Course on Horror

[grizzle]

As a fiction writer (degree in English, creative writing), filmmaker, photographer, voice actor, fanatic of the horror genre, lover of all that is new and creative and pushing new boundaries, hater of the Hollywood machine and the regurgitated/remakes, I have many extreme opinions on the topic and material you are addressing.

I like the sounds of quite a bit of your post, but also am very turned off by some of it.

But, before I drop into lengthy and deep opinions, tell me what you are really wanting to do with the class. (I don't want to complain about aspects of the class not fulfilling my personal wants if the class wasn't intended to cover those issues) Here's your class tagline:

"Monsters in the Mainstream: An examination of vampires, zombies etc. as lenses on our modern lives."

So, my first question would be: Vampires, zombies, etc., are overused monsters - introduced and used quite a bit in legacy films, and overused and heavily focused upon in contemporary films and books. Are there honestly any new examinations of these enormously stereotyped, overly reused, and heavily documented monster-types that you can teach kids that they haven't already discovered for themselves from the internet?

Again, I am very excited for you and the class, so please don't mistake my questioning as pessimism towards the class. I really hope it's a hit for you guys!