Building imaginary horror worlds

Abstract

Although academic studies of fictional world-building have grown in recent years (see, for example, Jenkins 2006; Wolf 2012; Hassler-Forest 2016; Boni 2017), there has been a tendency to focus almost exclusively on fantasy and science fiction storyworlds at the expense of other popular genres, including horror. In response, this chapter approaches the classic Universal ‘Monster’ franchises (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man, etc.) as a case study in building imaginary horror worlds, considering the way in which the studio experimented with sequelization and chronology in novel ways, at a time when most other studios preferred the self-contained series film (Hutchings 2004, 17). Building upon Richard Saint-Gelais’ (2005) concept of ‘transfictionality,’ and Stuart Henderson’s (2014) modes of film seriality—the ‘series with continuity’ and the ‘series film “proper”’—this chapter aims to understand the narrative operations of these films through the lens of continuity and discontinuity, self-containment and augmentation. I am particularly interested in detailing how the Universal Monster franchises might (or might not) work as imaginary worlds by exploring the idea that these various film series are diegetically interconnected within ‘the same fictional and timeless universe’ (Friedman and Kavey 2016, 105) or ‘hyperdiegesis’ (Hills 2002).