Horror Literature reflects contemporary fears and worries through the use of supernatural phenomena and monsters. Thus, the genre and its works develop alongside their society of origin. As the sciences and especially psychoanalysis developed, the human psyche itself became the object of reflection and the genre was split into psychological and supernatural horror fiction. In this course we will define the concept of psychological horror fiction and trace its history. We will discuss examples of the genre, such as the short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” along with the longer works We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Collector, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Characters, plot, and narrative structure will be considered in order to analyse various themes such as the perception of reality, mental illness, otherness, alienation, emotional manipulation, and various human conditions and depravities.
In order to obtain credits you will either have to write a thesis paragraph, do a moderation, or a presentation, as well as write an essay. Participation, regular attendance, and reading the texts will be expected.
Please purchase a copy of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, John Fowles’ The Collector and Stephen King’s The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
A reader with relevant theoretical texts and both short stories will be made available on digicampus.
Admission settings
The course is part of admission "ALW/ELW/NELK: Vertiefungsmodul BA/LA: Ü".
Studierende der Anglistik/Amerikanistik und des Faches Englisch können sich bereits während der vorgezogenen Anmeldephase zur Sicherstellung des Studienfortschritts für die Aufbau- und Vertiefungsmodule anmelden. Hierzu wird ein gewisses Kontingent der Kursplätze im Zeitraum vom 22.08.2022 bis 31.08.2022 für die Anmeldung geöffnet. Die Verteilung der Plätze erfolgt am 02.09.2022.
Bitte beachten Sie, dass in dieser Anmeldephase Studierende in höheren Fachsemestern bei der Verteilung der Plätze priorisiert werden. Die allgemeine Anmeldephase beginnt am 05.09.2022 und endet am 10.10.2022. The following rules apply for the admission:
Enrolment is allowed for up to 2 courses of the admission set.
The enrolment is possible from 05.09.2022, 08:00 to 10.10.2022, 12:00.
A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 12.10.2022 on 12:00. Additional seats may be available via a wait list.
