Thrilling Horror Notes

Unit 5: Thrilling - Horror Genre

Core Concepts

  • Red herring: A literary device to distract the audience from the main subject or culprit, creating surprise or humor.
  • Cliff hanger: An ending that leaves the character in a dangerous predicament, creating suspense and anticipation for the next installment.
  • Forms of Horror: Gothic stories, thrillers, ghost stories invading the film industry with graphic movies evoking fear, panic, alarm, and dread.

Elements of Horror

  • Settings evoke isolation (abandoned buildings, ghost towns).
  • Characters: Hero vs. villain; good characters turning bad.
  • Themes: Good vs. evil, revenge, nightmares, religion, feelings, self-consciousness, suicide.

Symbolism in Horror

  • Religious Symbols: Life, death, spirituality, good vs. evil.
  • Symbols of Death: Coffins, gravestones, skeletons.
  • Colors: Red (evil, blood), Black (evil), White (good).
  • Light: Hope, transition; candles, lanterns.
  • Weapons: Reflect character.
  • Fabric: Disguise horror.
  • Doors and Windows: Entrapment or freedom, suspense.
  • Masks: Disguise evil.
  • Mirrors: Duality of characters, shattered lives.

Gothic Story Elements

  • Castles (Ruined or intact)
  • Ruined buildings.
  • Dungeons, crypts.
  • Labyrinths, dark corridors.
  • Shadows, failing light.
  • Extreme landscapes, weather.
  • Omens, curses.
  • Magic, supernatural.
  • Driven villain-hero.
  • Curious heroine needing rescue.
  • Revealed hero identity.
  • Horrifying events.

Thriller Sub-genres

  • Conspiracy: Hero trapped in powerful organization.
  • Crime: Action over psychological aspects.
  • Disaster: Survival against natural/artificial disasters.
  • Techno: Technology taking over the world.
  • Mystery: Detective solving a mystery.
  • Political: Government stability.
  • Psychological: Mental and emotional conflict.
  • Religious: Good and bad points about religion.
  • Supernatural: Overcoming otherworldly elements.

Ghost Stories

  • Purpose: To scare with situations causing horror or fear.
  • Main Character: Ghost/phantom.
  • Technique: Suspense.
  • Other Characters: Zombies, vampires, victims of curses, demons, alien creatures.

Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs

  • Verb combined with adverb or preposition.
  • Many phrasal verbs have multiple meanings.
  • Style: Can be formal or informal.

Language: Passive Verb Forms

  • Form: bebe + past participle (e.g., is baked, was worn).
  • Use bebe + past participle after willwill, begoingtobe going to, cancan, mustmust, etc.
    • Example: The soup will[0.2em]bewill[0.2em]be cooked next.
  • Sometimes use getget in the passive instead of bebe.
  • Negatives and questions: use a form of dodo.
    • Example: The windows don’t getget cleaned very often.

Punctuation: Apostrophe

  • Used for missing letters in a word (contractions) and to indicate ownership.
  • Ownership examples: Susan’s hat, Barry’s car.
  • Contraction examples: She isn’t, I won’t.
  • Do not use apostrophes for "its" (possessive), plural words in general, plural acronyms, or years.

Writing: Feature Article

  • Conveys facts and tells stories of people's lives.
  • Includes a great lede (sets the scene, paints a picture).
  • Includes description (creates mental images).
  • Includes quotes (colorful and interesting).
  • Includes anecdotes (short stories).
  • Includes background information (solid facts).
  • Structure: Follows logically from the lede.