Horror Stories Research Articles

TRANSLATION, MULTIMODALITY AND HORROR FICTION

The paper outlines a framework for approaching the complexities of translating multimodal means in horror fiction. Nowadays, the horror genre is reaching its peak, becoming the most remarkable mass product in demand. It is sharply distinguished from other literary genres due to generating a morbid mood and heart-stopping suspense in the textual canvas. From this perspective, the research aims to identify multimodal means essential for creating suspense in King’s horror novels “Pet Sematary” (1983) and “Outsider” (2018) and determine the translation strategies used to render them into Ukrainian. In this regard, multimodal means stir fresh interest since they implicitly complement and clarify the information transmitted verbally. The research framework is designed with two primary objectives. Firstly, to disclose the phonic and graphic means utilized in recreating horror imagery in the TL text. Secondly, to examine the translation strategies employed in rendering the multimodal means into the TL. The principles of the comparative approach were chosen to identify the similarities and differences between translation strategies in the analyzed texts. The research methodology adopted in this study enables a comprehensive study of the multimodal means in the horror fiction genre, employing a meticulous approach that involves data collection, analysis, and interpretation through the lens of translation strategies, contextual and pragmatic analyses. The conducted research reveals the involvement of phonic and graphic means to influence the readership unconsciously. The frequency of phonic means depends on the context of their occurrence. Graphic means are represented by syngraphemic, supragraphemic, and topographemic elements. To render the sense of the SL adequately and meet the TL audience expectations, the translators of “Pet Sematary” and “Outsider” advocated semantic, grammatical, and pragmatic translation strategies. Synonymous and contextual substitution, loan, antonymous and descriptive translation, addition, and compression proved to be the dominant translation transformations. The in-depth analysis has shown that the translators faced multiple hindrances, making some errors in encoding polysemiotic signs. However, the TL version makes sense, undeniably affecting the reader and retaining the author’s communicative intent.

Introduction: Fairy Tales and Other Horrors

In a Christmas 2017 interview with the British magazine Fortean Times, the celebrated Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro described ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘the original Cinderella’, and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ as ‘a horror story’, before affirming that ‘horror and the fairy tale walk hand in hand’ (del Toro 2017, p [...]

Rethinking Monstrosity and Subversion in Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death

The concept of monster or monstrosity is not new in African fiction. Monster characters exist in folklore, fantasy, and horror fiction. In many cases they are cast as villainous, unnatural, and horrific. Monsters are portrayed as conduit for supernatural communication. They are constructed to serve cultural roles of reinforcing conformity and policing boundaries. Monsters are also constructed as subversive characters whose existence is not bound by societal norms and conventions but whose boundless freedom opens up doors to possibilities of wish fulfilment. The above significantly influenced the choice of Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, as primary text. Who Fears Death offers multi-perspective approach to concept of monstrosity. There is a cultural perspective where superstitious beliefs and prevailing anxiety influence monstrosity. In the text, this perspective is embodied in the culture of Okeke people. It is a potentially fallible perspective as it can transmute even a morally upright person into a monster. Onyesonwu, for instance, is treated as a monster because she is half-caste. Another perspective ascribes monstrosity to an entity depending on their premeditated actions and attitude. This view holds that monstrous characters subject others to untold misery, inhumanity, and harm usually for selfish reasons. This article borrows Gothic concept of monster and postulations from theorists like Jeffrey Cohen to analyse monstrosity in the selected text Who Fears Death. In Gothic fiction, monster character represent vice, unnatural and deviations from regularity attributed to life and nature. The article finds that monstrosity should not be determined by individual’s propensity, uncanniness, or cultural beliefs but rather by actions and attitude which cause harm, hurt or destruction. The findings also affirm that acts of subversive acts are laudable if it they help undermine oppressive cultural practices

Рецензіяна монографію Баталіної Христини Фрідріхівни «Дитина як втілення зла у фільмах жахівдругої половини ХХ–початку ХХІ сторіччя»

H. F. Batalina's monograph is devoted to the problem of creating the image of a child as the embodiment of evil in horror films of the second half of the 20th - beginning of the 20th century. The topic formulates an important problem, primarily of a moral and psychological nature. The relevance of the work lies in the fact that "a certain niche, currently unfilled in the Ukrainian cultural space, is being explored in a situation where Ukrainian cinema is beginning to take steps to meet the audience and enter wide distribution with genre films" [p. 22 of the manuscript]. H.F. Batalina points out that "the study of the problem of the child as a cinematographic object, except for a few exceptions, is not developed in the scientific film literature, although such a need is increasingly expressed as one of its important tasks" [p. 22 of the manuscript]. It should be added to the above that the research is also relevant because the image of a child in horror films is not a norm for post-Soviet society, is not inherent in the culture of modern Ukraine, but is planted by cultural traditions of Western countries (for example, the planting of the Halloween holiday). Therefore, the research of H.F. Batalina allows us to understand where and why other traditions appear in the culture of Ukrainians. We are convinced that the degree of validity of scientific statements, conclusions and prospects for solving the problem of finding archetypal and semiotic during the creation of the image of children in films of the horror genre, which is reflected in the monograph, has a sufficient level to recommend the above-mentioned scientific work for publication. We consider the specification of the categorical and terminological apparatus of film horror based on the philosophical and aesthetic aspects of the problem to be an important achievement of H. F. Batalina's research. We respect H. F. Batalina's confident attempt to offer the scientific community an author's vision of the paradigm of genre features of horror films. Time will demonstrate the functionality of the proposed features, and reveal the shortcomings and dominant advantages of such a paradigm. Since we are followers of the principle of Karl Popper's fallibilism (in the understanding of the concept of "fallibilism" by Charles Peirce), which implies the axiom that any scientific knowledge is fundamentally not final, but only an intermediate interpretation of the truth, which involves the subsequent replacement by a better interpretation, we assert: the author's vision of the paradigm of genre features of the horror film has the right to exist and needs further practical verification, which, in our opinion, is already a victory for scientists. F. Batalina and the victory of scientific thought in the field. The monograph is made at a sufficient scientific level, contains important theoretical provisions and has practical significance. We have an individual, theoretically and operationally supported research position that contributes to the formation of modern theory.

Candyman and the Afterlives of Slavery

ABSTRACTThe near absence of the horror genre in Black Studies scholarship about the afterlives of slavery can be attributed to the fact that scholars are discussing the “afterlives” of slavery in a non‐mystical way while the horror genre traditionally presents “afterlives” in supernatural forms. While these connotations of afterlives certainly mean different things, they converge in Candyman demonstrating the potential harmony between the two uses of the term. In this paper, I place both versions of Candyman in conversation with recent Black Studies scholarship as well as national discourses about racial inequality and white violence in order to argue for Candyman's relevance to contemporary debates about slavery and its afterlives as a conceptual framework. In addition, I zero in on the 2021 remake to demonstrate how Nia DaCosta's Candyman (2021) clarifies the legend's relationship to the afterlives of slavery and operates as a corrective to Bernard Rose's 1992 film. The intersection of the supernatural afterlife and the afterlives of slavery as understood by Black Studies scholars comes forth in DaCosta's sequel that centralizes the operations of white supremacy and resulting Black trauma.

Is ChatGPT Any Good at Legal Research – and Should We be Wary or Supportive of it?

AbstractWe have all heard horror stories of ChatGPT making information professionals redundant and taking over the world, but just how proficient is it at good old legal research? Greg Bennett, a law librarian at BPP, invested in the premium version of the package to put it to the test.

Spectacle of the Demonic Other

Abstract The monster-as-queer trope in horror cinema historically implemented the binary of self-versus-other as heterosexual heroine versus queer monster/villain. With the rise of queer creators and spectators within horror, this trope was questioned so that the queer(ed) monster became multifaceted. From its birth, the horror anthology series American Horror Story has questioned this binary thinking, and the 2018 season Apocalypse exemplifies this best. Using camp, the show creates a queer basis that overthrows normative depictions of sexuality and queer bodies in television. In Apocalypse—in which the “normative” is represented as inherently queer—a subversive reimagining of typically “Othered” bodies overturns the regime of representation in horror cinema. By analyzing how the villain of Apocalypse, the Antichrist, is (re)presented with an ambiguously gendered body and sexuality, I argue that the toppling of heteropatriarchy challenges the position of the Othered villain/monster so that their “evil” is made ambiguous in contextualization with queer futurism.

You Don’t Want a Book Challenge, Do You?

This article includes a compilation of three personal stories from the author’s time as an elementary librarian at a K-12 private school in Atlanta, Georgia. While struggling with classroom management during her first year as a school librarian, she was surprised by anatomical language in a read-aloud that she had forgotten about after pre-reading the book. She had a split second to decide whether to read what was actually written. During her second year, she went through my library’s reconsideration process when a parent challenged a book of scary stories. The worst part? She had used that book in a lesson with the entire third grade. And finally, throughout her time with this school, she fought for a book that was not being officially challenged, but voluntarily censored by her colleague. The author shares these stories with honesty about how sh handled each situation, and with a little advice added.

«Unearthing the divine horrors»

This study looks into H. P. Lovecraft’s masterful craft of cosmic horror, examining his adept fusion of Christian cosmological elements with subversion and mockery, while concurrently forging a unique cosmic framework. Lovecraft subtly weaves Christian themes into his mythos, introducing his eldritch terrors, deities reminiscent of Christian demonology. These entities, residing in abyssal depths, bear distinctly demonic attributes, highlighting the profound influence of Christian cosmology. The enigmatic entity Dagon, rooted in biblical mythology, is a focal point. Its appearances correlate with catastrophic consequences and the underworld, subverting Christian narratives and invoking a sense of dread through an alternative lens. Lovecraft strategically manipulates Christian celebrations, such as May-Eve and All-Hallows, challenging their significance and intensifying readers’ religious discomfort. Lovecraft’s cosmic framework is non-anthropocentric, portraying an indifferent universe inhabited by ancient cosmic entities beyond human comprehension. However, he alludes to an impending chaos, drawing subtle parallels with the biblical Apocalypse. Lovecraft’s narratives interweave Christian cosmology, subversion, and mockery, challenging religious frameworks while invoking terror and fascination, providing a rich tapestry for scholarly analysis in cosmic horror literature.

‘Beyond the Waking World’: The Significance of Dreams in H.P. Lovecraft’s Works

The horror genre as a whole is often overlooked in research and even less attention is paid to its various subgenres. One such subgenre is cosmic horror or Lovecraftian horror which focuses on the horror of all that is unknowable and incomprehensible. Dreams have been an integral part of folklore and are associated with the unknown. It is, thus, no surprise that they feature heavily in Lovecraft’s short stories, novellas, and poems. This article will utilise textual analysis and a psychoanalytic approach to explore the role that dreams play in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and, by extension, the genre of cosmic horror. A close reading of the short stories “Beyond the Wall of Sleep” (1919), “The Dreams in the Witch House” (1933), and the novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1943) show that dreams in Lovecraft’s works stem from the repressed memories and the collective unconscious of the human race and also act as a passage into other worlds and alternate dimensions of a vast, multidimensional cosmos. The findings show that Lovecraft uses these dreams as a device to explore themes and ideas like absurdism, nihilism, alienation and fragmentation which, together with his unique style, puts Lovecraft’s cosmic horror in the ranks of early twentieth-century texts that are considered quintessential modernist works. Spectrum, Volume 17, June 2022: 89-100

Grande Dame Guignol at 60: A Review of Crazy Old Ladies: The Story of Hag Horror by Caroline Young (BearManor Media, 2022)

Grande Dame Guignol at 60: A Review of Crazy Old Ladies: The Story of Hag Horror by Caroline Young (BearManor Media, 2022)

‘Delicate ironies quite imperceptible on its surface’: Henry S. Whitehead's weird tales and American empire in the Caribbean

AbstractThis article mounts an initial exploratory engagement with the weird fiction of Henry S. Whitehead, framed by American imperial expansion into the Caribbean in the interwar years. It situates Whitehead and his work within the wider historical context and shows how Whitehead himself used and played with history as part of his fiction. The article considers the role of light in Whitehead's fiction and imperial projects, as well as the way that Whitehead's work, as horror fiction, both shapes and seeks to dispel notions of the Caribbean as a space of horror. As well as offering some initial conclusions, the article seeks to open further lines for future investigation.

Speculative F(r)ictions: A Youth Restorying Horror and Monstrosity

This case study examined how a 14-year-old youth and eighth-grade student named Kendra (pseudonym) mobilized restorying to (re)center her experiences in horror fiction. I asked how she conceptualized horror and monstrosity in a 6-week English language arts unit, and how she (re)centered her life experiences within horror fiction through restorying “The Price” by Neil Gaiman. Focusing on two forms of her restorying practices—counter-storytelling and transmedia storytelling—I analyzed how she composed an original, personalized horror story. The findings illustrated how the composition reflected her conceptualizations of monstrosity and subverted problematic horror tropes. I also discussed how her horror story functioned as sociopolitical critique, a (re)interpretation of source material, and a method of composing for audiences.

Reading the Mermaid Sisters of Smoczyńska’s (2015) “The Lure” as More Than Shoreline Strangers: Toward a Feminist Solidarity with Nonhuman Others

The monstrous mermaid sisters of Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s musical horror film, The Lure (2015), mysteriously appear along the Polish shoreline and threaten to cannibalize men. Although unusual in the horror genre, Smoczyńska’s combination of musical numbers and aquatic gothic monsters strategically appropriates elements of mermaid mythology to create a contemporary story of bodily performativity and sisterhood. Following a critical consideration of the literary and cultural histories associated with the mermaid, this article presents a textual analysis of The Lure and related paratexts (director interviews, industry expert reviews, scholarly criticism). From one analytic reading perspective, The Lure’s can be read as a coming of age story that implies that bodily transformations interrupt the solidarity of sisterhood. This reading illuminates differential associations with feminism and women’s agency that are particularly poignant in the context of the Polish Solidarity movement. Extending this feminist reading position, I develop a counter-reading that attends to the nonhuman relations between the film’s sisters and examines how processes of human exclusion and exploitation are responsible for fracturing the sisterhood. From this perspective, I read the conclusion as a call for a feminist solidarity predicated on nonhuman relations of mutuality, codependency, and symbiosis.

A medical impact of war: the hypertension crises dynamic in an adjacent population

Abstract Background The current military conflagration in Ukraine impacted also boundaring countries by fear military conflict extension in the region, often augmented by mass-media, as well as by real horror stories told by refugees. Goal. The aim of our research was evolutive assessment of the hypertension (HTN) crises in our emergency units during last twenty months. Method In this observational study, we analysed 45.293 patient (pts) files during five distinct intervals: 24.06.2021-23.10.2021, as four months of peace (P), 24.10.2021-23.02.2022, as four months of pre-war army manœvres (PW), 24.02.2022-23.06.2022, as the first four months of war – Russian invasion (RI), 24.06.2022-23.10.2022, as next four months of war – Ukrainean counteroffensive (UC), and 24.10.2022 – 23.02.2023, as other four months of war – Russian destructive attacks (RD), statistically matched 1:1:1:1:1. The acquisition of arterial pressure values was performed by professional digital tensiometers. Results From a quite steady number of 150 +/- 14 pts daily, the distribution of HTN pts was: 29,17 (P); 38,21 (PW); 67,49 (RI); 43,58 (UC); 56,14 (RD). Concerning the HTN crises, the data are as follows: 12,43 (P); 14,97 (PW); 27,65 (RI); 16,28 (UC); 24,93 (RD). Demographically, the male predominance oscillated as follows: 68,32% (P); 65,89% (PW); 59,58% (RI); 62,37% (UC); 56,94% (RD). The medium age for HTN crises pts balanced as follows: 65,32 yrs (P); 64,97 yrs (PW); 62,18 yrs (RI); 63,74 yrs (UC); 62,85 (RD). Conclusion According to our outcomes, the stress and high anxiety caused by fear of war in the neighbourhood significantly influenced the incidence of HTN crises along the five abovementioned periods. The most dramatic data were registered during RI period. Taking into consideration that this war is irrepeatable, this research is unique.

The Ludic Impact of Horror Games on the Body: Until Dawn, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Alien: Isolation

Abstract Horror video games create an enhanced sense of fear compared to film and television of the same genre due to their use of ludic elements. These ludic elements, specifically haptic game design mechanics, play conditioning, and the coding of the games themselves all bypass the screen and controller to impact the body of the player. Understanding affect as the relationship of the body to the world, video games are therefore a strong affective medium for the horror genre. Three aspects enable video games to have this strong impact: haptic game design mechanics, play conditioning, and game coding. Using the controller as a threshold object, video games physically interact with players to create a horror experience that compels the body to mirror the fear on screen. Additionally, horror games condition players to play them in a specific way to heighten tension and deny control. Finally, the coding of horror games can create obstacles that deny player control and create an environment of fear. The aim of the essay is to explore the effective use of all these elements and mechanics in three games: the 2015 game Until Dawn, the 2016 horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and the 2014 game Alien: Isolation. (VH)

Medical Mysteries & Freaky Fables: A Critique of Intersex Representation on Television

The video essay Medical Mysteries & Freaky Fables critiques screen-based representations of intersex people; individuals who have reproductive organs at variance with the genetic and/or hormonal sex, who comprise almost 2% of the human population. The essay takes scenes from television series Friends, House MD, Masters of Sex, American Horror Story (Freak Show) and Freaks and Geeks and proposes a challenge to filmmakers and writers to transcend representations of people with intersex variations beyond mere voyeurism or abjection.

Psychoanalysis of The Fall of the House of Usher from the Perspective of Freud’s Personality Structure Theory

The Fall of the House of Usher is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous horror stories. Although there are many external circumstances and other causes that lead to the death of the novel’s protagonist Roderick Usher, the character’s own psychological breakdown is the greatest causative factor. Therefore, this paper uses Freud’s personality structure theory to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the psychopathic psychology of Roderick Usher, and to explore the root causes of his mental breakdown. Then this paper reveals his inevitable eventual death, and finally discusses its warning implications for society.

The Blair Witch Project: Metatextual Layers of Subverting the Female Gaze

While recent scholarship has discussed the gendered subject/object relations within The Blair Witch Project and Heather’s victimization by the male gaze of the horror-genre’s camera, my work rebuts and clarifies the level through which this victimization is occurring. I argue we must understand how BWP functions on three different metatextual layers—Heather’s documentary, the implied documentary of The Blair Witch Project, and the Myrick and Sánchez mockumentary—to see the ways in which Myrick and Sánchez have exploited spectator expectations of the horror genre to underwrite a critique of the genre’s reliance on the villainization and objectification of women, both through the cinematic absence of the Blair Witch herself and the use of Heather as ‘vanished’ female filmmaker.

Folklore Motifs in Contemporary Short Fiction of Mozambique

The article explores the role of folklore tradition in the short prose of modern Mozambique. The symbiosis of the European cultural matrix, inseparable from the language in which the work is written, and the oral heritage of the Mozambican people is analyzed on the material of one of Aldino Muianga’s short stories. The story «Rosa Maria» is included in the author’s debut collection «Xitala Mati», the main material for which became the folklore «scary stories» about witchcraft and the living dead. And while in his later works Muianga focuses on acute social plots of the colonial past and post-colonial present, in the world of «Xitala Mati» there is practically no place for white people: it is not colonizers and the colonized that interact there, but it is people and spirits. The text of «Rosa Maria» is filled with numerous «conventional signs» by means of which, in the paradigm of the traditional culture of the peoples of Mozambique, the world of the dead communicates with the world of the living. These signs are intuitive to the African reader, while the European must identify and decipher them. At the same time, «Rosa Maria» shows motifs and imagery characteristic of the Gothic novel, albeit reinterpreted and modified to suit African realities. Such components of the poetics as the encounter with the infernal in the image of a beautiful woman, the gloomy colouring supported by the landscape and ominous animals, and the interest in the emotional reactions of the characters, typical of Gothic literature, allow us to see in «Rosa Maria» a hybrid genre, the roots of which should be sought both in the European literary tradition and in the folk tales of Mozambique.