MW 2:55-4:10

4458

Instructor: Remy Barnes

Campus mail: English Department, 250 Hall
Email: jb2536@cornell.edu

Why do we like to be afraid? What kind of fear is intrinsically American and why? From the early fear of the cultural “other” in Universal Classic Monsters to the Satanic Panic of the 60s and 70s in Rosemary’s Baby to Cold War paranoia and unchecked consumer culture in Romero’s Trilogy of the Dead to contemporary race relations in Get Out, this course seeks to understand how horror films speak to, and perhaps against, our country’s past, present and, future. Possible texts may also include Poe short stories, works by Stephen King and Shirley Jackson, and Ling Ma's Severance. Assignments will include critical essays, written creative projects, and the making of a short-length horror screenplay as a final project.