Faculty First Year Seminars 191EW3 - Why Do We Read Scary Stories

Why are we drawn to watching horror movies, reading scary stories, and visiting haunted houses? What do we get out of scaring ourselves and seeking out artwork that terrifies us? This course will ask these questions while also exploring the cultural meanings behind the horror genre. Throughout the semester, we will watch short films, read short stories, and view art in an effort to better understand the allure of the horror genre in film, literature, and beyond. To guide our studies, we will also look at scholarly articles that analyze the genre and explain the history of horror artwork. With these sources, we will examine and discuss the complex ways the genre can reveal and register contemporary political, social, and aesthetic anxieties.

First-year (R1ST)