In the years following the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the subsequent Great Recession, American horror cinema has become increasingly concerned with the horrors of capitalism – or, in other words, the gnawing anxieties that really keep us awake at night: the unaffordable cost of living, unpaid bills, rising rents, workplace exploitation and, ultimately, the ever-looming threat of unemployment, homelessness and financial destitution. This began with a wave of ‘recessionary’ horror films produced by the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression; the late 2000s and early 2010s saw a wave of mainstream horror focused on prosperous middle-class families who are attacked by forces that threaten to destroy everything that they have worked for. But even as the recession came to an end, horror films concerned with the widespread economic suffering endemic to the United States only continued to proliferate. This talk will explore the rise of anti-capitalist horror cinema in the years after the Great Recession, and particularly a body of independent American horror films that have shifted their focus away from the middleclass protagonists of more mainstream ‘recessionary’ horror movies and towards the working-class experience of everyday capitalism. As it has become painfully apparent that America refuses to learn from its mistakes and take action to reduce economic inequality in a nation home to over 700 billionaires, independent American horror cinema has become a site for exploring the material reality of capitalism for millions of ordinary workers; these films tell us that the new ‘American Nightmare’ is a nation in which profits mean more than people. Tracing the development of anti-capitalist horror from 2008 into the 2020s, the talk will show that these themes have become increasingly palpable and explicit over the last fifteen years, first exploring how enduring horror sub-genres – the home-invasion film, the haunted house movie, the vampire picture or the satanic cult narrative – have been retooled as metaphorical vehicles for anti-capitalist messaging. It will then discuss newer forms of horror that have emerged in the last decade, including ‘corporate’ horror movies and films focused on violent and humiliating ‘poverty games,’ that have brought both working-class perspectives and anti-elite sentiments to the textual forefront of contemporary American horror cinema. Class Breakdown The talk will begin by outlining the context of the financial crisis, the Great Recession and existing work on ‘recessionary’ horror cinema (e.g. The Strangers, Insidious) It will then discuss a shift away from ‘recessionary’ horror towards ‘anti-capitalist’ horror, and will argue that this shift has occurred specifically in independent horror production It will then explore existing sub-genres that have been reworked by independent filmmakers as vehicles for anti-capitalist narratives, e.g. a focus on renters and workers in haunted house films Finally, it will analyse ‘new’ horror sub-genres that have emerged in the last decade, with a particular concentration on horror films that take place in corporate settings Case Studies This talk will briefly discuss several horror sub-genres and their connection to anti-capitalist themes but will largely focus on two for in-depth discussion: the haunted house movie and the corporate horror film. Case studies used to explore haunted house films will include The Innkeepers (2011), The Selling (2011), A Ghost Waits (2020) and Sorry About the Demon (2022). Case studies used to explore corporate horror will include Bloodsucking Bastards (2015), The Belko Experiment (2016), Mayhem (2017), Office Uprising (2018), Corporate Animals (2019) and Keeping Company (2021).

When the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, many were wary of the prospects that lay ahead. As economic uncertainty and the effects of attempted de-globalization became more prevalent in the day-to-day lives of many citizens, the country moved closer to finalizing their agreement which was finally completed in January 2020. Since the deal was signed much has been written about this decision and its wide-ranging and on-going effects. The world could only stand by and watch as a global power with still far-reaching influence wrestled with a monster of its own making. However, many British filmmakers could sense something was afoot well before 2016 and pulled from their rich history to explore the ideas of identity, nationality, and the family unit through the horror genre. At the dawn of the new millennium, horror films from the UK emerged with increasingly urgent warnings and politics that blur the line between reality and fiction, crying out with warnings that fell on deaf ears. Brexit through endless discourse across multiple platforms as become emblematic of the tension between what has been historically repressed and how it inevitably returns to us. By examining Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002), Ben Wheatley’s Kill List (2011), Remi Weekes’ His House (2022) and Alex Garland’s Men (2022) this lecture will explore what historical influence Paganism, folk horror and the decline of an empire has had on British horror films over the last two decades. Books and Films to be Discussed: Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film by Peter Hutchings The Economics and Politics of Brexit: The Realignment of British Public Life by Stephen Davies A Short History of Brexit by Kevin O’Rourke Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism by Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple 28 Days Later (2002) Kill List (2011) His House (2020) Men (2022)

Most people know of Doris Bither not by name, but through the fictionalized account of her story in the harrowing supernatural thriller THE ENTITY (1982). It tells the tale of a single, working class mother who claimed to have endured relentless sexual assaults by a supernatural force—a claim that was investigated by parapsychologists from UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, which precipitated Bither’s deliberate disappearance. TV producer and novelist Frank De Felitta attended one night of the ten week investigation, and was inspired to pen a salacious pulp paperback about Bither’s alleged ordeal called The Entity (1978). De Felitta subsequently adapted his own erotic, exaggerated book for the screen production directed by Sydney J. Furie, whose compassionate version of the Bither story remains sadly relatable to anyone who has spoken up about their own victimization experience, and who has had to fight to be believed. The Furie film leverages its claim of being “based on a true story” to frightful effect, but the question remains: Who was Doris Bither? To UCLA’s parapsychology team, her purported suffering offered a tantalizing validation of their profession. To the journalists at The Skeptical Inquirer, she was victimized only by the exploitative endeavors of pseudo-scientists. To some, Bither was a madwoman; to others, a con artist in her own right. For Furie and his star Barbara Hershey, she provided an allegory for more ordinary forms of misogynistic oppression…but this, too, is an instance of people using the Bither story to achieve their own ends. The elusive Doris Bither’s true identity may be lost to us, but this hasn’t stopped many different people from twisting her story to fit their own unique, often conflicting perspectives. In this talk, we will examine the many faces of Doris Bither as they appear in the original UCLA documentation of their investigation; the sober Skeptical Inquirer takedown; the licentious Frank De Felitta novel; and the controversial Furie film, which has been embraced by many modern feminist critics.

Water is an important part of the human experience. We’re mostly made of water, we need it to survive, and it forms the backdrop of some of the world’s origin stories in mythology. We’re so insistent on water that looking for it in the universe has become our benchmark for the existence of life. Humans simply cannot fathom life without water. It’s therefore unsurprising that water weaves in and out of the folklore, legends, and mythology of the British Isles. In some cases, it takes the form of the cautionary tale, with the malicious water sprite Jenny Greenteeth keen to drag unsuspecting swimmers into the depths of those rivers otherwise clogged with dangerous weeds. Elsewhere, we see the mermaid used to represent the dangerous of boundless sexuality, while the seaside caves on the east coast play host to all manner of ghosts and fairies in an effort to deter locals from finding a smuggler’s stash. You might find the Bean Nighe prophesying death as she washes the linen of those fated to die at the ford, while the inimitable kelpie drags humans to their death. Selkies and merrows lurk in the seas off Scotland and Ireland, and many of our rivers are home to both spirits and deities – some of whom demand a sacrifice. That’s before we even get to the witches raising storms and controlling the rain. In “Water, Water, Everywhere”, we’ll dive into the ways in which water appears in folklore, both as a location for a range of legends, but also as the home of a myriad of creatures, beings, and monsters. River, lake, well or spring, we’ll dip our toe into it – and hope that no aquatic devil takes hold. We’ll explore the tales to see what they tell us about earlier spirits who once called these islands home, and we’ll examine some of the water-based deities of both the Celts and the Romans to see how they fitted into their historical context – and what they can tell us now. By exploring the tales, examining how they appear in art and literature, and unpacking them from a 21st century perspective, we can see what lessons are available to learn if we take the time to tune into the crashing waves, the water lapping at the shore, and the burbling of the brook…

The horror genre is filled with parties, carnivals, clowns, festivals, and other spaces and figures of celebration and humor. Using examples from contemporary horror cinema and television as well as various philosophical texts on ritual, carnival, and temporality – this workshop will track moments of celebration, fun, and sacred wildness, as well as instances of carnival becoming crypt, when waking-up becomes hypnosis, and when contained chaos becomes unleashed mayhem. We’ll also ask how these films might help us examine our own experience of celebration, horror, ambiguity, and temporality during times of digitization and lack of ritual. When does the dazzling light of the carnival become never-ending trance? When does time’s out-of-jointness create terror? When and how does celebration become a site of horror? There will be an introduction to the topic, and definitions of carnival, festival, and party. We will trace the moments in select films when celebration turns into something else – confusion, horror, hypnosis. And Russo will speak about our current cultural and temporal moment, lack of rituals, and the “permanent carnival” that many theorists claim we’re in, using the texts of Walter Benjamin, Byung-Chul Han, and Sianne Ngai and Lauren Berlant. How do these films wake us up to our current experiences of ritual, celebration, horror, and temporality? List of films/TV to be referenced: Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) It (1990) Suicide Squad (2016) Clown (2016) The Joker (2019) Carnivale (2003-2005) The Funhouse (1981) Climax (2019) Texts to be referenced: “Comedy Has Issues” by Lauren Berlant and Sianne Ngai “Celebration and Madness” from Helene Cixous’s Newly Born Woman “For Your Unpleasure: The Hauteur-Couture of Goth” by Mark Fisher The Disappearance of Rituals by Byung-Chul Han “Capitalism as Religion” by Walter Benjamin Selected writings on carnival and grotesque by Mikhail Bakhtin Selected writings on festival by Nietzsche and Georges Bataille

*Note that this class is not part of the Miskatonic Online branch; Miskatonic Online passes do not include access to this class. The recent all-out explosion of interest in witches and the occult is reflected in many film, TV, and literary offerings about witchcraft. Witchery in films is now so pervasive as to become its own sub-genre. Many of these stories focus on younger witches, with coming of age narratives being an increasingly popular and intriguing genre. But the continuum of witchy portrayals may be widening. Despite the ubiquitous presence of witches in film and TV, far too many films about witches engage tired Hollywood tropes and stereotypes: witches as malevolent doers of evil, witches as seductresses, etc. Often we see that remakes of modern classics continue these trends. Even within the earthy folk horror genre, witchcraft films and shows tend to engage with supernatural energies and special effects. There’s been a shift in recent years, with a greater focus on natural witches: forest dwellers, edge dwellers (like the one in Brand New Cherry Flavor), witches coming of age, and witches communing with nature, not just with the Devil. Horror offerings in recent years, especially in the indie landscape, have explored the witch in inventive ways (including Hereditary, Guadagnino’s remake of SUSPIRIA, and THE LOVE WITCH). These newly complex portrayals include the witch as crone, hag, and generally terrifying old woman (as in HAGAZUSSA, THE LORDS OF SALEM, and films that explore various permutations of the Witch, like Robert Eggers’ THE WITCH, subtitled “A New England Folk Tale”). The cinema and TV of 2022 have reflected a trend towards portrayals of older (although not always wiser) witches. Debut feature films like Mariama Diallo’s MASTER and Goran Stolevski’s YOU WON’T BE ALONE were 2022 Sundance hits that are now drawing rave reviews. The older witch archetype is also prominent in the 2022 horror hit BARBARIAN directed by Zach Cregger, Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Colbert’s SHE WILL, Ti West’s companion films X and PEARL, the upstate NY indie film HELLBENDER, and in recent TV series like Archive 81 and The Midnight Club. This piece will explore the hag, the crone and the wise woman as both problematic stereotypes and powerful figures in contemporary horror narratives and mass media, and the implications for their increased presence across popular culture.

Before its re-launch in the mid-2000s, Britain’s most iconic producer of horror movies, Hammer Films, ceased feature film production in 1979. For some, this sounded the death knell for domestic horror production, prior to the genre’s “rebirth” in the early 2000s with mainstream hits such as 28 Days Later (2002). While little-acknowledged, the intervening two decades saw numerous domestic horror productions materialise, enjoying varying levels of success and international exposure, albeit rarely in cinemas. Indeed, British horror’s presence was most felt in the nascent video cassette market. This presentation, focussing on the 1980s, explores what British horror film production during this period reveals about contemporaneous film culture and society in Britain. It addresses a gap in dominant scholarly and popular narratives regarding commercial filmmaking, and argues that the significance of the genre to the period in question has been understated. The presentation argues that past histories of British film take too much for granted regarding British horror’s non-/marginal presence in cinemas during the 1980s and that judgments as to the quality (or lack thereof) of the films produced typically precludes meaningful analysis. By locating British horror films within an industrial and socio-cultural context, the presentation will identify the key players in horror film production, the resources that were available to them, how they navigated the tumultuous climate of increased film censorship and new legislation pertaining to video, and the extent to which their films are socially engaged. It will show that “British horror” during the period under scrutiny was a broad church straddling various budgets and distribution trajectories, from mainstream money-spinners to amateur works. A more nuanced examination of domestic horror film production during the 1980s enables a greater understanding of the history of popular British cinema, and the lasting impact of this period on the present.

As long as there have been depictions of Christ, his fragility has been expressed through horror, his body, violated and destroyed, has long represented the utmost symbol of devotion. The body is destroyed as a symbol of the liberation of humanity from sin. Normal and healthy devotion can lead to a more meaningful life, yet it can also take on monstrous and self-destructive forms. Yet, the line between both forms of devotion is often blurred as we cannot help but admire those willing to sacrifice their body and self for what they believe in. To understand devotion within the realm of body horror is to understand the body as the landscape of belief and sacrifice. What changes when acts of violence are enacted through love rather than hate? A theme consistent within religious-themed horror, it also extends to stories of sexual or romantic obsession. In particular, in the works of filmmakers like Clive Barker, we see an intersection of both ideas; the way that the flagellation of the body attains an almost spiritual practice, even if it is devoted not to God but to another person or even an idea. By drawing on ideas from art history and the philosophy of devotion, this course aims to examine body horror in a way that underlines a long history of body disfigurement and annihilation as part of spiritual practice—broadening the scope to include secular interpretations of devotion, such as celebrity worship like Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, which re-appropriates the communion literally as fans literally consume the meat of their favourite celebrities. With a strong focus on art history and gender studies, the course aims to draw a throughline between the violence and devotion of Renaissance art, which was informed far more by a collective religious experience, into contemporary worship of the self and individual desires.

The work of German author Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871 – 1943) combines the lush cruelty of the French Decadents, the macabre thrills of Edgar Allan Poe, and esoteric, occult philosophy into a heady literary brew. Publishing his horror tales in the years leading up to World War I and through Germany’s tumultuous Weimar Republic, Ewers emerged as a multifaceted artist and highly individualistic person: outspoken thinker, prolific author, vaudeville performer, and early proponent of cinema as a legitimate art form. His novel Alraune, which details the story of a doctor whose theories of mad science and folklore lead to the birth of a completely amoral woman, has been called a “decadent masterwork” and has been adapted for the screen five times. Ewers would become a prominent figure in the brief flowering of German weird fiction between the World Wars, influencing the establishment of the world’s first fantastical fiction magazine, Der Orchideengarten. However, Ewers’ career–along with that of several of his contemporaries–would turn from lurid fantasies to real-world evil, finding him associated with the Nazi propaganda machine. This lecture explores the work of Ewers as part of the German tradition of horror and fantasy fiction, alongside the historical, social, and political forces that would have an impact on his work and ultimately lead to a collision with one of the most horrific political regimes of the 20th century. Class citations are available here.