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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ghosts, Monsters, and Zombies

I am taking a bloodcurdling online course this summer through the University of New Hampshire titled Ghosts, Monsters, and Zombies. I'm pretty thrilled about it, and am anxiously anticipating class discussions. As you know, I am a huge fan of horror, especially the older stuff and Gothic horror. You know, the stories that aren't really scary or full of gore, but have those well-known monsters or just evil or horrific themes. I also love the Victorian language, vocabulary, and settings of such stories that were written in the 19th and early 20th centuries. That time period is a huge influence on me and the way that I write, and I look forward to expanding my skills and knowledge with this class.


The books we will be discussing are Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, and A Christmas Carol. We will also be studying the poetry of Coleridge and Byron, as well as the movie 28 Days Later. How can you have a more hair-raising syllabus than that? And better yet, all of those books can be found online for free! I have them all on my Kindle, and didn't pay a cent for them. And I already own 28 Days Later, so there will be no extra costs for this class at all!

I have already read Dracula and Frankenstein recently, and am now working my way through Jane Eyre, which I am finding to be pretty interesting so far. And I have wanted to read Heart of Darkness for a while now, but just haven't gotten to it yet. Now I have no reason to keep putting it off! I haven't read anything from Byron, and only The Rime of the Ancient Mariner from Coleridge, but I am sure I will enjoy what they have to offer. As for the movie, I could have thought of some better zombie movies, but 28 Days Later is still a great choice.

All in all, I feel this will be an excellent experience for me, and I look forward to a horror-filled summer!

3 comments:

  1. I had no idea there was such a class available. That would be very amazing to take.

    I was taken by the old Creature Feature when I was growing up. My brothers and I would watch that every Friday night. Then, for me, came the Ray Bradbury theater. His is more of a jarring "omg" kind of horror.

    Thank you for the follow. I'm glad you found me. I look forward to getting to know your blog and work a lot better!

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    1. It's a new class this year, and only available during the summer. I'm not sure if they are going to continue it, but I think they should. These books have been a huge influence on many authors (of many genres), and I think every English student should know them.

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  2. I wish they had that in my area, I would definitely take it. and I meant Alfred Hitchcock there, not Ray Bradbury. The Ray Bradbury Theater came much later for me.

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