fandomhigh | Entries tagged with horror 101

"Today is the day of your final," Mitchell intoned, then clapped his hands, grinning. "We'll be starting off with a few written questions. But after that, I've got something else for you."

He dumped a stack of papers on his desk. It, and several other flat surfaces in the area - including some of the students' desks - had acquired a cup of tea.

"We've talked about a great many fears over the past few weeks," he continued, "But the main one, the most quintessentially human one is the fear of death. The fear of being gone from this Earth, from what we are, the whole lot. Most of our fears come down to that: death."

"So to finish up your final," he continued, sitting down, "I've invited a friend in to talk about it. While you're writing, I want you all to come up with one question you'd like to ask about death, and she will answer it." He peered into the room, searching for Chloe ~~if she was there~~ and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, she doesn't bite."

He tapped his pen on the desk. "Now, get started! You've got thirty minutes."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

chosehumanity

Mitchell wasn't... looking quite as collected as usual today. He was leaning against the back of the classroom, and that was that. In the center of the room were a big stack of fairy tale books, most of them European.

"So I gather you're all a bit busy right now," he started, "I thought I'd get something full of horror for the younger ones. And I have fingerpaints. You know."

A beat.

"Encourage your children to write. Or draw. Or do it yourself. Make something scary and show it off. Enjoy the vacation. And remember - this is how most of us start with our horror. As cautionary tales."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

chosehumanity

If Mitchell looked a bit groggy, well, that could squarely be blamed on a bad portal connection that morning. He really needed to have another good word with Portalocity, as long as it didn't invalidate their Agreement about anything.

"Hey," he started, thusly subdued, "Today, we'll be talking about the origins of horror. Because long before we had films, long before we had the printing press, we still had scary stories. Throughout time, people have reminded each other of their fears, shared them, made them lessen with jokes. Sometimes, the stories have been warnings, or cases of triumph over evil."

He rubbed at his forehead. "Fear has been with humanity for as long as it's existed. Fear lives in animals, in their instincts, but they don't tend to share it. We talk about our fears with each other because it makes us a community, because it's terrifying once you stray past the fringes. Sharing scary stories is a way of forming a bubble, of pushing that fringe away, of forming a tribe."

"This goes beyond telling ghost stories around the campfire. Most of the horror fiction we know today hails from folklore. The Romans feared the Gods, as did the Greeks, as did many before them. They feared the fantastic: their own kinds of werewolves, vampires, ghosts and other terrors. In a way, our fears bind all of humanity together: the fear of death, the fear of change, the fear of everything that lurks alone in the dark."

"The Albanians talked about Constantin, who was raised from the dead to bring back his sister Doruntine. The Japanese have the ghost story of Yotsuya Kaidan, where a wronged woman comes back after death to set things to her own justice. In Brazil, they talk about Negrinho do Pastoreio, a slave boy whipped to death, now returned to help people find their lost things."

He smiled briefly. "Now it's your turn," he said, "Gather 'round the center of the room, get some tea in, and tell each other scary stories from your own culture."

chosehumanity

"I think you've all had your fair share of horror last week," Mitchell announced, "But I'm fairly sure half your teachers are going to give you movie classes now, so I thought I'd try and get creative."

Fear, class. Fear.

"That's why we've gathered in the Danger Shop today," he continued. "I thought it would be nice for some hands-on practice. See, we've got all of these fears we're working on and working with, but many of them, as I've said, come down to what we fear in ourselves."

A pause.

"These things tend to start in childhood," he said, "And work their way up. So today, we are going to be regressing."

He opened the door behind him and revealed--

"Today, you're going to Eurodisney!" A pause. "I'll be expecting at least two of you to get into a fight," he said, solemnly. "If you do, use something padded."

A beat, in case they thought he'd completely lost it-- "If you need me this week, I'll be spending most of it in Bristol. So use the phone."

And that would appear to be it.

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! have at! ]]

chosehumanity

"Today, it's your turn to shine," Mitchell said, beaming at the class. He clapped his hands. "Show us what you did this past week. It can be a film fragment, something you read from a book, just describing it. Tell me what it says about the phobia of your choice."

He put the remote to the beamer on the table in front of him, and backed away so he could sit down at the back of the class.

"What are you waiting for? The floor is yours."

[[ open! ]]

chosehumanity

"Horror," Mitchell told the class, "Is about fear. I know that's patently obvious, but sometimes people forget and make it all about what cool new prosthetics they can put on a rubber mask." Mitchell's eyes: rolling a bit. "So today we're taking it back to the source. To fear. All those small, everyday fears that can cripple us, make us leap at shadows, make our lives run another course just to avoid them. The best horror films and books are based on these fears, on these innate terrors that make us shiver and turn all the lights on in the house, cram ourselves up in tiny spaces or big ones. Those kind of fears. Phobias."

( Fear of the dark, fear of the dark, I have this constant fear that something's always near... )

[[ up and at them! ]]

chosehumanity

"I'm not going to show you any films this week," Mitchell announced, a little wary, but still full of that pumped-up, somewhat faked enthusiasm he'd started on last Thursday. "Sorry for missing out on class last week. I had to help a friend move flats." He clapped his hands once. "There's food, if anyone wants it, and coffee - just take whatever you'd like. I got that," point at the cake, "From JGoB's. There's plenty more where it came from."

( On Being Not Yourself. )

[[ and have at ]]

stylin-wizard.livejournal.com

The first thing their classmates would n(most likely) notice was that Mitchell was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Chloe and Alex were in the front of the room, ready to use their TA powers for ~~evil~~ good.

"Mitchell couldn't make it today. He's dealing with some family obligations back home but he should be back with us next Monday," Alex stated. "So, it's up to us," she smiled and glanced at Chloe, "to keep things going until Mitchell returns."

"Since we were just on a nice Spring Break that seemed too short for some, we figured we'd be nice and make it a movie day," Chloe explained.

"However, in keeping with the theme of the class, we had to make it topical. Therefore, you guys get to see Enemy Mine 2 : Electric Boogaloo. ~~That is what THIS site called it.~~"

"Feel free to just sit back and enjoy," Alex added, and promptly started the movie.

[[ocd up!]]

chosehumanity

"We're going to be talking about zombies," Mitchell started. Why, yes, he'd thrown his lesson plan out the window again. "I was going to bring up succubi, but that might be a bit too NC-17 for you lot." Actually, the original topic had been vampires, but see again re: lesson plan out the window.

"The bodies of our dead come back to life with only a fraction of their brains left, if any," he started, "Mindless creatures milling about trying to take a bite out of you. In film, it depends on what you watch, the old ones had the regular shambling kind you could outrun, but we've developed this obsession with fast zombies as well."

He scraped his throat. "It started with Vodou in Haiti, in the way we know it today. They'd say a dead man could be revived by a Bokor to do his bidding, because he was mindless. A bit appropriate to more than just the living dead these days," he cracked, then quickly moved on to the next bit before that could fall, you know, badly. "Although they say that a lot of these so-called zombies were actually based off of mental patients."

He clapped his hands together. "They can be used as a metaphor for the mindless crowds, and for the fear of people with which we can no longer communicate. They are outside of us as much as they're of us."

He rattled off a few classic zombie films while he was at it. "...although I hear you had some sort of thing with them here last year," he hedged, "So if you don't want to sit around for the film or the discussion, feel free to leave."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up, have at ]]

chosehumanity

"Persecution is not new," Mitchell began. Why, yes, the Raven-Max thing had been resolved, he'd picked that up, but he was still in a mood. "...and as to how this applies to the previous lessons, see this as your first witch class." See? That worked. "Persecution," he began again, "Is hardly new. Fears, horror, it causes people to behave in strange ways. Something odd happens, someone gets killed, someone gets hurt, and suddenly everyone's jumping at shadows. The people who wind up suffering, are those of us who are strange. Off, somehow. Away from the norm."

Mitchell had no issues. None at all.

"The witch trials are the easiest example of this," he said, nearly poking a hole in the blackboard as he made notes. "It's funny, because in the 8th century, belief in witches was actually outlawed, you see? But it never kept anyone. Something would happen, like the plague, and someone else would see some political gain or something, and whip everyone up into a frenzy. They'd run around and devise all kinds of bizarre tests, like throwing women into the water, just to see if they were witches. And then of course they'd be burned at the stake."

He took a moment to eye that particular note on his blackboard. "...Anyway," he started, "how this links back to horror in fiction is that people are always terrified of chaos," he marked that word big time, "While at the same time they all fall into it. I mean, what is persecution but organized chaos? You pinpoint someone to blame and then rip them out of the house. And then another one. And then another one. It's this cycle that keeps feeding itself. Hence the Monster from ~~meta for~~ Frankenstein being forced to flee from monsters himself. It's a common theme, that way."

He dropped the chalk and turned around. Listed off a couple more movies that ended in or featured running someone out of the house with torches and pitchforks. "...You can even pull it into perspective with today. You know, stars and the papparazzi and that sort of thing. People spiralling into chaos after every incident." He dusted off his half-gloved hands by wiping them off each other. "So we'll be talking about persecution. Who knows what it feels like to be persecuted? Have you ever been drawn into a mob, or felt the need to? How did it feel?"

At least he was getting less overcompensate-y about it all?

"And we'll watch some film, of course." ~~Meta for~~ Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition sketch. Oh yeah. He was on a roll today.

[[ ocd up, have at! ]]

chosehumanity

"When we talk about monsters, the first image that jumps to mind is usually something slavering and ugly out of Lovecraft," Mitchell began, idly. "Or the monster within ourselves, whatever. It's about fear, and there is very little people fear more than death. Death is this intangible thing, just this close to touch, this... big inevitability. Everyone dies. But what happens when we pass that veil, when we've stepped through that door?"

Mitchell took a moment to himself, then continued. "Ghosts. The souls of the dead. They are maybe the most basic of all ideas of horror, of terror. They've been written as malevolent, they've been portrayed as benevolent, but they are always frightening reminders of our own mortality, of our longing for longevity, immortality, and our fear of it. Even in our age, a lot of people are frightened of what flits by them in the dark. We won't live in houses where someone died, we hide from the knocks and creaks of our houses in the dark."

"We have stories that were kept from long before the beginning of our calendar about ghosts seeking out revenge on those who killed them while they were alive. The ancient Greeks once considered them mere whisps of something or other, but the legend of them quickly molded them into something haunting. The Romans thought they could be used as fuel for curses, and since there have been many stories about ghosts driving people out of their homes."

He shrugged a shoulder. "I could tell you about the renaissance, and that whole rubbish about necromancy, but it wouldn't teach you much. I could speak to you about all the films, but let's face it - if you're from this time, you'll have seen ghost films. You'll have heard of seances, of people coming together to call ghosts towards them to talk to them about what became of their families. Ghosts can be frightening," he finished, "But often it's more our own expectations that get the better of us. After all, how terrifying are idle noises and random movements?"

He hopped off the couch. "I asked you to meet me in the Danger Shop because we're doing things differently this time around," he said. "No films. No discussion. I'd just like you all to go in there."

He pointed at the door behind him.

"We'll see how you react."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

chosehumanity

It had been an incredibly long two weeks.

Not that Mitchell had suffered from the gremlins this weekend: he hadn't come back until late last night, and for some reason, the creatures - like most Fandom weirdness - had given him a wide berth upon sight.

He wasn't going to complain.

"I know you've all had a rough weekend," he started, "So I'm going to make a deal. If you feel the need to talk about what you've done or what's happened to you in the past couple of days, you can. If you don't, I've got a copy of the worst film ever made and a generous supply of tea and coffee."

A beat.

"Either way, I think we're covering horror well enough."

Another beat.

"And yes, Kate, everyone's encouraged to talk through the film. Come on."

This whole 'focusing on other people's problems' thing was getting a bit desperate on his part.

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

chosehumanity

Mitchell looked more than a bit less pale today; he had a flush in his cheeks and his motions were fluid, less prone to the occasional shake. At the same time, he was also quieter than usual, a little subdued, and, if you knew how to look for it, guilty. Still, he was standing at the front of the class today, serious, and ready to dive in.

( Cut for werewolves. )

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

chosehumanity

"One of the main cornerstones of horror as a genre has always been demons," Mitchell began, tapping his fingers against the couch. "Inside and out. What we are going to be focusing on over the next few weeks is the 'out' part - or the more visible kind, at least. Some of you may have worlds where these creatures are real, crawling around in the dark or lurking elegantly in the shadows. Some of you might only know them as stories. But monsters are a thing of every time and every place."

"Most sources will tell you the start of it was Mary Shelley's ~~meta for~~ Frankenstein. The creation of a monster. It's poetic, in a sense, but it might as well have been science fiction. Is it our fear of being monstrous, or our fear of the monster, when the story talks about how much he was misunderstood? How much of it is about fear of the other, and how much is fear of ourselves, of what we're capable of if one day, we wake up as something not quite human? The name of the book is the name of the doctor who came up with the monster to begin with. So who's the center of our story, really?"

He considered the class. "We'll be watching some of that for a film today, just to start you off light," he said, finally, "But afterwards, I'd like to know. What is monstrous to you? What's the scariest monster you can think of, and why does it frighten you? Do you feel like this guy," he tapped the monster on the front of the DVD case, "Or the blokes chasing him around with pitchforks? What's the anatomy of your monster?"

Beat.

"Oh, and it's in black and white. Just to get you Philistines adjusted to real film."

chosehumanity

Mitchell waited until everyone piled into the classroom before he began to speak. He was sitting on top of his couch again, with the class supplied with comfortable seats of their own. He always prefered things homey.

He scraped his throat. "I've got this friend," he started. "He says the human condition, human nature, being human, is to be cold and alone. Like someone lost in the woods." He leaned his hands on the surface of the couch and flashed the class a smile. "It's safe to say he's a 'glass-is-half-empty' kind of guy."

He toyed with his own fingers. "I see things differently," he said, "I've always seen the world as full of beautiful things - and unspeakable things. One tends to be the flipside of another." The corner of his mouth tugged up. "What does that have to do with horror? Everything. Horror film as a genre is a reflection of the world through the lens of our own fears, rubbing away at what's real and what's not to uncover the ferocious elegance underneath." He was in a mood to wax poetic today, that much was obvious.

"At least, if you've got a good one. There's more than a bit of shit in any genre if you're not paying attention. And especially in a place like this, you've always got to wonder what's a metaphor, and what's real - where the fiction ends and reality begins. As a rule, though, we reflect our own fears, needs and wants onto the dark. Horror is not about being scared or frightened. It's about finding new places in yourself."

He picked up his cup of coffee. "This is the first day, so we'll be doing introductions. I hope you have your speech ready, because you'll find yourself doing a lot of them this week. I want names and classes, of course, but that's not really the interesting part. What I really want to know is one thing you're afraid of, and one thing you hope to be. That doesn't have to be anything dark or secretive, I don't want you to reveal anything you don't feel like. Just whatever comes to mind."

Beat.

"Speaking of which, if anyone here wants to be a teacher's assistant, there's free coffee and you get to make fun of everyone else."

[[ ocd up! have at ]]

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