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The evolution of the horror genre
The evolution of the horror genre
The evolution of the horror genre
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The Three Sub-Genres of Horror In this course, I’ve learned about the three sub-genres of horror. These three sub-genres are moral allegory, psychological horror, and the fantastic. The first sub-genre of horror, moral allegory, revolves around a rule being broken and the punishments for breaking the rule. There’s commonly a focus on the battle between good and evil, and there is often a supernatural evil involved. Commentary on our society is also common. The next sub-genre, psychological horror, capitalizes on deviant or abnormal human psychology. This abnormal creature creates the horror, whether through their actions or just by existing. The “monster” of the story is often a representation of an aspect of ourselves. This “monster” is not …show more content…
You can trust what a reliable narrator says. An unreliable narrator may lie, make mistakes, or simply not understand what's happening. Other characters, events, or even the narrator them self seems to contradict what the narrator is saying. For example, if a narrator claims to be very open-minded and not judgmental but then proceeds to describe another character in a judgmental way, they may be an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator may describe the world around them or the actions of other characters in a way that doesn’t match your own …show more content…
A round character has multiple character traits, such as brave, trustworthy, and indecisive. Round characters have depth and are complex. A flat character has only one character trait. Flat characters, as the name suggests, have no depth and are stereotypical. The difference between round and flat characters is like the difference between a sphere and a circle. Some examples of flat characters in the novel Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell, are Duchess and Merrylegs. Duchess is Black Beauty’s mother. She advises him to always try his best and to be of good character. Black Beauty learned good manners from his mother and lived by those principles for the rest of his life. Duchess is a flat character because she’s only described very briefly in the beginning and she’s the generic mother figure of the story that teaches the protagonist good morals. Another flat character from the story is Merrylegs. Black Beauty meets Merrylegs in Birtwick Park and they soon become fast friends. Merrylegs is a pretty little horse who is always cheerful. He is a flat character because there’s no real depth to his character. He’s always upbeat. Black Beauty describes him as a "cheerful, plucky, good-tempered little fellow" who's a "favourite with
Jeffery Cohen's first thesis states “the monster's body is a cultural body”. Monsters give meaning to culture. A monsters characteristics come from a culture's most deep-seated fears and fantasies. Monsters are metaphors and pure representative allegories. What a society chooses to make monstrous says a lot about that society’s people. Monsters help us express and find our darkest places, deepest fears, or creepiest thoughts. Monsters that scare us,vampires, zombies, witches, help us cope with what we dread most in life. Fear of the monstrous has brought communities and cultures together. Society is made up of different beliefs, ideas, and cultural actions. Within society there are always outcasts, people that do not fit into the norm or do not follow the status quo. Those people that do not fit in become monsters that are feared almost unanimously by the people who stick to the status quo.
Most authors use 4 utilities to make a story entertaining. They use the setting, mood, tone, and the archetypes to keep the author entertained. Cinderella by Jacob and WilHelm Grimm and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Marsha Hatfield were both scary because they showed how the tone and mood affected the story, themselves, and the readers at the same time. The horror genre is spooky and unlike other genres, because they are written to scare audiences. In order to do that authors and directors have to change settings, establish tones and moods, and use archetypes that are darker than all other genres. Multiple authors make similar decisions to create archetypes, setting, mood, and tones that uphold the horror genre.
Nowadays, people are still enticed by fear, they have a curiosity for the supernatural, evil and frightening. Although modern day society is supposedly politically correct, we are still an immoral society and many of us would treat a creature like Frankenstein’s creation or a vampire like Dracula like a monster. In this way, the novels still have social significance.
The first stage of the genre cycle is called the primitive stage. During this stage of the cycle, the genre of horror is very new. Filmmakers are trying to decide what makes a horror film a horror film, while audience are figuring out what they should expect every time they see this kind of film. For example, Todd Browning’s Dracula is the basic, stripped down blueprint for many monster-horror films today. It features the “bad guy” accompanied by the “good guy”. After several horrifying events, Van Helsing kills the vampire, Dracula, and good prevails, again. Thus, establishing that in horror films no matter how grue...
The definition of an unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe, has the caretaker, who murders his charge due to believing the man’s eye is evil. The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has the wife, who hallucinates that there is a woman trapped in the wallpaper when she is locked in her room by her husband. Strawberry Spring, by Stephen King, has a narrator who does not recognize he is the notorious serial killer Springheel Jack until eight years after the murders. Of the three narrators, Strawberry Spring’s narrator is the most unreliable when it comes to explaining the events of the story due to either inadvertently omitting information or possibly
When a narrator is deemed unreliable, there is conflict between the narrator’s presentation and the rest of the novel that makes readers suspect his sincerity and reliability. Readers often read between the lines and come to the conclusion that the narrator is either withholding the true version of the story or lacking the ability to tell the truth. There are three specific sources of unreliability according to Rimmon-Keenan they are the narrator’s limited knowledge, his or her personal involvement, and his or her questionable morals (100-101). Factors that could contribute to a narrator’s unreliability is that the narrator is young and inexperienced, old with failing memory, or has a low IQ. These are all cases of limited understanding and knowledge on the part of the narrator. When narrators are personally involved in the story, they tend to portray events or characters i...
A monstrous individual often has a visually-striking appearance, which affects other characters strongly. In the nineteenth century, more specifically The Gothic period, during which Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray and Mary Shelley also wrote Frankenstein, the idea of monstrosity became a popular topic among film and literature, and the basis for the modern horror genre began. Today, depictions of “monsters” vary from furry creatures with physical
Why is the element of fear always associated with monsters? Is it because these creatures are as touchable in real-life as they are in the movies? Alternatively, perhaps the human mind creates their monsters? Stephen T. Asma explores the human mind’s attempt to create monsters in his article “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” by stating that “monsters are a part of our attempt to envision the good life or at least the secure life” (63). Humans envision monsters based on emotional fears, personal life experiences, and psychical conceptions.
Monster stories are stories that stir up a feeling of horror, and terror. The film Victor Frankenstein and the book Frankenstein; Dracula; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with an introduction by Stephen King, both focus on monsters. They all talk of a monster stories and their evils. However, despite this common topic, the evil displayed in the film and in the book is different and has its own intensity. A monster story is a story about a creature fashioned to evoke horror. The film and the novels Frankenstein; Dracula; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with an introduction by Stephen King deals with monsters and how they destroy humanity.
-the read must put more trust in the narrator in this type of situation in believing what they say is the truth
Monsters have always been written about in various forms and types. They range from Dracula the vampire to Scylla the water monster to Pennywise the evil clown, each having its own special type of abilities and dreadfulness. Throughout the horror genre, these monsters are highly focused on to make the story or movie as horrific as possible. Usually these can be divided into two categories: the humanistic ones and the supernatural or horrific type. Each of these two groups makes its story better suited to the effect that author wants to achieve. By using a humanistic or horrific monster, the theme and effects on the character and reader differ depending on the type.
“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones” by Stephen King shows that we make up scary stories and stuff to push away the real stuff that is scary. “The Tell tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe will by analyzed according to the horror genre criteria suggested by Sharon Russell in “What is the Horror Genre?” The horror genre criteria I will be using in the paragraphs below are suspense, and the narrator.
A monster can be a symbol of what we fear or something we desire to be and cannot. A monster is a figure of speech. Overtime monsters have not changed how they are portrayed to the world. When we are growing up we use several figures to portray our feelings and sometimes act out. Many social scientists have developed theories telling how we can learn about people from the monster myths they tell. Some of these theories stress the role of monster myths in understanding society as a whole. Others emphasize the place of monster myths in understanding why an individual act’s in a certain way, whether it is conscious or unconscious by a person experiences in the world filtered through the senses. They come in the form of fairytales, or in this case
Night terrors are a fear inducing sleep experience. They are characterized by inconsolable night time awakening by children (Snyder et al., 2008, pg 311).This nocturnal awakening is accompanied by screaming, crying, and distraught behaviour (Snyder et al., 2008, pg 311). In general, the child will go to sleep peacefully and this hysterical reaction will happen seemingly out of nowhere and escalate quickly. The child will awaken suddenly wide-eyed and confused and in a daze (Horne, 1992, pg 481). An unusual aspect of this night time terror is that the child will have little to no recollection of the event that occurred the previous night the next morning (Horne, 1992, pg 482).
Death is a difficult subject for many people. The topic alone can cause a lot of anxiety because of all the things we don’t know. Most of us fear death for many reasons. Whether it’s your final day, or a final moment with a loved one, it’s a painfully scary process because of its uncertainty.