Animals in the horror genre

Csetényi Korinna

Szegedi Tudományegyetem Juhász Gyula Pedagógusképző Kar

Modern Nyelvek és Kultúrák Tanszék Angol Szakcsoport

korinnac@yahoo.com

Horror fiction is often concerned with the idea of transgression. Setting out the boundaries, the limits of civilized society serves the purpose of reaffirming order: we distance ourselves from what lies beyond and our notion of normalcy is reaffirmed by getting glimpses of monstrosities. Animals as a source of threat to mankind were widely used in the horror films made during the 1950s, when the fears connected to atomic trauma were often externalized in the form of giant mutations (ants, grasshoppers), which were the results of irresponsible experiments carried out in the name of science. The combination of different species also creates anxiety, as seen in H.P. Lovecraft’s indescribable, otherworldly Cthulhu (a creature uniting the features of an octopus and a spider), or the hybrid beings populating the island of Dr. Moreau, the scientist whose aim is to transform animals to humans (in the novel of H.G.Wells). Creatures which are not classifiable according to accepted cultural categories upset the human mind, and traumatic confrontations with them might even lead to madness. I propose to look at some images utilized by horror literature and films where the breakdown of the clear-cut boundaries separating humans and animals or one species from another present not just a physical, but a cognitive threat as well.