JM105: The Awful Truth
The Real Revealed in the Art of Horror
with J. F. Martel
What can the horror genre reveal to us about the nature of truth? Works of horror fiction and cinema often hinge on the gradual revelation of a terrible truth, a truth the protagonists begin by doubting, only to be forced to reckon with as the story unfolds. Why does a culture that has stopped believing in spirits and demons insist on paying to be frightened by them in books and films, and why does that fright, at some level, feel more like being reminded of something than being told something new? Is horror an ongoing rehearsal for the toppling of the post-truth age? Across six weeks, participants will explore horror as a fear of certain truths we already know.
This course starts September 17.