Category
Textual or Investigative
Description
In the genre of horror, there is an unrelenting desire to continuously push the boundaries of the acceptable and find what the next “biggest scare” might be. While this oftentimes works well for those making money from creations such as the latest films and novels, the struggle remains to forever up the ante and outdo the previous iterations. That, therefore, leaves the question of what exactly could continue to drive forward the horror genre if, as taken in a looser meaning from Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. This presentation will showcase the behind-the-scenes of how horror continues to still be such a lucrative and popular genre not by creating new work, but by allowing the human mind to do the “scary” part for it. In many of the highest-rated and most well-loved horror novels and films, it is rarely some outside force that makes the narratives so chilling. More often, in fact, it is human complicity and influence on the direction of the plot that causes the most fear. This presentation seeks to identify the extent (if applicable) that human interaction and influence affects the level of horror, the effectiveness, and the degree of severity. By using evidence from classic horror novels such as Dracula and Frankenstein, critiques and analysis of popular and recent horror films, and the effects of horror psychologically, this research aims to find the correlation of factors that make up the “scariest” horror tropes and to prove that human complicity is a key component to the genre. Additionally, this study may be further continued in studying the patterns of tropes and behavior in literature, with the possibility of improving on literary criticism or developing new theories.
Theater of the Fright
Textual or Investigative
In the genre of horror, there is an unrelenting desire to continuously push the boundaries of the acceptable and find what the next “biggest scare” might be. While this oftentimes works well for those making money from creations such as the latest films and novels, the struggle remains to forever up the ante and outdo the previous iterations. That, therefore, leaves the question of what exactly could continue to drive forward the horror genre if, as taken in a looser meaning from Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. This presentation will showcase the behind-the-scenes of how horror continues to still be such a lucrative and popular genre not by creating new work, but by allowing the human mind to do the “scary” part for it. In many of the highest-rated and most well-loved horror novels and films, it is rarely some outside force that makes the narratives so chilling. More often, in fact, it is human complicity and influence on the direction of the plot that causes the most fear. This presentation seeks to identify the extent (if applicable) that human interaction and influence affects the level of horror, the effectiveness, and the degree of severity. By using evidence from classic horror novels such as Dracula and Frankenstein, critiques and analysis of popular and recent horror films, and the effects of horror psychologically, this research aims to find the correlation of factors that make up the “scariest” horror tropes and to prove that human complicity is a key component to the genre. Additionally, this study may be further continued in studying the patterns of tropes and behavior in literature, with the possibility of improving on literary criticism or developing new theories.
