Section A11: Psychology and Horror
Horror strives to invoke intense feelings of anxiety, fear and terror often through the use of characters that possess supernatural powers or suffer from mental illness. Despite the negative content found in this genre, horror has been a part of human culture for hundreds of years and it remains immensely popular with a large and diverse audience to this day. In this seminar, we will rely on a psychological perspective in an attempt to understand a variety of important issues regarding this scary desire. Some topics include: What makes a good horror movie? Why has this genre been around for so long? Why are we so drawn to being scared out of our wits? What might horror tell us about ourselves? Is there any truth to any of that stuff?