The Nature of Horror

Author(s): Noël Carroll

Source: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism , Autumn, 1987, Vol. 46, No. 1
(Autumn, 1987), pp. 51-59
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/431308

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 NOEL CARROLL

The Nature of Horror

Romero's Night of the Living Dead or Scott's

FOR NEARLY A DECADE and a half, perhaps espe-
cially in America, horror has flourished as a Alien. We shall call this art-horror. It is differ-
major source of mass aesthetic stimulation. ent from the sort of horror one expresses in
Horror novels seem available in virtually every saying "I am horrified by the prospect of
supermarket and pharmacy, and new titles ap- ecological disaster" or "Terrorist acts are
pear with unnerving rapidity. One author in this horrifying." Call the latter usage of "horror"
genre, Stephen King, has become a household natural horror. It is not the purpose of this
name, while others, like Peter Straub, though essay to analyze natural horror, but only art-
less well known, command large followings. horror- "horror," that is, as it serves to name
Popular movies, as well, have remained so a cross-art genre whose existence is already
obsessed with horror since the success of The recognized in ordinary language. Indeed, one
Exorcist that it is difficult to visit your local might regard the first part of this article as an
multiplex theater without meeting at least one attempt to rationally reconstruct the latent cri-
monster. Horror and music explicitly join teria for identifying art-horror that are operative
forces in many rock videos, notably Thriller, in ordinary language.
though one must remember that the iconogra- In order to avoid misunderstanding, it is
phy of horror supplies a pervasive coloration of necessary to emphasize that by "art-horror" we
much MTV. Of course, nonmusic TV itself are referring narrowly to the effects of a specific
offers several horror programs, such as Tales genre. Of course, one might be horrified by the
from the Dark Side, while Broadway was re- events in a nonhorror novel, for example, one
cently terrorized by Gorey's version of Dracula. might be horrified by the murder in The
Horror figures even in fine art, not only directly Stranger. Nevertheless, though such horror is
in works by Francis Bacon, H. R. Giger, and generated by art, it is not part of the phenome-
Sibylle Ruppert, but also allusionistically in the
non we are calling "art-horror." "Art-horror,"
pastisches of many postmodern artists. In short, by stipulation, is supposed to refer to the
horror has become a staple across contemporary product of a genre that crystallized roughly
artforms, popular and otherwise, spawning around the time of the publication of Mary
vampires, trolls, gremlins, zombies, were- Shelley's Frankenstein and that has continued,
wolves, demonically possessed children, space often cyclically, to persist through the novels
monsters of all sizes, ghosts, and other unname- and plays of the nineteenth century and the
able concoctions at a pace that has made the lastliterature and films of the twentieth.2 Moreover,
decade or so seem like one long Halloween it must be noted that though our emphasis is on
night. Thus, the time is ripe to initiate an genre, we shall not respect the notion that
aesthetic inquiry into the nature of horror.'horror and science fiction are discrete genres.
The type of horror to be explored in this Much science fiction of the bug-eyed monster
paper is that associated with reading something school, for instance, is really a species of
like Stoker's Dracula or Blackwood's "An- horror, substituting supernatural forces with
cient Sorceries" or with seeing something like futuristic technologies. This is not to say that all
science fiction is a subcategory of horror, but
only that much is. Thus, in our examples, we
NOEL CARROLL is professor of philosophy at Wesleyan
University. will move freely between what is called horror

? 1987 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

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 52 CARROLL

and science fiction. would not be a sufficient condition. For mon-

It should not be assumed that all genres can sters inhabit all sorts of stories, such as fairy
be analyzed in the same way. Westerns, for tales, myths, and odysseys,3 that we are not
example, are identified primarily in virtue of wont to identify as horror.
their setting. Novels, films, plays, paintings, What appears to distinguish the horror story
and so on that are grouped under the label of from mere stories with monsters, such as fairy
"horror" are identified according to a different tales, is the attitude of characters in the story to
sort of criterion. Like suspense novels or mys- the monsters they chance upon. In works of
tery novels, novels are denominated horrific in horror, the humans regard the monsters that
respect of their intended capacity to provoke a they encounter as abnormal, as disturbances of
certain affective response. Indeed, the genres of the natural order. In fairy tales, on the other
suspense, mystery, and horror derive their very hand, monsters are part of the everyday furni-
names from the affects they are intended to ture of the universe. In "The Three Princesses
promote-a sense of suspense, a sense of mys- of Whiteland," for example, the lad is beset by
tery, and a sense of horror. Again, not all a three-headed troll; however, the writing does
genres are identified this way-a musical is not not signal that he finds this creature to be any
tied to any specific affect. But the genres that more unusual than the lions he had previously
are named by the very affect they are designed walked past. A creature like Chewbacca in the
to provoke suggest a very tantalizing strategy space opera Star Wars is just one of the guys,
through which to pursue their analysis. though a creature made up in the same wolf
Like suspense, works of horror are designed outfit, in a film like The Howling, would be
to elicit a certain kind of affect. We shall regarded with utter revulsion by the humans in
presume that this is an emotional state whose that film. In examples of horror, it would
emotion we call art-horror. Thus, one can appear that the monster is an extraordinary
expect to locate the genre of horror, in part, character
by in our ordinary world, whereas in
a specification of art-horror, the emotion that fairy tales and the like the monster is an
works of this type are designed to engender. ordinary character in an extraordinary world.
Such an analysis, of course, is not a priori; it is One indicator, then, of that which differenti-
an attempt, in the tradition of The Poetics, to ates works of horror proper from monster sto-
provide clarificatory generalizations about a ries in general is the affective responses of the
body of work that we antecedently accept as characters in the stories to the monsters they
constituting a family. meet. Though so far we have only spoken about
Initially, it is tempting to differentiate the the emotions of characters in horror stories, the
horror genre from others by saying that horror preceding hypothesis is nevertheless useful for
novels, stories, films, plays, and so on are getting at the emotional responses that works of
marked by the presence of monsters of either horror
a are designed to elicit from audiences.
supernatural or sci-fi origin. This distinguishes For horror appears to be one of those genres in
horror from what are sometimes called tales of which, ideally, the emotive responses of the
terror, such as Poe's "The Pit and the Pendu- audience run parallel to the emotions of char-
lum" and "The Telltale Heart," or Hitchcock's acters. Indeed, in works of horror the responses
Psycho, which, though eerie and scary, achieveof characters often seem to cue the emotional
their hairraising effects by exploring extreme responses of the audience.
psychological phenomena that are all too hu- In "Jonathan Harker's Journal" in Dracula,
man. Similarly, by using monsters or other we read
supernatural entities as a criterion, one could
separate horror stories from Gothic exercises As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me,
such as Radcliff's Mysteries of Udolpho, where I could not repress a shudder. It may have been that his
suspicions of otherworldly beings are intro- breath was rank, but a horrible feeling of nausea came
over me, which do what I would, I could not conceal.
duced only to be explained away naturalisti-
cally. However, even if a case could be made
that a monster or a monstrous entity is a This shudder, this recoil at the vampire's touch,
necessary condition for horror, such a criterion this feeling of nausea structures our emotional

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 The Nature of Horror 53

reception of the ensuing descriptions of mind to sleep." Shortly after this, the monster,
Dracula; for example, when his protruding with an outstretched hand, wakens Victor, who
teeth
are mentioned we regard them as shudder- flees from its touch. In "The Sea-Raiders," H.
inducing, nauseating, rank, and not something G. Wells, using the third person, narrates Mr.
one would either want to touch or be touched Frison's reaction to some unsavory, glistening,
by. Similarly, we model our emotional re- tentacled creatures: "he was horrified, of
sponse upon ones like that of the young woman course, and intensely excited and indignant at
in Night of the Living Dead who, when sur- such revolting creatures preying on human
rounded by zombies, screams and clutches skin." In Muir's "The Reptile," MacAndrew's
herself in such a way as to avoid contact with first response to what he takes to be a largish,
the contaminated flesh. The characters of works deadly snake is described as "the paralysing
of horror exemplify for us the way in which to grip of repulsion and surprise." And for a more
react to the monsters in the fiction. Our emo- contemporary illustration, consider the dream
tions are supposed to mirror those of the posi- portent Jack Sawyer encounters in The Talis-
tive human characters. This is not the case for man, by King and Straub:
every genre. If Aristotle is right about catharsis,
the emotional state of the audience does not some terrible creature had been coming for his
double that of Oedipus at the end of the play. mother-a dwarvish monstrosity with misplaced eyes
and rotting, cheesy skin. "Your mother's almost dead,
Also, when a comic character takes a pratfall,
Jack, can you say hallelujah'?" This monstrosity had
he hardly feels joyous, though we do. Never-
croaked, and Jack knew-the way you knew things in
theless, with horror the emotions of the charac- dreams-that it was radioactive, and that if it touched
ters and those of the audience are synchronized, him he would die.

as one can observe easily at a Saturday matinee

at one's local cinema. What examples like this (which can be mul-
That the audience's emotional response is tiplied endlessly) indicate is that the character's
modeled on that of characters provides us with affective reaction to the monstrous in horror
a useful methodological advantage in analyzing stories is not merely a matter of fear, i.e., of
the emotion of art-horror. It suggests a way in being frightened by something that threatens
which we can formulate an objective, as op- danger. Rather, threat is compounded by revul-
posed to an introspective, picture of the emo- sion, nausea, and disgust. The monster is so
tion of horror. That is, rather than characteriz- unwholesome that its very touch causes shud-
ing art-horror solely on the basis of our own ders. And this corresponds as well with the
subjective responses, we can ground our con- tendency in horror novels and stories to de-
jectures on observations of the way in which scribe monsters in terms of, and associate them
characters respond to the monsters in works of with, filth, decay, deterioration, slime, and so
horror. That is, if we proceed under the assump- on.
tion that our emotional responses as audience The reports of characters' internal reactions
members are supposed to parallel those of to monsters-whether from a first person, sec-
characters, then we can begin to portray art- ond person (e.g., Fuentes's Aura) or authorial
horror by noting the typical emotional features point of view-in horror stories correspond to
that authors and directors attribute to characters the more behavioral reactions one can observe
beleaguered by monsters. in theater and cinema. Just before the monster is
How do characters respond to monsters in visualized to the audience, we often see the
horror stories? Well, of course, they're fright- character shudder in disbelief, responding to
ened. After all, monsters are dangerous. But this violation of nature. Their faces contort.
there is more to it than this. In Shelley's famous They freeze in a moment of recoil, transfixed,
novel, Victor Frankenstein recounts his reaction sometimes paralyzed. They start. Their hands
to the first movements of his creation: "now are drawn toward their bodies in an act of
that I had finished, the beauty of the dream protection but also of revulsion and disgust.
vanished and disgust filled my heart. Unable to Along with the fear of severe physical harm,
endure the aspect of the being I had created, I there is an evident aversion to making physical
rushed out of the room, unable to compose my contact with the monster. Both fear and disgust

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 54 CARROLL

are etched only physical perturbations but beliefs, beliefs o

the contextabout the properties of objects and situations.
are identifieMoreover, these beliefs are not just factual-
putrid e.g., there is a largeor
truck coming at me-but m
oozing places, or they are made of dead or evaluative-that large truck is dangerous to me.
rotting flesh, or chemical waste, or are associ- Now when I am in a state of fear with regard to
ated with vermin, disease, or crawling things. this truck, I am in some physical state-perhaps
They are not only lethal but they make one's my muscles go limp-and this physical state
skin creep. Characters regard them not only has been caused by my cognitive state, by my
with fear but also with loathing, with a combi- beliefs that the truck is headed toward me and
nation of terror and disgust. that it is dangerous. My muscles going limp
But before we attempt to work these obser- could be associated with many emotional states;
vations into a theory of art-horror, a few com- what makes my emotional state fear in this case
ments should be made about the structure of are my beliefs. That is, cognitive states differ-
emotions.4 We are presupposing that art-horror entiate one emotion from another though for a
is an emotion, one reflected in the emotional state to be an emotional one there must also be
responses of characters to the monsters in workssome kind of physical agitation that has been
of horror. Furthermore, we are presuming that engendered by the presiding cognitive state.
art-horror is an occurrent emotional state, as is We can summarize this view of the emotions
a flash of anger, rather than a dispositional by saying that an occurrent emotional state is
emotional state, such as undying envy. An one in which some physically abnormal state of
occurrent emotional state has both physical agitation
and has been caused by the subject's
cognitive dimensions. Broadly speaking, the cognitive construal and evaluation of his or her
situation. This is the core of an emotional state,
physical dimension is a matter of felt agitations.
In respect to art-horror some of the generally though some emotions may involve wants and
relevant types of physical agitations are muscu- desires as well as construals and evaluations.
lar contractions, tension, cringing, shuddering, Using this account of the emotions, we are
recoiling, tingling, frozenness, momentary ar- now in a position to organize our observations
rests, paralysis, trembling, perhaps involuntary about the emotion of horror or art-horror. As-
screaming, and so on.5 In order to be in an suming that "I-as-audience-member" am in an
emotional state, one must undergo some con- analogous emotional state to that which charac-
comitant physical agitation; one could not be ters are described to be in, then "I am
said to be angry unless your negative evaluation occurrently art-horrified by Dracula if and onl
of the man standing on your foot were accom- if (1) I am in some state of abnormal physical
panied by some physical state, like being "hot agitation (shuddering, tingling, screaming,
under the collar." etc.) which (2) has been caused by (a) my
However, though in order to qualify as an thought: that Dracula is a possible being, and
emotional state, a state must correlate with my evaluative beliefs that (b) said Dracula has
some physical agitation; the specific emotional the property of being physically (and perhaps
state one is in is not determined by the kinds of morally) threatening in the ways portrayed in
physical agitations one is suffering. That is, no the fiction, and that (c) said Dracula has the
specific physical state represents a necessary or property of being impure, where (3) such be-
sufficient condition for a given emotional state. liefs are accompanied by the desire to avoid the
When I am angry, my blood runs cold, whereas touch of things like Dracula. Of course,
when you are angry, your blood boils. In order "Dracula" here is merely a heuristic device.
to be in an emotional state some physical Any old monster X can be plugged into the
formula.
agitation must obtain, though an emotional state
will not be identified by being associated with One
a thing to note about the preceding defi-
nition
unique physical state or even a unique assort- is that it is the evaluative beliefs that
ment of physical states. primarily serve to individuate art-horror. And,
What then individuates emotional states? moreover, it is crucial that two evaluative
beliefs come into play: that the monster is
Their cognitive elements. Emotions involve not

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 The Nature of Horror 55

regarded as threatening and impure. If the as well as in virtue of being formless, like dirt,
monster were only evaluated as potentially for example.
threatening, the emotion would be fear; if only Following Douglas, then, we initially specu-
potentially impure, the emotion would be dis- late that an object or being is impure if it is
gust. Art-horror requires evaluation both in categorically interstitial, categorically contra-
terms of threat and disgust. It might also be dictory, categorically incomplete, or formless.8
mentioned that though the third criterion aboutThis list may not be exhaustive, nor is it clear
the desire to avoid physical contact seems that its terms are mutually exclusive. But it is
accurate, it might have to be dropped in favor certainly
of useful for analyzing the monsters of
saying that it is a frequent but not necessary the horror genre. For they are beings or crea-
ingredient of art-horror.6 tures which specialize in formlessness, incom-
Undoubtedly, the use of "impure" in our pleteness, categorical interstitiality and categor-
definition will strike some as too vague. But ical contradictoriness. Let a brief inventory
perhaps we can relieve some of those anxieties carry this point.
concerning vagueness by saying something Many monsters of the horror genre are inter-
about the kinds of objects that standardly give stitial and/or contradictory in terms of being
rise to, or cause, reactions of impurity. This, both living and dead: ghosts, zombies, vam-
moreover, will enable us to expand our theory pires, mummies, the Frankenstein monster,
of art-horror from the realm of definition to thatMelmoth, and so on. Near relatives to these are
of explanation, from an analysis of the applica- monstrous entities that conflate the animate and
tion of the concept of art-horror to an analysis ofthe inanimate: haunted houses with malevolent
its causation. wills of their own, robots, and the car in King's
In her classic study Purity and Danger, Mary Christine. Also, many monsters confound dif-
Douglas correlates reactions of impurity with ferent species: dragons, werewolves, humanoid
the transgression or violation of schemes of insects, and humanoid reptiles.9 The creature in
cultural categorization.7 In her interpretation ofHoward Hawks's classic The Thing is an intel-
the abominations of Leviticus, for example, she ligent, two-legged, blood-sucking carrot. In-
hypothesizes that the reason crawling things deed, the frequent reference to monsters by
from the sea, like lobsters, are regarded as means of pronouns like "it" and "them"
impure is that crawling was a defining featuresuggests
of that these creatures are not classifiable
earthbound creatures, not of creatures of the according to our standard categories.
sea. A lobster, in other words, is a kind of Demonically possessed characters typically
category mistake and, hence, impure. Simi- involve the mixture of at least two categorically
larly, all winged insects with four legs are distinct individuals, the possessee and the pos-
abominated because though four legs is a fea- sessor, the latter usually a demon, who, in turn,
ture of land animals, these things fly, i.e., they is often thought of as a categorically transgres-
inhabit the air. Things that are interstitial, that sive figure (e.g., a goat-god). Stevenson's most
cross the boundaries of the deep categories of a famous monster is two men, Jekyll and Hyde,
culture's conceptual scheme, are impure, ac- whereas the Frankenstein monster is a compos-
cording to Douglas. Feces, insofar as they ite of many different men. 10
figure ambiguously in terms of categorical op- Categorical incompleteness is also a standard
positions such as me/not me, inside/outside, feature of the monsters of horror: ghosts and
and living/dead, serve as ready candidates for zombies frequently come without eyes, arms,
abhorrence as impure, as do spittle, blood, legs, or skin, or are in some advanced state of
tears, sweat, hair clippings, nail clippings, disintegration. And, in a related vein, detached
pieces of flesh, and so on. Douglas notes that body parts are quite serviceable monsters, as in
among the Lele people, flying squirrels are the cases of severed heads and especially sev-
avoided since they cannot be categorized unam- ered hands; for example, DeMauppassant's
biguously as either birds or animals. Also, "The Hand" and "The Withered Hand,"
objects can raise categorical misgivings in vir- LeFanu's "The Narrative of a Ghost of a
tue of being incomplete representatives of their Hand," Golding's "The Call of the Hand,"
class, such as rotting and disintegrating things, Conan Doyle's "The Brown Hand," Nerval's

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 56 CARROLL

"The Enchanted Hand," Dreiser's "The way of answering this is by means of an Illusion
Hand," Harvey's "The Beast With Five Theory: When people see Dracula onscreen,
Fingers," and so on. The rate of recurrence they literally believe he is before them attacking
with which the biologies of monsters are vapor- virgins or turning into a bat. But this seems to
ous or gelatinous attests to the notion of the be an improbable hypothesis, since audiences
formlessness of horrific impurity, while the do not behave as though they believed that
writing style of certain horror authors, such as Dracula was present in the movie theater or
Lovecraft and Straub, through their vague, anywhere nearby. If they did, they'd head for
suggestive, and at times inchoate description of the hills or at least reach for their rosary beads.
the monsters, leaves an impression of formless- An alternative approach is the Pretend The-
ness. " And of course, some monsters, like the ory. This approach grants that people know that
scorpion big enough to eat Mexico City, are Dracula does not exist-that he is fictional-
magnifications of creatures and crawling things and goes on to explain our emotional response
already judged impure and interstitial in the in terms of pretense. We are not really horrified,
folkways of the culture. for we know Dracula is nonexistent, but we
Douglas's observations, then, may help pretend to be horrified. 13 The problem with this
dispell some of the fuzziness of the impurity line of approach, however, is that though inge-
clause of our definition of art-horror. They can nious, it does not seem descriptively accurate.
be used to supply paradigmatic examples for When I am art-horrified by Dracula I am in a
our application of the impurity clause as well as genuine emotional state, not a pretend state.
a rough guiding principle for isolating impurity, One needs something between the Illusion
viz., that of categorical transgression. Further- Theory and the Pretend Theory, something that
more, Douglas's theory of impurity can be used does not commit the audience to a belief in
by scholars of horror to identify some of the Dracula but also leaves the audience in a state of
pertinent features of the monsters in the storiesgenuine emotion. An alternative might be the
they study. That is, given a monster, the scholar Thought Theory. That is, saying we are art-
can ask in what ways it is categorically intersti- horrified by Dracula means we are horrified by
tial, contradictory (in Douglas's sense), incom- the thought of Dracula where the thought of
plete, and/or formless. These features, more- such a possible being does not commit us to a
over, afford a crucial part of the causal belief in his existence. Here, the thought of
background of the reaction of impurity that Dracula, the thing that art-horrifies me, is not
operates in the raising of the emotion of art- the event of my thinking of Dracula but the
horror. They are part of what triggers it. This is content of the thought, viz., that Dracula, a
not to say that we realize that Dracula is, among threatening and impure being of such and such
other things, categorically interstitial and that dimensions, might exist and do these terrible
we then react, accordingly, with art-horror. things. Nor need it be assumed that I am
Rather, monster X's being categorically inter- reflexively aware of the content of my thought.
stitial causes a sense of impurity in us without Dracula is presented onscreen and I am art-
our awareness of what causes that sense. In horrified by the prospect that there could be
addition, the emphasis Douglas places on cate- such a being perpetrating such deeds. Since it is
gorical schemes in the analysis of impurity only the thought or the prospect of Dracula that
indicates a way in which we can account for the frightens me, I don't run from the theater, nor
recurrent description of our impure monsters as am I as anxious as I would be if I believed that
"unnatural." They are unnatural relative to a a real vampire was only ten rows away. It
culture's conceptual scheme of nature. They do appears to be an incontrovertible fact that we
not fit the scheme; they violate it. Thus, mon- may be frightened by the thought of a state of
sters are not only physically threatening; they affairs that does not correspond to the world.
are cognitively threatening. They are threats to One may be frightened by the prospect or the
common knowledge. 12 thought of U.S. troops invading Central Amer-
One question that inevitably arises when ica. The commitment to thoughts here may
examining a phenomenon like art-horror is: raise fundamental philosophical quandaries for
how can people be horrified by a fiction? One some; however, in the question of art-horror,

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 The Nature of Horror 57

our dependence on thoughts appears more pal- monster. The energies of the narrative are then
atable than the postulation of pretend emotions devoted to proving the monster's existence.
or audience beliefs in vampires. Such a plot celebrates the existence of things
The theory of art-horror advanced above has beyond the boundaries of common knowledge.
not been derived from a set of deeper principles. The Overreacher Plot, of which Frankenstein
The way to confirm it is to take the definition and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are leading
and the partial typology of the structures that examples, proposes a central figure embarked
gives rise to the sense of impurity and to see if on the pursuit of hidden, unholy, or forbidden
they apply to the reactions we find to the knowledge. Once the scientist, alchemist,
monsters indigenous to works of horror. In my priest, etc., acts on this forbidden knowledge-
own research, though admittedly casual, these e.g., brings a corpse to life-inestimable,
hypotheses, so far, have proved rewarding. maleficent power is released and the consequent
Moreover, these hypotheses seem worthwhile destruction is the stuff of the story. Whereas the
candidates for more rigorous attempts at corrob- protagonists in the Discovery Plot must go
oration than I have the training to pursue. beyond the bounds of common knowledge,
I have also found collateral support for this overreachers are warned not to exceed them.
theory of art-horror insofar as it has enabled me But both the major plots of the horror genre take
to frame interesting answers to further questions the compass of common knowledge as their
about horror and paved the way for speculation basic donnee and explore it, albeit for different
in unexpected directions. That is, the theory thematic effects. This, of course, fits very
affords the basis for a continuing, highly coher-nicely with a theory that regards cognitive
ent research program. Thus, before concluding, threat as a major factor in the generation of
I will mention some of the explanatory "fringe art-horror.
benefits" of the theory in the hopes that these (3) The geography of horror stories often
will enhance its attractiveness. situates the origin of monsters in such places as
(1) It is a remarkable fact about the creatures lost continents and outer space. Or the creature
of horror that very often they do not seem to be comes from under the sea or under the earth.
of sufficient strength to make a grown man That is, monsters are native to places outside of
cower. A tettering zombie or a severed hand and/or unknown to the human world. Or, the
would appear incapable of mustering enough creatures come from marginal, hidden, or aban-
force to overpower a coordinated six-year-old. doned sites: graveyards, sewers, or old houses.
Nevertheless, they are presented as unstop- That is, they belong to environs outside of and
pable, and this seems psychologically accept- unknown to ordinary social life. Given the
able to audiences. This might be explained by theory of horror expounded above, it is tempt-
noting Douglas's claim that culturally impure ing to interpret the geography of horror as a
objects are generally taken to be invested with figurative spatialization of the notion that what
magical powers and as a result are often em- horrifies is that which lies outside cultural
ployed in rituals. Monsters, by extension then, categories and is, perforce, unknown.
may be similarly imbued with awesome powers (4) Finally, we began by noting that we are
in virtue of their impurity. in the midst of a period in which art-horror is
(2) Horror stories are predominantly con- one of the major avenues of mass aesthetic
cerned with knowledge as a theme. The two stimulation. Thus, it would be interesting if our
most frequent plot structures in horror narra- theory of art-horror could contribute to our
tives are the Discovery Plot and the Over- understanding of why at present the fascination
reacher Plot. 14 In the Discovery Plot, the mon-
with horror is so unquenchable.
ster arrives, unbeknownst to anyone, and sets Adopting the role of armchair sociologist,
about its gruesome work. Gradually the protag- one notes that the present art-horror cycle is
onist or a group of protagonists discover that a approximately coincident with a moment that
monster is responsible for all those unexplained many have chosen to call postmodernism. Pro-
deaths. However, when the protagonists ap- ponents of postmodernism hail it as a period
proach the authorities with this information, the marked by the philosophical triumph of
authorities dismiss the very possibility of the antiessentialism and by the purported recogni-

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 58 CARROLL

tion that our concepts cannot be tethered by nineteenth as a variation on the Gothic form in England (and
in related developments in Germany). For an overview of
criteria. 15 Deconstruction is the watchword.
this tradition, see Elizabeth MacAndrew, The Gothic Tra-
Now many may, as I do, question the philo-
dition (Columbia University Press, 1979). I am at pains to
sophical pretensions of the postmoderns. But in stress the historicity of the phenomena in question to avoid
their disavowal of criteria they may have cap- the fashionable charge of ahistoricism so frequently leveled

tured the spirit of the times. As social expres- at philosophers of art nowadays. I am not offering a
transhistorical account of horror, but a theory of a historical
sion, rather than as persuasive philosophy,
genre and its affects.
postmodern rhetoric may reflect the recent ex- 3 Todorov would classify these stories under the head-
perience of the collapse of the conceptual fixi- ing of "the marvelous." Though I have been influenced by
ties, or more aptly, the presuppositions of Pax Todorov in this essay, I have not taken advantage of his
categories because I want to draw a distinction within the
Americana. In this respect, the current ascen-
category of supernatural tales between those which indulge
dancy of the genre of horror may be the mass art-horror and those that don't. See Tzvetan Todorov, The
popular expression of the same anxiety con- Fantastic (Cornell University Press, 1970).
cerning criteria that preoccupies the more eso- 4 This essay closely follows the account of the emo-

teric forms of postmodernism. For as our theory tions outlined in William Lyons, The Emotions (Cambridge
University Press, 1980).
suggests, art-horror is an entertainment predi-
5 This is not an exhaustive list, nor is it supposed that
cated on the dislocation of cultural criteria an exhaustive list is possible.
through categorical interstitiality, contradictori- 6 Our account obviously depends on a cognitive-
ness, and so on. That is, our theory puts us in evaluative
a theory of the emotions. Such theories, of course,

position to interpret the current horror cyclehaveas been confronted by counterexamples. For instance, it
is said that we are in emotional states while dancing and that
an exoteric variant of the postmodemnist sense that is a matter of rhythm and physiology rather than of
that at present our conceptual frameworks are, cognition and evaluation. I am disposed to think that if we
putatively, precariously unstable. are in an emotional state when dancing, then that has to do
with our evaluation of the situation, our evaluation, for

' I have already attempted a theory of horror cinema in example, of what the dance stands for or celebrates, or our

my "Nightmare and the Horror Film: The Symbolic Biol- evaluation of our bond with our partner or the larger

ogy of Fantastic Beings," Film Quarterly (Spring 1981). community of dancers or our audience or our relation to

An expanded version of this essay was reprinted in The accompanying musicians. Or the evaluation might have to

Anxious Subject, Moshe Lazar, ed. (Belmost, CA, 1983). do with ourselves, with the joy that comes from judging that

The present essay is meant to supersede the earlier one. Mywe dance well, or from appreciating being coordinated and
emphasis now is on a more cognitively oriented approach toactive. That is, if we are in an emotional state while
horror than in the previous essay, which was heavily dancing, it seems attributable to many sorts of evaluative
dependent on psychoanalysis. This change in direction, I beliefs. Simply being in a rhythmically induced, trancelike

think, provides a more comprehensive account of the state, directed at no object, does not seem to be an
"repelling" aspects of horror than do my psychoanalytic emotional state. However, even if I am wrong here, it does
hypotheses. This theoretical shift, however, is not meant to not seem that such counterexamples show that there are no
preclude psychoanalytic interpretations of given works of cognitive-evaluative emotional states. And, of course, I
horror. I would still defend most of the psychoanalytic would hold that horror is one of them.

interpretations of individual works propounded in "Night- This move, though, invites the response that, like the
mare and the Horror Film," as well as most of the structuralputative dance emotions, shock is a rhythmically induced,
accounts of horror imagery and narration. nonevaluative emotion, and that horror and art-horror really
In the earlier essay, it was noted that an adequate theory belong to the genus of shock. I would not want to deny that
of horror would have to account for the way that horror bothshock is often involved in tandem with art-horror, espe-
attracts and repels its devotees. In this respect, the present cially in theater and cinema. Just before the monster
essay is not a full theory. It only explores the negative or appears, the music shoots up, or there is a startling noise, or
we see an unexpected, fast movement start out from
repelling component of horror. A revised account of the
attractiveness of the horror genre remains to be made. For "nowhere." We jump in our seats, and perhaps some
material on the seductive fascination of horror, see Philip scream. When we then recognize the monster, that scream
Hallie, The Paradox of Cruelty (Wesleyan University Press, of shock gets extended and applied as a scream of horror.
1969), pp. 63-84. This is a well-known scare tactic. However, horror is not
2 Of course, horrific imagery can be found acrossreducible
the to this sort of shock. For this technique is also
ages, including, in Petronius's tale of the werewolf found in mysteries and thrillers, where we don't feel horror
(Satyricon), Apuleius's story of Aristomenes and Socratesat the gunman who suddenly steps out of the dark. This
(The Golden Ass), and in the medieval danses macabres andvariety of shock does not seem to me to be an emotion at all,
characterizations of Hell such as Vision of St. Paul, Vision but rather a reflex, though, of course, it is a reflex that is
of Tundale and, most famously, Dante's Inferno. However,often linked with the provocation of art-horror by the
artisans of monster spectacles. And, anyway, it must also
the genre of horror only begins to coalesce between the last
half of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of thebe stressed that one can feel art-horror without being

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 The Nature of Horror 59

shocked in the asreflex horrifying because they sense

suggest virtually formless
of the
7 Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger (London, 1966). mounds of human flesh. See his Lying Figure with a
8 "Object' and "entity" are stressed here in order to Hypodermic Syringe.
block certain counterexamples. Category errors and logical 12 Considering the opening distinctions in this essay, a
paradoxes, though they may horrify philosophers, are not question arises at this point concerning the reason why the
normally regarded as impure. But neither do they belong to monsters of fairy tales do not raise horror responses in either
the domain of "objects and entities." For the purpose of the human characters they meet or in their readers. Surely
analyzing art-horror, the domain of objects that are to be
these monsters are categorical violations. My provisional
assessed in terms of impurity are beings.
answer to this relies on noting the way in which fairy tales
' Sibylle Ruppert mixes different species in her horrific
characteristically begin with formulas like "Once upon a
charcoal drawings, such as The Third Sex. Also see Lucas
time.' Perhaps this functions to remove them from the rules
Samaras's Photo-transformation. H. R. Giger's work not
of prevailing categorical schemes.
only compounds the categorical opposites of the organic
and the mechanical, but also those of inside and outside. 1' See Kendall Walton, "'Fearing Fictions,' Journal
10 A typology of the combinatory structure of horrorOf Philosophy 75 (1978).
imagery-stated in terms of the notions of fusion and " These plots are described at greater length in my
fission-is available in Carroll, "Nightmare and the Horror "Nightmare and the Horror Film."
Film. ' 5 Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean-Loup Thebaud, Just
" Though not strictly horror images in the terms of our
Gaming (University of Minnesota Press, 1985).
theory, Bacon's paintings probably often evoke descriptions

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