Courses

This course will examine the origins and evolutions of horror literature from ancient Babylon to the Early Modern period. We will be examining consistent tropes that span long periods of time, as well as local innovations and idiosyncracies that are particular to a given culture at a given moment. We will be asking what makes for horror—that is, how does horror literature work, and what is it trying to do—as well as why horror is such an enduring modality.

This course will examine the origins and evolutions of horror literature from ancient Babylon to the Early Modern period. We will be examining consistent tropes that span long periods of time, as well as local innovations and idiosyncracies that are particular to a given culture at a given moment. We will be asking what makes for horror—that is, how does horror literature work, and what is it trying to do—as well as why horror is such an enduring modality.