Week 1

Question: How has the academic reception of popular genres changed over time and what might the value be of studying them?

Popular genres have consistently been rejected from the culturally accepted literary canon. Literary forms such as poetry, ‘high’ prose literature, and drama were considered the top classical genres and still hold a high status in today’s society. Genres such as science-fiction, fantasy, and comics are typically not considered as a serious work of literature. Popular genres have undergone many criticisms, some being that they often use formulaic plot structures, with an often predictable resolution to the complication at hand. Second being that characters are often criticised for being two dimensional or ‘flat’, and undergo little if any character development. Thirdly, popular genres make frequent use of visual or audio elements to bring their stories alive. Fourthly, popular genres are often recently produced due to their use of technology. Lastly, popular genres are often set in imaginary worlds, and therefore do not follow the guidelines of realism (Mountfort, 2020). However, according to writers such as Kathleen Gregory Klein “since canonical authors are generally male, conservative critics have misunderstood entire genres through their biased choices of representative texts” (Schneider-Mayerson, 2010, pp. 27–28).

Despite these criticisms there is value in studying popular genres. Although popular genres may have a tendency to be new that gives them power. They keep updated with current issues of its time where older classics will never be able too. They often bring about and acknowledge issues whether those be around mental health, politics, or economics that are relevant to their audience. Often when one reads a classic like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë or Emma by Jane Austen which both are beautifully written books and are enjoyable in my opinion, but both are rather outdated. They are often wrought with sexism and issues that no longer pertain to present day society. Furthermore, classics often use language that is richly dense and often hard to follow unless you are a good reader. This can be really off putting for people who are either not strong readers or may have dyslexia or other issues that cause complications in reading. The use of audio or visual elements can initiate a whole new group of readers, and that in a world that is being taken over by technology can only be positive.

If we look at the prominent issue of mental health in our society at the moment we can see that there are many comics that are being developed to help children or teenagers go through that hard adjustment period. There is this wonderful series written by Raina Telgemeier, each comic focuses on either a typical issue for example, self-consciousness around having braces, or experiencing and learning about anxiety for the first time. These comics are more inviting to children and teenagers than a non-fiction chapter book about puberty may be, and it could help them feel less isolated and afraid.

These examples can be further continued on, not only do popular genres bring around fantasy, escapism, terror and adventure, but they encapsulate and emphasize contemporary issues and further educate their audiences in doing so.

References

Mountfort, P. (2020). ENGL602 Popular Genres: Introduction [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Schneider-Mayerson, M. (2010). Popular fiction studies: The advantages of a new field. Studies in Popular Culture, 33(1), 21–35.

1. Reyes (2014), describes Body Horror as being a “fictional representation of the body exceeding itself or falling apart, either opening up or being altered past the point where it would be recognised by normative understandings of human corporeality.”
How do The Colour out of Space and Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth make use of this definition to explore themes of the unknown?

Xavier Aldana Reyes introduction descriptor characterization of Body Horror is a exemplarily quintessential to question the nature of subgenre of horror body horror and the exploration of the unknown.

Within determinable narrative dialogue The Shadow over Innsmouth the creatures exhibiting examples of body horror the are the Deep Ones of note.

Body horror, and the fear of the unknown is a predominant theme, and the fear of Shoggoths (archetypally Lovecraftian amphibian monsters) and the Deep Ones.

The open caricature to investigate body horror here is in precepts to understand body horror, whether it be “biological horror” (Cruz, 2012) into the sea of the unknown.

With several notions under its over-troped expanded umbrella we find body horror’s variations –

“hybrids, metamorphoses, mutations, aberrant sex, and zombification.” (Cruz, 2012)

Throughout the narration of Lovecraft’s short story there is a sense of foreboding for the fear of the known culminating in the encounter with “The Horde” where an example body Horror is presented.. we find the mutation/metamorphosising in particular represented through the main character’s fishlike description.

The discovery of physically describing the horror in definite form of “the Horde” (Lovecraft, 1936) in chapter IV:
I am not even yet willing to say whether what followed was a hideous actuality or a nightmare hallucination (Lovecraft, 1936)

Further advanced as “Anthropoid” (Lovecraft, 1936) Lovecraft continues to describe.
Or further to describe the horror of metamorphosed creatures:

“And yet I saw them in a limitless stream. Flopping, chopping croaking bleating – urgine inhumanly through a spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastical nightmare.” (Lovecraft, 1936)

This spectatorship of Body horror is a common means to evocate discussion within fiction.
Argued by Sue Tait who contents the spectatorship of the fetishization of body horror is through pain and likened to pornography in horror:

Pain is fetishized in the ‘‘drive to make visible what is essentially unimaginable’ (Tait, 2008)

For example, he described as having referred to carrying “a persistent strangeness, ” (Lovecraft, 1936) within the “Newburyport Historical Society”, giving a description of monsters.

Where Ronald delineates to define that Body Horror in fiction is biological Horror.
“Body horror and its powers of revulsion can be approached in another way that has not yet been adequately explored in this regard and in most other genres of cinema: the biological.” (Cruz, 2012)

To this end Body Horror is discussed as a means to excite and further the genre in exploration of themes of the unknown and by introduction of its type.

Bibliography
Cruz, R. A. (2012). Mutations and Metamorphoses: Body Horror is Biological Horror. Journal of Popular Film and Television .
Lovecraft, H. P. (1936). The Shadow over Innsmouth.
Tait, S. (2008). Pornographies of Violence? Internet Spectatorship on Body Horror. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 91-111.

Week 7 Questions – Horror

Rija Faisal

King (2010) describes Horror as being defined through three basic elements. Explain, using references, what these three elements are. Think of a horror story you’ve read/watched/heard that makes use of all three of these elements and show how King’s definition is at play in that narrative.

Three elements of Horror

Revulsion

This refers to moments that make the audience recoil back in disgust. The feeling of disgust if often a staple in horror (visually, of course, it has a greater effect than it would in written form, and shocks audiences much more easily).

Horror stories often revolve around one particular element (a disease, a monster, etc) that carries repulsive traits. An example of this is the alien in the movie Alien. The creature is depicted as being gross and slimy with drool dripping down its mouth.

Horror

The feeling of horror itself is an element of horror. Horror refers to the incomprehensible. When we see something we cannot even begin to comprehend, the natural human response is that of fear.

The “portrayal of the unbelievable” is almost always very graphic in horror. When faced with the unnatural and the implausible, we as the audience struggle to comprehend what we are seeing, and we react with fear.

Terror

Terror is the feeling of dread and the anticipation that precedes the experience of horror. The feeling of terror induces fear through the imagination. A lot of the specifics of horror (the creepy, the heinous, etc) exist in the imagination of the viewer, and thus, when something unknown or incomprehensible is suggested, the imagination flies berserk with horrifying images and terrifying details.

The young adult Gothic horror novel “House of Furies” makes excellent use of all three of the horror elements.

House of “Furies” follows the story of seventeen year old Louisa Ditton. After she escapes from a harsh school, Louisa is offered employment as a maid in Colthistle boarding house. But soon after her arrival there, Louisa discovers that both the boarding house and its mysterious owner, Mr Morningside, hide secrets that she cannot even begin to imagine.

The revulsion element: The truth of Coldthistle house is revealed to Luisa. Whoever stays at this house as a guest is punished for a crime they might have committed. The house draws such people to it like moths drawn to a flame. The punishment is death itself. The realization of how completely “normal” this is to the rest of the staff at Coldthistle leaves Luisa feeling repulsed by them and their actual jobs: to clean up the mess after the guests have been “dealt” with.

The horror element: Luisa discovers the truth of who and what Mr Morningside really is. Mr Morningside tells her he is the Devil himself. Luisa’s reaction, naturally, is that of disbelief and denial. But when proof is given – Mr Morningide’s feet are completely turned the other way around, which is a sign associated with the Devil in some cultures- Luisa is horrified and cannot believe what she is seeing.

The terror element: Luisa discovers the “Residents” one night. They are ghost-like beings who reside permanently in Coldthistle house. When one Resident grabs her hand to try to stop her from touching a book she is not meant to touch, Louisa is certain the being will harm her. She freezes out of fear.

References

Dan Neilan (9/13/17) Stephen King breaks down the different levels of horror avclub.com Retrieved From: https://www.avclub.com/stephen-king-breaks-down-the-different-levels-of-horror-1806112160

(n.d.). Can disgust be a key component of horror? writing.stackexchange.com Retrieved From: https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/43911/can-disgust-be-a-key-component-of-horror

Week 6 Question

Q)According to Joshi (2007), a tale from the Cthulhu Mythos has several defining features that occur regularly throughout Lovecraft’s work. What are these features and how are they used in The Shadow Over Innsmouth? Furthermore, can you see any of these features being used in The Colour out of Space?

The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931) is an original, published work of H. P. Lovecraft, and is a part of the Cthulhu Mythos. There are several defining features that form the basis of Cthulhu Mythos, much of which are inspired in Lovecraft’s upbringing and convictions, and are present in The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931), and The Colour Out of Space (1927)(Joshi, 2007). The Mythos was a result of Lovecraft’s philosophical convictions and the influence of intellectual frenzy of early 20^th century; his works reflect his awareness of uncertainty in the knowledge of his time (Joshi, 2007). His convictions acted as a persuasion to challenge beliefs, and passed the notion that norms of humanity have no mere significance in front of looming uncertainty of the universe (Jones, 2020).

The defining features of the Mythos are categorized and explained in four concrete elements: a ‘largely imaginary New England topography – a recurring setting inspired in a number of works (Joshi, 2007). New England in Lovecraft’s works are reminiscent of the seventeenth century which was a haven of religious fanaticism, witchcraft, and invocations – incursions of tampering with the unnatural orders of nature (Joshi, 2007). The fictitious seaport in The Shadow Over Innsmouth is a part of mythical cities loosely based on real places that Lovecraft travelled to and visited (Joshi, 2007). The city Arkham in The Colour out of Space is loosely based on Salem. Aquatic hybrid creatures in Innsmouth (1931) are imagined from Massachusetts’ coastline, and Joshi (2007) asserts that the reservoir in The Colour out of Space could be an influence of the Quabbin reservoir in Massachusetts.

The second feature elaborates on ‘ancient and modern occult books’ of Lovecraftian library (Joshi, 2007). Joshi (2007) explains it as ‘a band of scholars who seek out texts… carry out the spells and incantations… to combat them’. In The Colour out of Space, this feature is not entirely present, but researches of the Miskatonic University venture out to study the strange meteorite. Lovecraft crafts the plot around the knowledge of supernatural horror; alien entities in the particular story are rather inexplicable, misshaped, and incomprehensible compared to human bodily structures (Joshi, 2007). This feature however in Innsmouth (1931) is replicated in the form of the odd townsfolk of Innsmouth, and the Deep Ones in the form of fish that deliver prosperity along with jewellery. The interest in the town’s half humans and objects are analogous of the feature’s explanation of quests ventured in such fictions, which in this case was the narrator (Joshi, 2007).

Third of the concrete elements is the ‘gods’, their human followers,’ and their monstrous ‘minions’ or acolytes (Joshi, 2007). Cthulhu Mythos worked around entities that were known as the ‘Elder Gods’, ‘Great Old Ones’, and ‘Outer Gods’ – beings that ruled the earth long before the existence of humankind (Cthulhu Mythos, n.d.). In Innsmouth (1931), they are reminisced as Deep Ones, inadequate in a manner of description, as the entities are incomprehensible to a human mind (Jones, 2020). Misquoted from Lovecraft, the sheer knowledge of unknown entities or the lack thereof is sufficient for a human to lose control and sense of reality as known (Jones, 2020). This is clearly portrayed in The Colour Out of Space (1927), wherein entities were defined by an odd colour apart from grotesque features.

The last feature elaborates on ‘a sense of the cosmic, both spatial and temporal’ (Joshi, 2007). Tales of Cthulhu Mythos are more firmly linked to science fiction rather than supernatural, however The Colour Out of Space deals with cosmic entities, a strong trait of the feature, that seem to be preeminent origins of intergalactic realms (Jones, 2020; Joshi, 2007). Entities in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931) and The Colour Out of Space (1927) appear to abandon laws of matter; in the form of aquatic human hybrids and the odd parlance of the townsfolk that go against the human ability to comprehend alternative existence. As for The Colour out of Space (1927), the oddity that spread and manifested itself, in whatever encountered its existence in a remote area of the Gardners, was enough to enkindle insanity. A sense of revolt and trepidation carried on in the tale, reiterating the feature that occurs in terms of spatial and temporal dimensions.

References

Cthulhu Mythos, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos

Joshi, S. T. (2007). The Cthullu Mythos, in Icons of horror and the supernatural: An encyclopedia of our worst nightmares. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Jones, N. (2020). Lovecraftian Horror Video Lecture. Retrieved from AUT Blackboard.

Lovecraft, H. P. (1927). The Colour out of Space. Retrieved from AUT Blackboard.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth – 1931 (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth

Week 3

How are Hergé’s generally represented when they do appear?

the way i have interpreted this question is how does herge generally represent women when they appear? The way that Herge has represented women in the Tintin comics using the mans words himself ‘[w]omen have nothing to do in a world like Tintin’s. I like women far too much to caricature them. And, besides, pretty or not, young or not, women are rarely comic characters’(Mountfort 2020) from this we can show that they do not play a major role in his comics nor does he see any need for women in his comics with the only female character with any real substance is Bianca Castafiore. Characters before Castafiore were mainly seen as nuisances that would distract from the adventure or boys club that was Tintins adventures but changed when Castafiore was introduced with her getting her own Album in the series called Castafiores Emerald.

Castafiore started off much like any of Herges other representations when she was introduced in 1939 where she was just an Obnoxious Opera singer but her character was revised in the 1950s where she takes on echoes of the Greek soprano Maria Callas(Figaro_Culture, 2015).She is now one of the most recognisable characters from the Tintin series along side Captain Hadock and Tintin Himself.

Women in the Tintin Series are sparce where in the Albums Tintin in the land of the Soviets there were no talking females and Tintin in the Congo where the only talking females were an African women who reprimanded Tintin for bumping into her son,a Woman lamenting her husbands illness and one telling her son that he wont be like Tintin if hes not good(Mountfort 2020). This shows that women during his early years at least were nothing more than background characters and they would only come out in either nagging roles or to further Tintin.

References

Figaro_Culture. (2015, September 20). Non,la Castafiore ne chante pas faux, c’est la Callas en BD. Retrieved September 06, 2020, from https://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/2015/09/20/03006-20150920ARTFIG00013-nonla-castafiore-ne-chante-pas-faux-c-est-la-callas-en-bd.php

Mountfort, P. (2020). Tintin, gender and desire. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.

Week 6 Question

What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

Cosmic horror is a subgenre of horror fiction made famous by author H. P. Lovecraft. One of the defining features of the philosophy of cosmic horror is its use of anti-anthropocentrism. Lovecraft regularly overshadows the significance of humanity in many of his stories by hinting at a universe that is far greater and more important than that of our own. Lovecraft states that “my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large” (as cited in Joshi, 2007, p. 103).

In ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’ (Lovecraft, 1936), Lovecraft imagines this greater cosmos through the ‘Deep Ones’. A race of human-fish hybrids that encompass the small, rundown fishing town of Innsmouth. The ‘Deep Ones’ possess immortality and often hide in the massive underwater city of ‘Y’ha-nthlei’ when their mutations become too apparent to outsiders. The ‘Deep Ones’ eventually plan on expanding to the surface world in tribute of the Great Cthulhu residing in R’lyeh, located in the depths of the South Pacific (Wikipedia, n.d.).

While in ‘The Color out of Space’ (Lovecraft, 1927), the meteorite that lands in Arkham, demonstrates the otherworldliness of Lovecraft’s work. Its appearance and characteristics are unlike that of anything seen before. The meteorite radiates strange colours and causes the environment nearby to act and mutate in uncharacteristic ways. After feeding on the mind and body of living things around it, an entity hiding from within the well returns home in a bright column of colour ascending to the outer reaches of space. Both of these tales hint, either directly or indirectly, at universes far superior to that of mankind. Therefore, implementing one aspect of the philosophy of cosmic horror.

Furthermore, characters that attempt to comprehend the newfound expansiveness of the cosmos often succumb to insanity, as their newfound knowledge shatters their understanding of the universe. Stableford (2007) elaborates that part of the terror from cosmic horror comes from the “knowledge that is too much to bear; the ultimate knowledge of that kind is, indeed, related to unplumbed space rather than the shallows of human evil, and to assaults of chaos” (p. 66).

In ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’ (Lovecraft, 1936), as the main protagonist begins to uncover more about the inhabitants and the happenings of Innsmouth, his mental fortitude begins to breakdown. Stating “It was the end, for whatever remains to me of life on the surface of this earth, of every vestige of mental peace and confidence in the integrity of Nature and of the human mind” (Lovecraft, 1936), eventually succumbing to the ‘Deep Ones’.

In ‘The Color out of Space’ (Lovecraft, 1927) the meteorite that lands in Arkham has drastic psychological effects on nearby residents. An unfortunate victim of which, Mrs Gardner, has strange visions of things shifting unnaturally, along with mysterious “things” in the air that she is unable to describe. Eventually dying to the strange entity from within the meteorite.

This inability for humanity to comprehend the greater cosmos intern heightens the anti-anthropocentrism within the philosophy of cosmic horror.

References.

Joshi, S. T. (2007). The cthullu mythos. Icons of horror and the supernatural: An encyclopedia of our worst nightmares, 97-128.

Lovecraft, H. P. (1927). The color out of space.

Lovecraft, H. P. (1936). The shadow over innsmouth.

Stableford, B. (2007). The cosmic horror. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An encyclopedia of our worst nightmares, 66-96.

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Cthulhu. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu

Week 6

What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

First what is cosmicism as stated by the Wiktionary cosmicism is “The literary philosophy developed by the American writer H P Lovecraft, stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence.”(cosmicism 2020) from this alone we can infer alot especially in the context of the texts of Shadow Over Innsmouth and the Colour out of Space during one scene of the colour out of space where the Hydrologist was staring into the eyes of the now mutated teenage girl he could see a world a world that was not our own maybe it was the future what was to become of earth maybe it was the home world of what ever had contaminated and mutated the residents of the forested area,One thing that was to be discerned was that there was no human presence nor of any life that wasn’t part of the one the giant worm creature that inhabited the planet in her eyes.After the area was annihilated as the creature had either returned home or traveled somewhere else and the surrounding area consumed by water of the newly built dam we hear the hydrologist talk about how this wasnt the end and something would be coming and we see the mutated pink praying mantis that was the first creature mutated flying across the screen showing that the thing was still here.

Shadow over Innsmouth the dread that is conveyed is through the near limitless number of the creatures that seemed to have been spawned by earth that were anthropomorphic in nature but with fish heads ‘blasphemous fish-frogs'(LOVECRAFT, 1936) as they were called in text being as they are near limitless in number with horrific visages you can see they they understand from the line “It was the end, for whatever remains to me of life on the surface of this earth”(LOVECRAFT, 1936) that they understood that life was over and that the creatures that had come about in never ending numbers would be taking over.

Cosmicism. (n.d.). Retrieved September 06, 2020, from https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cosmicism

LOVECRAFT, H. (1936). SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. Visionary Publishing Company.

Week One Response – Leo Ballantyne

Storytelling has always existed at the core of human culture and society. A recent study of a Filipino hunter-gatherer tribe; the Agta, discovered that even in this pre-agricultural community, stories were being used to encourage concepts of cooperation, compromise and gender equality (Young, 2017). Such findings, coupled with the existence of cultural sites like the Chauvet caves, suggest that storytelling has, since the dawn of human civilization, informed and enforced cultural ideals, traditions and material realities. It is bizarre then, that for much of western civilization, the majority of the academic world has regarded some of the most popular and widespread forms of storytelling as lacking analytical value. For much of modern history popular genres and popular literatures were derided by academia as being low culture – trope filled texts designed to be easily consumable and marketable opposed to challenging and ideologically complex. As a result, literary discussion and criticism was predominantly directed at more traditional, exclusive and high-culture literary fiction, with popular fiction rarely analysed. On the rare occurrences that literary fiction and mass media was discussed in academic circles, it was often used to highlight the supposed degradation of modern society, or analysed through the lens of propaganda and persuasion (Bates and Ferri, 2010).

Schneider-Mayerson (2010) in ‘Popular Fiction Studies: The Advantages of a New Field’ chronicles the steady increase of popular genres’ legitimacy within academic discourse. This shift in attitude was supposedly spearheaded by the advent of the new left and second-wave feminism during the early eighties, both focusing upon the dismantling of embedded hierarchies, ideological and physical. The distinction between elite and low culture was one such hierarchy that faced significant scrutiny, being considered an arbitrary and classist tool which acted to exclude the working class from cultural and historical narratives (Schneider-Mayerson, 2010). Many new age academics from this period rightly pointed out that popular genres were just as, if not more influential and reflective of modern society than their high culture counterparts, being significantly more socially pervasive than literary fiction. An early example of this increased academic interest in popular genres was feminist academics’ criticism of popular romances as frequently passivizing women and characterising them as lacking romantic agency (Schneider-Mayerson, 2010). From here the field blossomed, and the study of popular genres has become increasingly mainstream within cultural and literary academia, although the academic bias towards literary fiction no doubt remains at the core of many literary studies.

The elevation of popular genres in academia is an important step in understanding human society and culture. As stated above, storytelling, especially that which is highly propagated within a society, reflects upon said society as a whole via the process of its creation and audience’s reception to the text. Stories have the ability to shape how we understand the world, and popular narratives in many ways can be considered a modernised version of myth and religion. In this regard, it is important to understand the messages communicated within these texts. Improved analysis and understanding has aided in the deconstruction of cultural movements, as well as contributed to the growing trend of problematic ideas and tropes being properly acknowledged and criticised in order to reduce their impact. By taking emphasis away from culturally-elite literature, voices from marginalised authors traditionally excluded from cultural canon have started to be given a place of greater importance in academic and cultural discourse. This elevation of marginalised voice has likely been invaluable in educating the wider public on issues faced by minority demographics such as the POC and queer communities.

On a smaller scale, this developing cultural awareness of popular genres has allowed authors and creators to experiment with the conventions and limitations of various genres, testing limits and exploring new thematic and narrative avenues. Thematically rich genre-fiction has come to hold a place of cultural importance similar to the position once held exclusively by literary fiction, facilitating a blurring of lines between genres and the concepts which they can engage with (Rothman, 2014). While still growing, the study of popular genres has already provided invaluable insight into the constantly shifting cultural and social norms of global society, and has rightfully acknowledged the value of such texts in shaping and reflecting our world.

References

Bates, S., & Ferri, A. (2010). What’s Entertainment? Notes Toward a Definition. Studies in Popular Culture, 33(1), 1-20. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/stable/23416316?seq=13#metadata_info_tab_contents

Schneider-Mayerson, M. (2010). Popular Fiction Studies: The Advantages of a New Field. Studies in Popular Culture, 33(1), 21-35. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23416317?seq=7#metadata_info_tab_contents

Young, E. (2017). The Desirability of Storytellers. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/the-origins-of-storytelling/547502/

Rothman, J. (2014). A Better Way to Think About the Genre Debate. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/books/joshua-rothman/better-way-think-genre-debate

Week 6: Body Horror

“Fictional representation of the body exceeding itself or falling apart, either opening up or being altered past the point where it would be recognised by normative understandings of human corporeality.” (Reyes, 2014). This is how Reyes describes Body Horror which is a term in Gothic and Horror studies, describing “broadly speaking, body horror features the graphic depiction, destruction or degeneration of the human body” (Reyes, 2014). Body Horror are technique to generate viewer’s physical reaction through using the extreme gruesome imagery of body and corporeal transformation or mutation. As well as shocking viewers into experiencing sense of fear, dread and disgusted.

Film like the 2019 ‘Colour out of Space’ which are adapted from H.P Lovecraft’s short story “The colour Out of Space”, make use of the Body Horror to explore themes of the unknown. Colour out of space is “a freaky-deaky, retro-cosmic science-fiction horror about a meteor that slams into Earth unleashing an extraterrestrial organism.” (Clarke, 2020). The family of five witness flashes of purple and found a meteor, that is when the terror began as something unknown is effecting the area and the livings. Everyone in the family, even the dog starts to behave weirdly from usual, the garden has lush mutant flowers grown. After that things got worst and it was gobsmacking and gagging repulsive. The body horror is used within the film to explore themes of the unknown with the representation of an unknown being that seems to be some kind of alien, or some other extra-terrestrial and its power to make the body of human and animals mutated.

At first no one has any idea what that being is, what is its plan or purpose, both viewers and characters in the story were totally in the dark. This is also another way that can create sense of fear for both viewers and characters in the story as according to Lovecraft, “the oldest and strongest emotion of human mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” (Jones, 2020). However, as the story goes on we were given a glimpse of the true horror when a scary unknown creature ran passed the front of Nathan and Teresa’s car. When the two brothers, Benny and Jack found their alpacas in a state of mutation that are beyond human’s recognition of living animal. Then flashes of purple light fuses Jack and his mother, Theresa’s body together into a deranged massand later also transform into an unknown being looking like a monster.These imagerieswere really gruesome, gobsmacking and gagging repulsive, it shocked me into experienced the sense of fear, dread and disgusted. It was really extreme that I did not want to watch it, but at the same time, I was curious into knowing what the creature is and its power.

So Body Horror in this film are the extreme imageries of the mutated bodies of human and animals from the power of the Unknow purple light or being that shock viewers into feeling scared, dread or disgusted.

References:

Clarke, C. (2020, February 27). Color Out of Space review – Nicolas Cage goes cosmic in freaky sci-fi horror. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/27/color-out-of-space-review-nicolas-cage-joely-richardson-richard-stanley

Reyes, A. (2014). Body Gothic: Corporeal Transgression in Contemporary Literature and Horror Film. University of Wales Press.

Jones, N. (2020, August 26). Lovecraftian Horror Lecture [Video]. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5273120-dt-content-rid-12699658_4/institution/Papers/ENGL602/Publish/Lovecraftian%20Horror%20Lecture.mp4

Week 6 – Cosmic Horror

H.P Lovecraft ( Howard Phillips Lovecraft) born Aug. 20^th 1890 was an American writer from Providence, Rhode Island. He prolifically wrote novels and short stories which were sometimes described as fantastical or macabre and pioneered the movement of Gothic tale of terror writing in the 20^th century.

Lovecraftian horror is defined as a subgenre of horror fiction which is conceptually synonymous with cosmic horror. This type of horror focuses on the danger of the unknown and the terror which can stem from horrific beings or occurrences which we cannot see, rather than the gory, graphic side of other horror genres. “the monsters in Lovecraft’s tales aren’t the true horror. The true horror and essential element of Lovecraft’s tales is the sense of helplessness and insignificance of humanity that the existence of the monsters signify.” Lacroix, (April 6^th 2020) This is the true defining quality of Lovecraftian horror, which brings a philosophical quality to the discussion of horror and terrifying things. More mainstream genres of horror focus on amplifying the shock factor and emphasising violence as a way of increasing adrenaline. Some interpretations will suggest that horror is a way of facing the ugly side of human nature and that explicit content is a reflection of the sides of ourselves we do not wish to face. When it come to H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror though, there is a testament to existentialism, as human life is seen as pointless and futile, in comparison to the vast and unknown landscape of cosmic knowledge. Lovecraft established a strong understanding of fear in his work, distinctly when it came to cosmic fear which differs from physical fears or fear of the gruesome. In the article The Outsiders and Others the following is said about cosmic horror : “that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguards against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space.’’ Lovecraft (1939) Stableford, (2007) P, 66.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936) is a horror novella by H.P. Lovecraft, forming a part of the Cthulu Mythos, telling the story of a malign undersea population. The story is set in New England, the protagonist being a young student who is on an antiquarian tour of New England, and hears of a horrifying story about aquatic monsters who can interbreed with humans to produce amphibian hybrids. Some critics believe that there might be a personal connection between the cosmic horror portrayed in The Shadow Over Innsmouth and H.P. Lovecraft himself. Both of his parents had been admitted to mental hospitals, where they had stayed until the end of their lives, this suggesting that there was a genetic history of mental illness in Lovecraft’s family. Having such a personal experience of watching his family go through debilitating mental illnesses most probably projected a serious fear onto H.P. Lovecraft when it came to phycological issues. Losing ones sanity or control over their minds is a terrifying leap into the unknown and is the kind of fear associated with cosmic horror. Mental illness is something that can’t always be seen and lacks a sense of physicality, making it a force of horror which differs from the obvious visual forms. When the narrator is shown things that exist outside his perception of reality, his mind begins to deteriorate, and mental illness ties in with the terrifying creatures and unknown qualities of existence.

The Colour Out of Space (1927) is a short story written by H.P. Lovecraft, featuring an unnamed narrator, set in Arkham Massachusetts. The narrator is trying to piece together the story of a place called the “blasted heath” in the wild hills of Arkham. It is revealed that a meteorite had crashed into that place, changing the landscape grotesquely, affecting the vegetation, mutating the animals and causing the humans to die. H.P. Lovecraft’s intention was to create a story about an alien that was truly alien, because of its mysterious manifestation and elusive entity. He had become disillusioned by stories which featured aliens which took form in illustrated, human perception fuelled ways. An entity from a different planet, or simply just from the cosmos is something beyond our limited earthly perception, and H.P Lovecraft wished to demonstrate the true terrifying quality of this.

“It was a scene from a vision of Fuseli, and over all the rest reigned that riot of luminous amorphousness, that alien and undimensioned rainbow of cryptic poison from the well—seething, feeling, lapping, reaching, scintillating, straining, and malignly bubbling in its cosmic and unrecognisable chromaticism.” H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space.

References :
Stableford, B. (2007). The cosmic horror. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural, 66-96.
The Editors of the Encyclopedia of Britannica, (2020. Aug.16) H.P. Lovecraft
https://www.britannica.com/biography/H-P-Lovecraft

LaQroix, P, (2017) What is Lovecraftian Horror? https://eldritchpaths.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/what-is-lovecraftian-horror/

The Shadow Over Innsmouth (2020) https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth

The Color Out of Space (2020) https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Colour_Out_of_Space#

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