanski, Rosemary's Baby
George Romero, Night of the Living Dead
Robert Wise, The Haunting |
