ENGL 4950: Special Topics (Schott)
Topic: Horror & Rhetoric
Time / Format: In-Person, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30-1:45
Horror is a popular but historically misunderstood genre, often creating space and agency for writers and artists to explore difficult questions concerning politics, physical and mental health, disability, history, and more. While critics of horror are typically too distracted by blood and chainsaws to notice the radical potential of the genre, scary stories remind us, often bluntly, the abject is always present, whether it is hiding under the stairs or merely within our own minds.
With these ideas in mind, this course explores a single but multifaceted question: What makes a story scary? To answer this question, this course will carefully investigate the construction and production of horror media. It will make clear how the genre functions rhetorically to create feelings of fear in audiences.
In addition to various horror research and scholarship, the course will center largely on horror in film, fiction, visual art, and gaming. The course is frequented by guest speakers working in the horror industry and students are encouraged and guided to create their own works of horror throughout the course.
