Five Reasons to Teach Horror!
by Justin Henry Langlois
The world is a scary place. War, racism, nukes… Trump! So why teach horror? Why challenge students to think about, and confront the dark parts of our humanity? Why dwell on that which hides in the shadows and the monstrous? Here are five reasons why you should explore the ghost with the most, groovy ghouls and creepy crawlers in curriculum.
1) Genre is Our Friend
What is genre? Genre helps people get what they want and sets expectations for the text that they are about to consume. What is a western without cowboys? Or romance without love? Genre and genre analysis is a fantastic way to breakdown elements of film and media and think beyond merely what we are seeing on the screen. A fantastic book to use as a resource if you are interested in teaching genre is Great Films and How to Teach Them by William V. Costanzo (2004). Costanzo breaks down genre in an easily digestible way. The author reveals that genre is a construction by studios so as to better market films to audiences. If I know I like a ‘Rom Coms’ I know that I should mostly likely attend movie X with two quirky looking people at each other on the poster that is in bright and warm colors.
Thomas Schatz analyzes genre a more in-depth manner and states that genre is in fact almost a language that is communicated between the audience and the film. The audience expects certain things to happen throughout the film and there are particular conventions that need to happen and certain conventions that need to be upheld. There are similarly conventions for the audience, when you go see a sad movie it is okay and almost expected that you cry, comedy laugh and horror scream. It is this participation and communal experience that makes going to the cinema such a profound and powerful medium.
Constanzo breaks down the elements of genre in the above chart. While westerns are most likely not the first choice for students, it is a good starting off point. You will be surprised how well versed your students are in the particular elements of genre. Ask students to jot down the elements of the superhero genre and you’ll be surprised just how informed they are about its conventions and genre binaries.
- Schatz, Thomas, "Film Genres and the Genre Film," Hollywood Genres (New York: Random House, 1981), 14-44.
2) Subversive Subjects
Horror is, in its very essence, subversive. Horror seems to be consistently challenging societal norms and challenging the status quo. Be it through crass gore, subliminal messages, metaphoric monsters horror has its hand on the pulse of societal problems and the issues it is trying to work through. Robin Wood states that horror is one of the most important genres due to the fact that it is continuously revealing that which is repressed.
2018 has been a increasing political, filled with violence, reworking of stereotypes and awaking cultural consciousness. Perhaps it is for this reason that horror has become increasing mainstream and even prestigious. This year both The Shape of Water by Guillmero Del Torro (a film that deals with classic American culture and sexuality) and Get Out by Jordan Peele (a brilliant reflection on racism in American culture) were both nominated for a multitude of Oscars with The Shape of Water actually winning best picture this year and Get Out winning best original screenplay.
Historically horror has always been before its time in approaching topics of social change and reflecting on the disenfranchised in society. One of the most important films of the new wave of horror that would revolutionize our culture in 1968 is George A. Romero Night of The Living Dead the first film to introduce zombies, as we commonly know them today, to the horror genre. But Night is not just important because it introduced the zombie to our culture but because it was revolutionary in the way it revealed repressed angst and trauma of American culture during the end of the 1960s. Both knowingly and unknowingly the film exposed the racism in American culture, the failure of the hippy/ youth movement, the violence of the Vietnam War and the violence inherent in American culture. For more detailed reflection on Night check out the fantastic little documentary Birth of the Living Dead (2013) where the man himself (Romero) speaks about the production, the film’s inception and his career.
- Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. New York: Columbia UP, 1986.
1) Genre is Our Friend
What is genre? Genre helps people get what they want and sets expectations for the text that they are about to consume. What is a western without cowboys? Or romance without love? Genre and genre analysis is a fantastic way to breakdown elements of film and media and think beyond merely what we are seeing on the screen. A fantastic book to use as a resource if you are interested in teaching genre is Great Films and How to Teach Them by William V. Costanzo (2004). Costanzo breaks down genre in an easily digestible way. The author reveals that genre is a construction by studios so as to better market films to audiences. If I know I like a ‘Rom Coms’ I know that I should mostly likely attend movie X with two quirky looking people at each other on the poster that is in bright and warm colors.
Thomas Schatz analyzes genre a more in-depth manner and states that genre is in fact almost a language that is communicated between the audience and the film. The audience expects certain things to happen throughout the film and there are particular conventions that need to happen and certain conventions that need to be upheld. There are similarly conventions for the audience, when you go see a sad movie it is okay and almost expected that you cry, comedy laugh and horror scream. It is this participation and communal experience that makes going to the cinema such a profound and powerful medium.
Constanzo breaks down the elements of genre in the above chart. While westerns are most likely not the first choice for students, it is a good starting off point. You will be surprised how well versed your students are in the particular elements of genre. Ask students to jot down the elements of the superhero genre and you’ll be surprised just how informed they are about its conventions and genre binaries.
- Schatz, Thomas, "Film Genres and the Genre Film," Hollywood Genres (New York: Random House, 1981), 14-44.
2) Subversive Subjects
Horror is, in its very essence, subversive. Horror seems to be consistently challenging societal norms and challenging the status quo. Be it through crass gore, subliminal messages, metaphoric monsters horror has its hand on the pulse of societal problems and the issues it is trying to work through. Robin Wood states that horror is one of the most important genres due to the fact that it is continuously revealing that which is repressed.
2018 has been a increasing political, filled with violence, reworking of stereotypes and awaking cultural consciousness. Perhaps it is for this reason that horror has become increasing mainstream and even prestigious. This year both The Shape of Water by Guillmero Del Torro (a film that deals with classic American culture and sexuality) and Get Out by Jordan Peele (a brilliant reflection on racism in American culture) were both nominated for a multitude of Oscars with The Shape of Water actually winning best picture this year and Get Out winning best original screenplay.
Historically horror has always been before its time in approaching topics of social change and reflecting on the disenfranchised in society. One of the most important films of the new wave of horror that would revolutionize our culture in 1968 is George A. Romero Night of The Living Dead the first film to introduce zombies, as we commonly know them today, to the horror genre. But Night is not just important because it introduced the zombie to our culture but because it was revolutionary in the way it revealed repressed angst and trauma of American culture during the end of the 1960s. Both knowingly and unknowingly the film exposed the racism in American culture, the failure of the hippy/ youth movement, the violence of the Vietnam War and the violence inherent in American culture. For more detailed reflection on Night check out the fantastic little documentary Birth of the Living Dead (2013) where the man himself (Romero) speaks about the production, the film’s inception and his career.
- Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. New York: Columbia UP, 1986.
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3) Duh, They are the Demographic.
Linda Williams in her work on genre notes that teenagers are attracted to horror due to the fact that it is consistently testing and exceeding societal norms. Studios are practically keen and quick to market the newest horror film to teenagers. It is for this reason that some of the most successful horror films deal with contemporary life of teenagers. Films like Unfriended (2014) and Unfreinded 2: Dark Web (coming out later this year) or Searching (coming out later this year) challenge the cinematic medium unfolding the whole plot from a desktop and a Skype conversation. The film takes a familiar medium and makes the setting all too familiar but then warps it to reveal the harsh truth about the ramifications of cyber bullying and the consequences of the things that people do and say online. - Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess." Film Quarterly 44.4 (1991): 2-13. |
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4) Movie Monsters and Beyond
The classic Universal movie monsters such Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula and The Mummy are the base of horror cinema and literature alike. All of these classic movie monsters were, for the most part, novels or novellas first and in the hundreds years since their inception their popularity, our obsession with them has yet to wane. Through the 20th centaury these monster have manifested themselves in all kinds of different forms, from the Adams Family to Count Chocula to the Monster Squad (1987), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996-2003), Lost Boys (1987) to some of the more mature renditions of these creatures. Through reinvention and rebirth these creatures have been a metaphor for everything from venereal disease to growing up. It is through reinvention that these creatures maintain their relevance and poignancy. Giving students the task of researching a particular rendition of a Universal movie monster and giving its historical context and comparing and contrasting it with its original source material is an assignment that is sure to keep students engaged and interested. Students will not only be thinking about monsters but also analyzing their historical context and delving into the meaning behind the monster.
Once students understand the metaphor behind monsters they are often anxious and quick to create their own tales of terror. For example, a teenager is plagued by strange occurrences in his house. He can’t sleep, he is can’t escape this apparition but little does he know that the thing is in fact… his homework! The procrastination ghost is one-way students favourite and assigning students of creating their own monster to represent something in their own lives in a fun and tremendously entertaining assignment.
The classic Universal movie monsters such Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula and The Mummy are the base of horror cinema and literature alike. All of these classic movie monsters were, for the most part, novels or novellas first and in the hundreds years since their inception their popularity, our obsession with them has yet to wane. Through the 20th centaury these monster have manifested themselves in all kinds of different forms, from the Adams Family to Count Chocula to the Monster Squad (1987), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996-2003), Lost Boys (1987) to some of the more mature renditions of these creatures. Through reinvention and rebirth these creatures have been a metaphor for everything from venereal disease to growing up. It is through reinvention that these creatures maintain their relevance and poignancy. Giving students the task of researching a particular rendition of a Universal movie monster and giving its historical context and comparing and contrasting it with its original source material is an assignment that is sure to keep students engaged and interested. Students will not only be thinking about monsters but also analyzing their historical context and delving into the meaning behind the monster.
Once students understand the metaphor behind monsters they are often anxious and quick to create their own tales of terror. For example, a teenager is plagued by strange occurrences in his house. He can’t sleep, he is can’t escape this apparition but little does he know that the thing is in fact… his homework! The procrastination ghost is one-way students favourite and assigning students of creating their own monster to represent something in their own lives in a fun and tremendously entertaining assignment.
5) You’re already teaching Horror
Murder, a haunted castle, betrayal, incest and a teenager trying get to the bottom of a conspiracy. Sound familiar? ‘To be or not to be’ ring any bells? Or perhaps, a man struggling to survive in a post apocalyptic world, a ruined world, he is tortured, tired and unsure what strands of humanity he has felt. This isn’t the season finale of The Walking Dead but 1984 by Orwell. You won’t have to strain your eyes in the dusty book room in the English department to find a book that has elements of horror. So why not embrace it? Reveal to students how horror has always been used to tell some of the most subversive stories ever told.
Teaching Horror to Elementary Students: Have a look at this article about elementary schools in Regina using Zombies to engage students.
Murder, a haunted castle, betrayal, incest and a teenager trying get to the bottom of a conspiracy. Sound familiar? ‘To be or not to be’ ring any bells? Or perhaps, a man struggling to survive in a post apocalyptic world, a ruined world, he is tortured, tired and unsure what strands of humanity he has felt. This isn’t the season finale of The Walking Dead but 1984 by Orwell. You won’t have to strain your eyes in the dusty book room in the English department to find a book that has elements of horror. So why not embrace it? Reveal to students how horror has always been used to tell some of the most subversive stories ever told.
Teaching Horror to Elementary Students: Have a look at this article about elementary schools in Regina using Zombies to engage students.