ENG10250

MODULE COORDINATOR:
Dr. Leanne Waters

MODULE DESCRIPTION:
Why do we love to be scared? What makes us want to seek out those things that go bump in the night? Horror is, on the one hand, an uncomfortable genre of physical pain, graphic gore, and nightmarish states. It provides us with “cheap thrills” and disturbing visions, which act as mapping tools for the existential pathos of the modern individual. On the other hand, horror also speaks to some of society’s deepest anxieties and desires. At the level of the collective, horror identifies an aesthetic language for the otherwise unspeakable, and it brings the fears that secretly haunt us to light in radically new ways. This module helps students to cultivate a discipline-specific appreciation of literary horror in relation to modernity and popular culture. Examining some of the most famous texts of the genre from the late eighteenth century onwards, the module helps students understand the significance of these menacing stories within their appropriate literary, theoretical, and socio-historical contexts. Key topics and themes of the module include: the gothic, the other, the uncanny, the return of the repressed, trauma, the body in pain, the grotesque, the modern family, hauntings, place/space, the mind, science, and technology.

WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
Please attend all weekly, in-person workshops on UCD campus at 4pm Wednesdays in Theatre Q005 of the Quinn Business School. Please read the assigned primary texts and prepare discussion points in advance of weekly workshops.

ADDITIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES:
-- Pre-recorded lecture videos + PDF of the lecture slides.
-- Handouts/ guides for each text.
-- PDFs of recommended secondary reading.

PRIMARY TEXTS:
Horace Walpole, "The Castle of Otranto" (1764 novella).
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843 short story).
Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886 novella).
Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw" (1898 novella).
Daphne du Maurier, "The Birds" (1952 short story).
Shirley Jackson, "The Haunting of Hill House" (1959 novel).
Robert Bloch, "Psycho" (1959 novel).
Ira Levin, "Rosemary’s Baby" (1967 novel).
William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist" (1971 novel).
Clive Barker, “The Forbidden” (1985 short story).
Koji Suzuki, "Ring" (1991 novel).
Victor D. LaValle, “Ghost Story” (1999 short story).
Stephen King, "1922" (2010 novella).

NOTE:
Students are encouraged to read longer texts in advance, where possible. Please note that most novels on the module are quite short. All editions of texts are acceptable, but you must have Robert B. Rohmer and Glynne Walley’s translation of "Ring". Texts are available to borrow from the UCD Library, or to buy in the UCD Campus Bookshop. They are also widely available online. Short stories and recommended secondary readings will be provided on Brightspace.

STUDENT EFFORT HOURS:
-- In-Person Workshops: 11 hours.
-- Video Lectures: 13 hours.
-- Autonomous Learning (Reading): 57 hours.
-- Specified Learning Activities (Final Assignment): 20 hours.
-- Total Effort: 100 hours.