Title: "There's a demon in the internet" : haunted media, globalization and televisual horror
Source document: Theory and Practice in English Studies. 2020, vol. 9, iss. 1-2, pp. [13]-27
Extent
[13]-27
-
ISSN1805-0859
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/143483
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This paper is focused on the portrayal of media, more precisely television and new media, in television horror shows in the context of globalization and the implications of this portrayal. The media and their technologies have always been demonized in one way or another. Every new invention, every new means of communication is viewed with a mix of awe and suspicion. New technology and new media become objects of phobia. Once a new medium is introduced, it usually takes the position of a phobic object, relieving the old one from this burden. However, a certain level of anxiety remains with the old medium. No genre shows this quite as well as horror. In the horror genre, the media and their physical forms are often shown either as a threat itself or bringer of thereof. The internet and social media are just as monstrous. But how are these monsters, material or not, portrayed in the media itself? In this paper I will analyze how television horror shows mediate the anxiety about threats linked to new media, social media, and television itself. In the first half of the paper, I focus on haunted media as a travelling concept in the television landscape. In the second half, I use the TV show Evil (2019-) as a case study, analyzing how it portrays new media as an ultimate threat in the era of globalization.
References
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[23] Evil. 2019-?. Created by Michelle King and Robert King. Produced by Michelle King, Robert King, Robyn-Alain Feldman and Liz Glotzer.
[24] Ghostwatch. 1992. Directed by Lesley Manning. Produced by Ruth Baumgarten, Richard Broke and Derek Nelson. BBC.
[25] Supernatural. 2005-2020. Created by Eric Kripke. Produced by Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Phillip Sgriccia, McG, Andrew Dabb, Brad Buckner, Eugene Ross-Leming, Jim Michaelis, Jeremy Carver, Ben Edlund and Sera Gamble. The WB, The CW.
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[31] Ross, Gary. 1998. Pleasantville. Burbank, CA: New Line Cinema.
[32] Hooper, Tobe. dir. 1982. Poltergeist. Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
[33] Myrick, Daniel and Sánchez, Eduardo, dir. 1999. The Blair Witch Project. Encino, CA: Haxan Films.
[34] Weir, Peter, dir. The Truman Show. Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Pictures.
[35] Welles, Orson, dir. 1938. The Mercury Theatre on the Air. Season 1, Episode 17, "The War of the Worlds." Aired October 30, 1938, on CBS Radio.
[2] Attalah, Paul. 2013. "A Usable History For the Study of Television." In The Television Reader: Critical Perspectives in Canadian and US Television Studies edited by Joseph Kispal-Kovacs and Tanner Mirrlees, 78–92. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3] Bal, Mieke. 2002. Travelling Concepts in the Humanities: A Rough Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
[4] Berlina, Alexandra. 2017. Viktor Shklovsky: A Reader. London, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.
[5] Bourdon, Jérome. 2004. "Is Television a Global Medium? A Historical View." In Global Currents. Media and Technology Now, edited by. T G. Oren and P. Petro, 93–112. New Jersey, New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press.
[6] Carroll, Noël. 1990. The Philosophy of Horror: Or Paradoxes of the Heart. London, New York: Routledge.
[7] Cherry, Brigid. 2009. Horror. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
[8] Epstein, Michael M. and Reeves Jimmie L. and Rogers, Mark C. 2002. "Surviving the 'Hit': Will The Sopranos Still Sing for HBO?" In Reading The Sopranos: Hit TV from HBO, edited by David Lavery, 15–26. London, New York: I.B. Tauris.
[9] Hart, Jeffrey. 2011. "The Transition to Digital Television in the United States: The Endgame." International Journal of Digital Television 1, no. 1: 7–29. | DOI 10.1386/jdtv.1.1.7/1
[10] Hills, Matthew. 2005. The Pleasures of Horror. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
[11] Jancovich, Mark. 2002. Horror, the Film Reader. London, New York: Routledge.
[12] Johnson, Catherine. 2015. "From TV Online to Online TV," CST Online, December 10, 2015, https://cstonline.net/from-tv-online-to-online-tv-by-cathy-johnson/.
[13] Loiperdinger, Martin. 2004. "Lumiere's Arrival of the Train: Cinema's Founding Myth." The Moving Image 4, no. 1 (Spring): 89–118.
[14] Russell, Daniel J. 1998. "Monster Roundup: Reintegrating the Horror Genre." In Refiguring American Film Genres: Theory and History, edited by Nick Browne, 233–54. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[15] Schwartz, A. Brad. 2015. "The Infamous 'The War of the Worlds' Radio Broadcast Was a Magnificent Fluke," Smithsonian Magazine, May 6 2015. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/?no-ist.
[16] Sconce, Jeffrey. 2000. Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television. North Carolina: Duke University Press.
[17] Stokes, Jane. 1999. On Screen Rivals: Cinema and Television in the United States and Britain. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd.
[18] Todorov, Tzvetan. 1973. The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre. Cleveland, London: The Press of Case Western Reserve University.
[19] Wheatley, Helen. 2006. Gothic Television. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
[20] Angel. 1999-2004. Created by David Greenwalt, Joss Whedon. Produced by Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Gail Berman, Sandy Gallin, Fran Rubel Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui and Kelly A. Manners. The WB.
[21] Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 1997-2003. Created by Joss Whedon. Produced by Joss Whedon, Gail Berman, Kaz Kuzui, Fran Rubel Kuzui, Sandy Gallin and Gareth Davies. The WB, UPN.
[22] Crimewatch UK. 1984-2017. Produced by Peter Chafer, Lisa Ausden, Michael Armit, Lorraine Evans and Anne Morrison. BBC.
[23] Evil. 2019-?. Created by Michelle King and Robert King. Produced by Michelle King, Robert King, Robyn-Alain Feldman and Liz Glotzer.
[24] Ghostwatch. 1992. Directed by Lesley Manning. Produced by Ruth Baumgarten, Richard Broke and Derek Nelson. BBC.
[25] Supernatural. 2005-2020. Created by Eric Kripke. Produced by Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Phillip Sgriccia, McG, Andrew Dabb, Brad Buckner, Eugene Ross-Leming, Jim Michaelis, Jeremy Carver, Ben Edlund and Sera Gamble. The WB, The CW.
[26] The Twilight Zone. 1959-1964. Created by Rod Serling. Produced by Rod Serling, Buck Houghton, William Froug and Bert Granet. CBS.
[27] The X-Files. 1993-2002, 2016-2018. Created by Chris Carter. Produced by Chris Carter, Paul Rabwin, Kim Manners, Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz, R. W. Goodwin, John Shiban, Rob Bowman and Howard Gordon. Fox.
[28] Reeves, Matt, dir. 2008. Cloverfield. Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Pictures.
[29] Sanforth, Clifford, dir. 1935. Murder by Television. Cameo Pictures.
[30] Peli, Oren, dir. 2007. Paranormal Activity. Los Angeles, CA: Blumhouse Productions.
[31] Ross, Gary. 1998. Pleasantville. Burbank, CA: New Line Cinema.
[32] Hooper, Tobe. dir. 1982. Poltergeist. Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
[33] Myrick, Daniel and Sánchez, Eduardo, dir. 1999. The Blair Witch Project. Encino, CA: Haxan Films.
[34] Weir, Peter, dir. The Truman Show. Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Pictures.
[35] Welles, Orson, dir. 1938. The Mercury Theatre on the Air. Season 1, Episode 17, "The War of the Worlds." Aired October 30, 1938, on CBS Radio.