This Jan Term, students have the opportunity to explore the frightening worlds of zombies, serial killers, witches, and those possessed by the dead. The course, Try Not to Scream: Horror and the Human Condition, taught by English professor Kate Durbin, focuses on topics that are not commonly explored in the classroom, allowing students to create their own conclusions to why the genre fascinates audiences.
Durbin notes that she has loved horror since she was a little girl, sneaking Stephen King books in between stacks of Babysitter’s Club books. “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire is a book that particularly made me want to study and write horror because I saw how the vampire could represent the human condition differently than traditional literary fiction, by literally embodying the aspects of humanity we struggle with the most,” said Durbin. “These include our longing for immortality, our existential search for purpose and meaning, and in the figure of the young female vampire Claudia, a woman’s sense of entrapment in a society that never allows her to reach her full potential.”
Though it might deal with daunting topics, the course will certainly allow for creativity and exploration. Students will read OUT by Natsuo Kirino, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, and The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, among others. Films include Jennifer’s Body and I Am Legend.
The students will also have the opportunity to work with DigLib Arts to create their own horror stories that reflect our cultural movement. They will be using Twine, a software tool for creating non-linear, fictional stories in the form of web pages. The stories can be interactive and include text, images, and video. It allows the reader to be an active participant in the story and not simply a passive spectator.
While horror may be a genre that focuses on fiction, exploring the topic through an academic lens can be a window into cultural fears and hidden desires of society. “We are less likely to monsterize other people or cultures because we understand the process of projection better,” explained Durban. “When we understand our monsters, who are projections of our own issues, we understand ourselves.”
Photo by: Rollin Leonard
