1. Warm Up Activity
“What is the scariest event that has ever happened to you? Why was it scary? Explain in detail all the elements of “the scare factor” for you and anyone else involved.

2. Horror Verses Gothic

3. Gothic, Horror...Potato, “Patato”?
While most people use “Gothic” and “horror” interchangeably, they actually are two separate genres
Gothic is more like horror's predecessor
Gothic was not exactly “mainstream” literature of the time, but like any genre it held tight to some base elements
Huge, dark mansions or castles
Ghosts
Damp cellars or dungeons
Still mostly stayed away from socially inappropriate behavior—drew a very clear line between right and wrong
Usually had happy endings despite dark themes
First recognized Gothic novel was The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole

4. Gothic

5. Edgar Allan Poe
Considered to be the father of the horror genre, writing during the first half of the 19th century
Was one of the first to advocate for distinctly horror elements as subject matter—disease, death, and the disgusting
His literary theory was what really pulled him from Gothic to horror though
He truly disliked didacticism that Gothic seemed to hold dear and preferred to keep the meaning of the work as an undercurrent

6. Horror: Disease

7. Horror!
As mentioned earlier, horror as a genre may pull some ideas from Gothic but is still separate from its predecessor
Elements of Horror
Explores the dark, malevolent side of humanity
Mood is menacing and foreboding in order to receive an immediate response from the reader
Style is generally plain
Setting (especially if only happening in one locale) tends to be described in great detail
Main characters, even though the audience can partially relate in some way, tend to be haunted and estranged individuals
The key ingredient is to provoke terror through the “monstrous”

8. Horror: Monstrous

9. Horror! There are two main plot styles for horror stories:
Complex discovery plot (usually embracing the theme of knowledge of or discovery of the unknown)‏
Onset of a horrific event-> discovery of its cause-> confirmation of its cause-> confrontation that leads to victory or defeat
Over-reacher plot (usually embracing the theme of some knowledge is better left undiscovered)‏
Preparation for the experiment-> experiment is conducted-> confrontation
These plots can be mixed to create countless variations!

10. Horror: Discover Leads to Defeat

11. Let’s Review Prior Knowledge

12. Dramatic Irony
In dramatic irony the reader or audience knows a truth that the characters do not.
Have you ever seen a horror movie that has a killer on the loose? You, and the rest of the audience, know that the teenagers should not go walking in the woods late at night, but they think a midnight stroll would be romantic. Needless to say, the teens become the next victims.
Give three examples of dramatic irony that you have seen or read.

13. Authors of scary stories often use setting
and word choice to create a disturbing
mood or atmosphere.

14. Mood Definition: Mood is the feeling that a work of literature evokes.
As you read a short story - ask yourself:
"What feeling is the author creating through her choice of words?"

15. Suspense
Suspense: The growing of excitement felt by an audience or individual while awaiting the climax of a movie, book, play, etc. due mainly to its concern for the welfare of a character they sympathize with or the anticipation of a violent act.
As a group, discuss and give three examples of suspense in literature or film.

16. Internal= fighting within yourself. Trying to make decisions.
Conflict:
Internal= fighting within yourself. Trying
to make decisions.
External= fighting with an outside
source.
Climax
Falling Action
Rising Action
Introduction
Resolution

17. Both must be present to create a monster of HORROR
Monstrous Monsters
Both must be present to create a monster of HORROR
There are two keys to the creation of a monster
Threatening
Must threaten physically, spiritually, socially, psychologically, morally—or all of the above
This aspect stirs the emotion of FEAR
Impure
Must violate the generally accepted schemes of cultural categorization
This aspect embraces the emotion of DISGUST

18. Monstrous Monsters
Impure aspects of a monster – what does it mean to go against norms of cultural categorization?
Categorically ambiguous (amphibians existing both in and out of water)‏
Incomplete representatives of their classes (things with missing parts, rotting things, or things not fully formed)‏
Formless things (blobs, fog, or dirt)‏

19. The End
or is it?