Lesson 2: Fear
Fear is explored in terms of psychoanalysis and theories regarding the horror genre. The main focus of theoretical discussion is the work of Julia Kristeva. Her ideas on abjection are introduced.
Lesson Introduction
Lesson objectives:
Learn about the role of fear in horror literature.
Examine the different points of view regarding fear, such as those brought to light by the advance of psychology in H.P. Lovecraft’s day. Julia Kristeva has also developed advanced ideas on the subject, such as the abject and the uncanny, which are discussed below.
Resources that will be used include: Section I from H.P. Lovecraft’s Supernatural and Chapter 1 from Repressed by Clemens, entitled “Gothic Fear”.
Something to Think About:
What makes you feel afraid, and what sources of these fears you like to encounter in your horror literature.
Preparation: Before plunging into your darkest fears to make the most of this lesson, first try to examine what they are. Make a list. What did you fear most when you were a child? What do you fear most now? These could be either supernatural forces, or things from the everyday world, such as the loss of a job. Why are you afraid of these things? How do these fears dictate your actions? What does fear make you do, in other words?
I believe that most of us are afraid of the dark. The dark relates directly to the unknown and our fear of what we cannot see. Stephen King (1981:183-184) deals with this fear fairly extensively in Danse Macabre. He calls it the most “child-like” fear. But it is not a fear reserved for children. In fact, when having finished Phantoms by Dean R. Koontz, I was obliged to spend the night with my light on, since I imagined that every noise I heard was a phantom coming to get me. Also, when having to get up at night to go the bathroom in the dark, how sane and secure do you really feel? The tendency is that such a feeling safety and security is indirectly proportional to the distance from the bedroom to the bathroom and back again. My four-year-old (whom you will learn more about as the course progresses) woke up the other night and scared me silly, screaming about the dark. His screeches filled me with an almost supernatural dread for what I would find when I reached his bedside. But all was good again when I left a light on for him.
Darkness is scary, because darkness hides things from view. The hidden things are not always good, and this is what scares us. The thing in the dark might get us, and the picture will not be pretty. Darkness is also associated with evil, which is chased away by the “good” force of light. As mentioned in Lesson 1, darkness was a prevailing element in Gothic fiction, and it is still extensively used in horror today. From the Gothic tradition, darkness is the most poignant and longest-surviving inspiration for fear.
Very well, now that you know what you are afraid of, let’s look a little more closely at fear in all its ghastly glory.
