SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 12:44PM

The 31 Days of Halloween 2014: What Are We Afraid Of?

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(C0ver to the album "Fiend Club Lounge: Misfits Meet the Nutley Brass"; Cover art by Basil Gogos with concept and art direction by John Cafiero)

Get ready readers, get ready! 

I'm going to blather succinctly but pretentiously, spending precious time and energy deconstructing some of the worst trashiest horror films in existence, trying to find a meaning that's probably not there at all except in my warped mind.

 This year's 31 Days of Halloween is inspired by scholar W. Scott Poole. Check out his excellent book Monsters in America which discusses monsters, horror movies and what they reveal about our anxieties, fears and how we construct "The Other."  He places monsters in a historical context.  Here he is at a Google Cambridge lecture:

 "Monsters have become a map to where the bodies have been buried deep in American history." - W. Scott Poole

I'm going to go through a selection of horror films - perhaps a novel, comic book or TV show thrown in for good measure - and in a simple and short template format, try to break down for you what I think it all means. It sounds silly and far-reaching because IT IS.  Now suck it up and read read read!

One interesting thing I'm finding is that many of the horror movies I'll discuss have an element of economic anxiety to them.

Happy October.

Author tags:

chillerpop, all hallow’s eve, all saints day, all souls day, samhain, halloween, chillerpop, open salon, salon, horror, terror, horror movies, horror films, monster movies, horror fiction, fiction, music, gothic, w. scott poole, monsters in america, economic anxiety

Comments

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Can't wait.

tg within

September 26, 2014 04:18 PM

Sounds fun! One of my faves is "Motel Hell."

Erica K

September 26, 2014 05:01 PM

R&R Hope you pick some Lovecraft... ;-)

jmac1949

September 26, 2014 05:34 PM

And EA Poe!!!

jmac1949

September 26, 2014 05:34 PM

Thanks guys! Your suggestions are accepted!

ChillerPop

September 26, 2014 08:25 PM

I have a book called "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia Of Film" by Michael Weldon. It contains reviews of over 3,000 movies that are regarded as cult films, obscure horror films, B-rated (Roger Corman type) movies, and other bizarre oddities. If you have not already read this book, I think you would enjoy it.

littlewillie

September 27, 2014 03:36 AM

My breathe, bated; my curiosity, baited. Certainly, the original “Amityville Horror,” the one with James Brolin, exhibited a theme of economic anxiety, as does (as I long tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to convince my students) Poe’s “The Cask of Amantillado.”

Jerry DeNuccio

September 27, 2014 01:35 PM

Jerry - thats excellent! Both under consideration. I have seen the priginal AH but will need to rewatch.

ChillerPop

September 27, 2014 05:47 PM

Littlwillie- a dear friend gave me the Psychotronic Encyclopedia! It is in fact my bible.

ChillerPop

September 27, 2014 05:50 PM

Looking forward to it as always. Will try to log onto OS more frequently in October for this series (and I have a couple of Halloween-themed entries of my own coming up this year). Let the pumpkins begin!

VariousArtists

September 28, 2014 11:27 PM

Thanks and much appreciated, VA.

ChillerPop