If your brain is feeling a bit sluggish from end-of-year exhaustion, get ready to sharpen it up in 2023 with the Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies‘ packed spring semester. Classes will be available to attend in person in London, New York and Los Angeles, as well as select classes taking place virtually over Zoom.
Everything from Brexit to body horror will be covered in the semester which runs from January to May. Read on for a detailed look of each of the announced classes, as well as instructions on how to sign up;
MISKATONIC LONDON
Branch Director: Josh Saco
For Miskatonic London Spring Semester, admission to individual classes is ยฃ8 concession, ยฃ10 advance, & ยฃ12 door. A full semester pass is ยฃ45. All classes take place live at The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London.
Tuesday January 10th 7:00pm GMT
MONSTERS IN THE MOUSE HOUSE: WALT DISNEY STUDIOS AND THE HORROR GENRE
Instructor: Jay Bamber
The idea that Disneyโs success is in sanitising the world and that its early animation represents a kind of bastardisation of ‘gory’ folk tales, has even led to the widespread use of the word Disneyfication; the act of removing horror from the world and its stories. However, this class aims to problematize this assumption by arguing that the aesthetics and narratives of the horror genre are not only integral elements in some of Disneyโs most popular franchises but were central to the construction of the Disney brand. This lecture will untangle debates surrounding child horror fandom, horrorโs โappropriatenessโ for children and the academyโs reticence to position the Disney Studio within horror histories. Ultimately it will demonstrate how Disney visual media often serves as an introduction to the aesthetics and themes of the horror genre, becoming formative in young viewerโs understanding of cinematic horror as well as positioning horror as a key strategy to appeal to its fans of all ages.
Tuesday, February 14th 7:00pm GMT
FEMININE JOUISSANCE IN HORROR CINEMA
Instructor: Mary Wild
This course will investigate representations of feminine jouissance in three films: Possession (1981) dir. Andrzej ลปuลawski, Paranormal Activity (2007) dir. Oren Peli, and Kiss of the Damned (2012) dir. Alexandra Cassavetes. The proposition is that women are capable of a transgressive and excessive bodily pleasure that reaches outside of the phallocentric order (male created discourse). This supplementary enjoyment causes women to be pushed out of a conscious collective reality; functionally it produces an (at best) ambivalent and most often fearful response within a culture that happens to confront female sexual power. In this context, reference will also be made to the psychoanalytic structure of hysteria, specifically to interpret the violent physical component of women in these films.
Tuesday, March 14th 7:00pm GMT
RAISING HELL: THE HORROR GENRE AND THE BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY IN THE 1980s
Instructor: Johnny Walker
This presentation, focusing on the 1980s, explores what British horror film production during this period reveals about contemporaneous film culture and society in Britain. It addresses a gap in dominant scholarly and popular narratives regarding commercial filmmaking, and argues that the significance of the genre to the period in question has been understated. By locating British horror films within an industrial and socio-cultural context, the presentation will identify the key players in horror film production, the resources that were available to them, how they navigated the tumultuous climate of increased film censorship and new legislation pertaining to video, and the extent to which their films are socially engaged. A more nuanced examination of domestic horror film production during the 1980s enables a greater understanding of the history of popular British cinema, and the lasting impact of this period on the present.
Tuesday April 11th 7:00pm BST
WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE: BRITISH SEA BASED FOLKLORE
Instructor: Icy Sedgwick
This lecture will dive into the ways in which water appears in folklore, both as a location for a range of legends, but also as the home of a myriad of creatures, beings, and monsters. River, lake, well or spring, weโll dip our toe into it โ and hope that no aquatic devil takes hold. Weโll explore the tales to see what they tell us about earlier spirits who once called these islands home, and weโll examine some of the water-based deities of both the Celts and the Romans to see how they fitted into their historical context โ and what they can tell us now. By exploring the tales, examining how they appear in art and literature, and unpacking them from a 21st century perspective, we can see what lessons are available to learn if we take the time to tune into the crashing waves, the water lapping at the shore, and the burbling of the brook.
Tuesday May 9th 7:00 BST
WORKED TO DEATH: ANTI-CAPITALISM IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN HORROR CINEMA
Instructor: Craig Ian Mann
Tracing the development of anti-capitalist horror from 2008 into the 2020s, the talk will show that these themes have become increasingly palpable and explicit over the last fifteen years, first exploring how enduring horror sub-genres โ the home-invasion film, the haunted house movie, the vampire picture or the satanic cult narrative โ have been retooled as metaphorical vehicles for anti-capitalist messaging. It will then discuss newer forms of horror that have emerged in the last decade, including โcorporateโ horror movies and films focused on violent and humiliating โpoverty games,โ that have brought both working-class perspectives and anti-elite sentiments to the textual forefront of contemporary American horror cinema
MISKATONIC NEW YORK
Branch Director: Claire Donner
For Miskatonic New York Spring 2023 semester, admission to individual classes is US$15 and full semester passes are US$60. Passes will only be available for purchase in advance online. Tickets can be bought online in advance, and any remaining will be sold at the door (cash only). All classes take place live at the Film Noir Cinema, 122 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn.
Tuesday January 17th 7:00pm EST
THE CAT CAME BACK: FELINE FAMILIARS IN THE HORROR GENRE
Lecturer: Alexandra West
From emblems of the occult to internet sensations, our feline familiars occupy a rarefied space in contemporary culture. Since the genreโs inception, cats and horror films have always flirted with each other with the little lions existing interchangeably as protectors, instigators, and doorways to the darkest regions of our imaginations. Once worshipped as Gods in Ancient Egypt they were executed alongside witches in Europe in the Middle Ages by the Church who demonized them which has led to a centuries long suspicion of their true nature. This lecture will examine the liminal space between life and death that cats occupy and how that ability is intentionally or unintentionally used in films such as Bell, Book and Candle (1958), House (1977) and Pet Sematary (1989) among others. By looking at their different uses in a variety of films, we will aim to uncover why these beguiling creatures provoke senses of dread, protection, and adoration within us.
Tuesday February 21st 7:00pm EST
HANNS HEINZ EWERS AND THE HORRORS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Instructor: Tenebrous Kate
Publishing his horror tales in the years leading up to World War I and through Germanyโs tumultuous Weimar Republic, German author Hanns Heinz Ewers emerged as a multifaceted artist and highly individualistic person: outspoken thinker, prolific author, vaudeville performer, and early proponent of cinema as a legitimate art form. His novel Alraune, which details the story of a doctor whose theories of mad science and folklore lead to the birth of a completely amoral woman, has been called a โdecadent masterworkโ and has been adapted for the screen five times. Ewers would become a prominent figure in the brief flowering of German weird fiction between the World Wars, however, Ewersโ careerโalong with that of several of his contemporariesโwould turn from lurid fantasies to real-world evil, finding him associated with the Nazi propaganda machine. This lecture explores the work of Ewers as part of the German tradition of horror and fantasy fiction, alongside the historical, social, and political forces that would have an impact on his work and ultimately lead to a collision with one of the most horrific political regimes of the 20th century.
Tuesday March 14th 7:00pm EDT
THE HAG, THE CRONE, AND THE WISEWOMAN: THEIR PLACE IN POPULAR CULTURE
Instructor: Peg Aloi
Despite the ubiquitous presence of witches in film and TV, far too many films about witches engage tired Hollywood tropes and stereotypes: witches as malevolent doers of evil, witches as seductresses, etc. Often we see that remakes of modern classics continue these trends. Even within the earthy folk horror genre, witchcraft films and shows tend to engage with supernatural energies and special effects. There’s been a shift in recent years, with a greater focus on natural witches, and exploring the witch in inventive ways. These newly complex portrayals include the witch as crone, hag, and generally terrifying old woman. This lecture will explore the hag, the crone and the wise woman as both problematic stereotypes and powerful figures in contemporary horror narratives and mass media, and the implications for their increased presence across popular culture.
Tuesday April 11th 7:00pm EDT
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN; OR, THE MANY FACES OF DORIS BITHER
Instructor: Claire Donner
Most people know of Doris Bither not by name, but through the fictionalized account of her story in the harrowing supernatural thriller The Entity (1982). The Sidney J. Furie film leverages its claim of being “based on a true story” to frightful effect, but the question remains: Who was Doris Bither? To UCLA’s parapsychology team, her purported suffering offered a tantalizing validation of their profession. To the journalists at The Skeptical Inquirer, she was victimized only by the exploitative endeavors of pseudo-scientists. For Furie and his star Barbara Hershey, she provided an allegory for more ordinary forms of misogynistic oppression…but this, too, is an instance of people using the Bither story to achieve their own ends. The elusive Doris Bither’s true identity may be lost to us, but this hasn’t stopped many different people from twisting her story to fit their own unique, often conflicting perspectives. In this talk, we will examine the many faces of Doris Bither as they appear in the original UCLA documentation of their investigation; the sober Skeptical Inquirer takedown; the licentious Frank De Felitta novel; and the controversial Furie film, which has been embraced by many modern feminist critics.
Tuesday, May 16th EDT
NEVER LOG OFF: HORROR AND THE INTERNET
Instructor: Stephanie Monohan
As the internet and social media became a ubiquitous part of everyday life, the horror genre has kept pace in exploring the terror that lies within a tool of unfettered surveillance and identity distortion. The relationship between communication technology and horror is nothing new; From the invention of the camera and the telephone, to the radio and beyond, people have seen such devices as a bridge to the beyond. And horror media has utilized such machines to scare us long after we stopped seeing them as intrinsically occult inventions. While there has been an intense spate of internet-centric horror films over the past twenty years, many of them tread the same waters as their forebears. The more interesting ones, however, go farther, and capture a more complex fear that is unique to being an alienated subject under late-capitalist modernity. In this illustrated lecture, we will situate the subgenre of internet horror within this historical context, as well as explore what it articulates about our fear of the modern world. We will also look at how the Internet has also been used as a form for horror, changing what scary story can be, from House of Leaves to creepypastas.
MISKATONIC LOS ANGELES
Miskatonic Los Angeles will announce 2023 classes in January, so keep an eye on their website for further details.
MISKATONIC ONLINE
Branch Director: Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Online branch classes will first broadcast live on Zoom; within the few days following the live class, the lecture will be made available for rental on our Vimeo channel for the remainder of that month. Tickets for the live class will be US$12, and US$10 for VOD rental on Vimeo. A branch pass will be available for the full semester of live broadcasts at US$40.
Tuesday February 7th 7:30pm EST
THE QUEERNESS OF EROTIC THRILLERS
Instructor: Joe Lipsett
At its core, Erotic Thrillers are obsessed with the power dynamics between traditional (i.e.: white, middle to upper class, cis heterosexual) couples. And yet there is an undercurrent of queerness lurking beneath the surface, and often within the reveal of the killer/villain. Starting with Noirs and moving through Psycho to films of the 70s, 80s and 90s, Erotic Thrillers tend to traffic in the (presumed male) audienceโs sexual fears of queerness, particularly bisexual and trans women. This talk will explore the ways that sexual norms did – and didnโt – evolve throughout the Erotic Thriller heyday of the 80s to mid-90s. After exploring the social and political factors contributing to a fear of queer in this time period, weโll conclude with a discussion of two recent contemporary examples (Yann Gonzalezโs Knife + Heart and Alain Guiraudieโs Stranger by the Lake) that suggest a new direction for queer representation in the subgenre.
Tuesday March 7th 7:30pm EST
โI WANT TO BLEED FOR YOUโ: BODY HORROR AS AN ACT OF DEVOTION
Instructor: Justine Peres Smith
To understand devotion within the realm of body horror is to understand the body as the landscape of belief and sacrifice. What changes when acts of violence are enacted through love rather than hate? A theme consistent within religious-themed horror, it also extends to stories of sexual or romantic obsession. In particular, in the works of filmmakers like Clive Barker, we see an intersection of both ideas; the way that the flagellation of the body attains an almost spiritual practice, even if it is devoted not to God but to another person or even an idea. By drawing on ideas from art history and the philosophy of devotion, this course aims to examine body horror in a way that underlines a long history of body disfigurement and annihilation as part of spiritual practice. With a strong focus on art history and gender studies, the course aims to draw a throughline between the violence and devotion of Renaissance art, which was informed far more by a collective religious experience, into contemporary worship of the self and individual desires.
Tuesday April 4th 7:30pm EDT
PARTY HORROR CINEMA
Instructor: Emmalea Russo
The horror genre is filled with parties, carnivals, clowns, festivals, and other spaces and figures of celebration and humor. Using examples from contemporary horror cinema and television as well as various philosophical texts on ritual, carnival, and temporality, this workshop will track moments of celebration, fun, and sacred wildness, as well as instances of carnival becoming crypt, when waking-up becomes hypnosis, and when contained chaos becomes unleashed mayhem. Weโll also ask how these films might help us examine our own experience of celebration, horror, ambiguity, and temporality during times of digitization and lack of ritual. When does the dazzling light of the carnival become never-ending trance? When does timeโs out-of-jointness create terror? When and how does celebration become a site of horror? This lecture will trace the instances where fun becomes horror.
Tuesday May 2nd 7:30pm EDT
LEAVE OR REMAIN: THE SPECTRE OF BREXIT IN MODERN BRITISH HORROR FILMS
Instructor: Alexandra West
When the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, many were wary of the prospects that lay ahead. Since the deal was signed much has been written about this decision and its wide-ranging and on-going effects. However, many British filmmakers could sense something was afoot well before 2016 and pulled from their rich history to explore the ideas of identity, nationality, and the family unit through the horror genre. At the dawn of the new millennium, horror films from the UK emerged with increasingly urgent warnings and politics that blur the line between reality and fiction, crying out with warnings that fell on deaf ears. This lecture will explore what historical influence Paganism, folk horror and the decline of an empire has had on British horror films over the last two decades.
Classes and passes are sure to sell out quickly, so head over to Miskatonic’s website to book your places and get your smarts on in 2023.
