Vampires, cannibalism, and ‘Scream’

A bright and sunny afternoon masqueraded as a dark and stormy night as three students presented eerie research to a group of their peers in honor of Women in Horror Month, a sort of love letter to the grotesque and a celebration of the overlooked heroes and villains in horror culture.

An intimate crowd met in Jonas Clark 118 on Feb. 19 to watch Elliott Roberts-Fishman ’28, Snow Larish ’27, and Abbie Coe ’26 present their studies of the horror genre. The topics ranged from a formal analysis of the gothic themes in Netflix’s “Midnight Mass,”

to a thematic analysis of cannibalism as a horror device, to a structural review and lively discussion of the “Scream” franchise.

The event was organized by English Professor Jacqueline Morrill as part of Clark’s Women in Horror Month programming, which focuses on the roles and interpretations of women and other marginalized bodies in the horror genre.

Roberts-Fishman, a psychology major with a concentration in health, environment, and society, presented a thematic analysis paper on the gothic themes and subversive meanings of Netflix’s “Midnight Mass,” which is set on an island that is isolated both physically and culturally.

Roberts-Fishman’s analysis focused on the island’s descent into madness at the hands of a creature the residents refer to as “The Angel,” a vampiric monster who feeds on the townspeople, turning them into grotesque creatures. The residents accept it as an act of God because they do not know how to understand the gravity of their situation otherwise. He likened the show’s writing and cinematography to historical gothic literature’s emphases on madness, isolation, and being haunted by one’s past.

His research also touched on themes of classicism in the horror trope, dubbing pop culture’s aesthetically pleasing and desirable vampire “the rich person’s monster,” while, in contrast, the vampire in “Midnight Mass” is more reflective of the illnesses and grotesquery that can befall the rest of society.

Snow Larish, a screen studies major, presented “Cannibalism: and Other Extreme Diets in Horror,” focusing on the act of cannibalism and its different encoded meanings depending on how it is used as a plot device in media. Their presentation focused on how cannibalism may be one of the most unsettling and shocking horror devices, as “it really transforms the familiarity of being human into something that is horrifically unfamiliar,” Larish said.

Larish referenced the Netflix show “Yellow Jackets” and compared its depiction of cannibalism for the sake of survival to NBC’s “Hannibal” and its portrayal of cannibalism as a compulsion. They emphasized the common use of cannibalism as an “othering” device for characters, and how many marginalized identities often find themselves “othered” this way in the media as well.

Abbie Coe, a community, youth, and education studies major, shared her presentation titled “Scream: The Legacy Franchise.” Coe outlined key terminology made popular by the franchise, like requel (which revisits an earlier film’s subject matter but is not a remake or a continuation of a previous film), legacy sequel, and legacy character. Coe explained that these devices “give Scream the signature meta horror movie commentary it is known for, because it is a horror movie about a horror movie.” She emphasized that these terms and the film’s emphasis on them as main plot points make it one of the most memorable horror movie franchises of all time.

Coe also outlined some of the “rules” to surviving a horror movie, namely this advice: Never say “I’ll be right back.”

Because you probably won’t.

Coe concluded her presentation with a round of lively slasher movie trivia for the horror buffs in the room.