Horror
Here we have links for four of the stories we will be reading for this section. If you remember, I told you that we would be reading authors from three different centuries.
Edgar Allen Poe
First we have the stories of Poe. You've probably heard of him, but let me give you some background. Poe lived from 1809-1849, in America. He's widely credited with the perfection of the psychological
thriller and practically invented the mystery novel (in The Purloined Letter).
So where do we see his influence? Well, think of every psychological thriller you've ever seen. The Game, Fight Club, Memento, The Machinist, the Number 23, all of these come from the work that Poe started.
And if that isn't enough, you know those Saw films? Well, those also exist only because of the groundwork that Poe started.
If you want some other Poe to read, beyond what we do in class, let me know, and I'll put up a list.
But for this class, you need to read two stories.
The Black Cat, where you might see some of the basis for Psycho and Secret Window
A Tell Tale Heart, which you may have read in high school. I'd recommend you read it again if you did. In this you might see some of the basis for Donnie Darko.
H.P. Lovecraft
HP Lovecraft lived from 1890-1937. You probably haven't heard of him, but he's just about the most influential horror writer ever. All those movies about monsters from another dimension, ancient horrors, and creatures of nightmare
come from his twisted little mind. He created such creatures as Cthulu, Nyarlthotep, and the Dunwich horror. His stories often included a narrator going insane, cults of ancient gods, and the destruction of mankind.
The most important thing about Lovecraft is that his stories do not end well. Poe's don't end well, but in the end, justice is at least served. Lovecraft's world is much darker than that. Nothing good ever comes of his stories. Justice is not
served, good things do not happen, and no one gets away. You can see his influence in all those horror movies where just when you think everything is going to be okay, the monster comes back. To be specific, Lovecraft is responsible for
Freddy Kreuger, Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, The Evil Dead, Alien, and so on.
Want some authors and artists influenced by Lovecraft? You've probably heard of some of them: Stephen King, Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, HR Geiger... the list goes on.
The Statement of Randolph Carter is a real departure for horror, but very much in Lovecraft's style. Most of the terror happens off screen, so to speak.
Dagon is more of a mood piece. Strange things happen, and there's a definate sense of menace in the language. When you read this, pay attention to the words that are chosen.
E-mail me if any of these links don't work.
What to do
When you're reading these things, it's important to remember why we're doing this. You need to come up with questions that can be answered in an essay. That means you should not be asking detail oriented questions. Don't ask for someone's name or for a list of survivors. What you might want to consider are questions about sanity, about the difference in style between our various authors, or about the narrators in the story.
