Gothic Horror: Exploring our fears in literature and film -
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Gothic Horror: Exploring our fears in literature and film

The gothic is a popular genre in both literature and film. When picturing the gothic, one might think of haunted castles, ghosts in the cemetery, damsels being chased by vampires or a whole slew of other terrifying scenarios, but a deeper investigation can reveal themes and ideas behind these scary stories. At the heart of gothic narratives are oftentimes stories about oppressed people or the struggle of being different. A new course offered this semester by Professor Dennis Denisoff – Gothic Horror in Literature and Film — is entirely dedicated to its study.

The McFarlin Professor of English at The University of Tulsa, Denisoff specializes in Victorian and modernist literature, focusing on many of the themes present in gothic works: decadence, sexuality and gender. In this interview, he offers us a look inside his course.

What made you want to create this course?

Poster advertising Professor Denisoff's Gothic Horror courseI’ve been a nineteenth century specialist my whole career. I love Victorian studies. The gothic, decadence, all that stuff is part of Victorian studies. That was the initial impetus, but I got really excited about the possibility of offering it this year because so many people are currently in a state of anxiety and fear of the unknown. The gothic is actually very topical and speaks to the psychological and emotional mental issues that people are going through right now. I thought this was a good time for students to bring that forward and talk about it.

What defines gothic? What are some classic examples?

The definition of gothic changes over time. It starts in the 18th century with late-Enlightenment skepticism of faith and Christian belief. Novels began to emerge that are frightening and deal with the uncertainty of life after death and what that would look like.

From this, you get texts like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which comes 30 years into the gothic tradition, but is still a classic gothic text. Shelley asks: can you take dead body parts and create life? What constitutes life? What do you need to live? Dr. Frankenstein’s creature runs around with all these existential and philosophical questions, but the scientist just wanted to create a being. Central to the gothic is the question: what constitutes a full and complete life?

What about this genre appeals to you? Do you enjoy horror movies or scary stories in general?

PhD student Stephen Maulden and Professor Dennis Denisoff in McFarlin Library
English Ph.D. student Stephen Maulden and Prof. Dennis Denisoff

The genre is riddled with marginalized groups, dehumanized ethnicities and cultures, notions of zombies and vampires, etc. Anything that seems to be threatening the status quo becomes demonized in the gothic, but it is a demonization that leads to questioning.

Unfortunately, when you become an academic it can take the fun out of the field because you are always analyzing it. I love suspense and narratives where you try to figure out who the bad guy is. I don’t like slasher movies or gross movies. Not gratuitous violence or gore. That does not appeal to me at all. But I do love suspense and movies dealing with the voices of marginalized people. There’s queer gothic, racially identified gothic, exploration of identity and a lot of feminist gothic. All of those elements I find really interesting.

What are some interesting recent developments in gothic studies? Where do you see this field developing in the future?

It is always changing, morphing. There are certain genres, such as film noir, that you can go back to and study and bring back up anew. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, film noir came back; there was a resurgence of noir. Twin Peaks and The X-Files, for example, play on noir materials. It has been an inspiration for many directors interested in exploring new literary, visual and cinematic techniques.

Some recent works, for example, have emphasized diverse ways of developing suspense or tension — emphasizing the connection between form or style and emotion. The graphic novel has proven particularly innovative in this regard. There are always new themes that people try to address, taking old tropes and applying them to new concepts. For example, there have been more dealing with Black American racial issues than in years before.

One graphic novel I’ll be teaching is called My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Farris. It is huge and there are no page numbers. She wrote everything on these lined papers and that is what is reproduced. It is amazing. It goes back to Nazi Germany, deals with the capitalization of female bodies, the culture of anti-Mexican sentiment in mid-century America, etc. All of these things come in as part of this narrator’s personal life story. The vividness of the imagery would not work on television or cinema; it would be very pornographic. Whereas on the page it is less visceral, more stylized. You can deal with issues that you cannot effectively touch in cinema or television. I think the graphic novel has found a very effective niche in addressing the gothic.

What is one work you are looking forward to covering in your course and why?

I’ve already talked about My Favorite Thing is Monsters. Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is another. It is amazingly stunning for its depth and originality. I’m also teaching Hitchcock’s Psycho, which will teach itself, but I am more energized by things I have not taught. David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet, for example, is exciting.