ENG10250 Horror Literature

Academic Year 2024/2025

Module Coordinator: Dr. Leanne Waters
Contact: leanne.waters@ucd.ie

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.

NOTE:
Students are encouraged to read longer texts in advance, where possible. Please note that most novels on the module are quite short.

NOVELS:
-- Horace Walpole, "The Castle of Otranto" (1764).
-- Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886).
-- Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw" (1898).
-- Shirley Jackson, "The Haunting of Hill House" (1959).
-- Robert Bloch, "Psycho" (1959).
-- Ira Levin, "Rosemary’s Baby" (1967).
-- William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist" (1971).
-- Stephen King, "The Shining" (1977).
-- Koji Suzuki, "Ring" (1991).

SHORT STORIES:
Any selected short stories (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Daphne du Maurier, Clive Barker, Victor D. Lavalle, and Mariana Enriquez) will be made available on Brightspace.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, students will:
(a) have a critical understanding of the relationship between horror and modernity.
(b) have a discipline-specific knowledge of literary techniques, devices, and writing styles that are prevalent in the genre, and thus be able to conceptualise horror theoretically.
(c) be able to outline the evolution of horror through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, paying particular attention to literary and socio-historical contexts.
(d) be able to account for the role and function of horror in popular culture specifically, paying particular attention to the module’s key topics and themes.

Indicative Module Content:

NOTE:
Students are encouraged to read longer texts in advance, where possible. Please note that most novels on the module are quite short.

NOVELS:
-- Horace Walpole, "The Castle of Otranto" (1764).
-- Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886).
-- Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw" (1898).
-- Shirley Jackson, "The Haunting of Hill House" (1959).
-- Robert Bloch, "Psycho" (1959).
-- Ira Levin, "Rosemary’s Baby" (1967).
-- William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist" (1971).
-- Stephen King, "The Shining" (1977).
-- Koji Suzuki, "Ring" (1991).

SHORT STORIES:
Any selected short stories (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Daphne du Maurier, Clive Barker, Victor D. Lavalle, and Mariana Enriquez) will be made available on Brightspace.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Specified Learning Activities

36
Autonomous Student Learning

52
Total

100
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
LECTURES:
Lectures on this module are recorded as videos, which are released each week on Brightspace (along with a pdf of lecture slides, a handout, and recommended secondary readings). These are additional resources designed to help students in their learning.

WORKSHOPS:
Workshops on this module are delivered in person on UCD campus. Students are expected to attend all workshops. Please check your UCD account to ensure you have the correct day, time, building, and room number.

WEEKLY READING:
Students should read the assigned primary texts and should prepare discussion points in advance of weekly tutorials. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment(Including Essay):
Students may choose between:

1. Final Essay.
2. Short Story + Analysis.		 n/a Graded Yes

100

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Written feedback is provided to students individually via Brightspace.

NOTE:
Students are encouraged to read longer texts in advance, where possible. Please note that most novels on the module are quite short.

NOVELS:
-- Horace Walpole, "The Castle of Otranto" (1764).
-- Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886).
-- Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw" (1898).
-- Shirley Jackson, "The Haunting of Hill House" (1959).
-- Robert Bloch, "Psycho" (1959).
-- Ira Levin, "Rosemary’s Baby" (1967).
-- William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist" (1971).
-- Stephen King, "The Shining" (1977).
-- Koji Suzuki, "Ring" (1991).

SHORT STORIES:
Any selected short stories (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Daphne du Maurier, Clive Barker, Victor D. Lavalle, and Mariana Enriquez) will be made available on Brightspace.