Horror Noir: A Transnational History of Blackness in Horror Cinema

Could horror create a Black monster without indicting the entire race as monstrous?” This question, asked in Robin R. Means Coleman’s book Horror Noire (2011), is one of the central issues the seminar will be exploring by looking at the past and the present of Blackness in horror cinema from a transnational perspective. Because of the fact that Blackness has been an underrepresented feature of the horror genre for decades, more and more black filmmakers turn to the horror genre to redress what racism has been doing to the experience of horror as a Black American “when your mere presence can itself be a source of terror to others,” as The New York Times phrases it. Jordan Peele’s smash hit Get Out (2017) has shown that there is a gap to be closed when it comes to horror storytelling about the Black experience or producing horror films that focus on a Black protagonist. Whether our journey encompasses “Blacks in horror” or “Black horror”, the seminar’s prime concern is to trace both categories, beginning with the earliest talkie horror and its “minstrel” characters, continuing with the evils of Voodoo as in White Zombie (1932) to Blaxploitation and its comic relief as in Blacula (1974) to more serious attempts that feature themes of empowerment and racism through a Black cast as The Girl With All The Gifts (2016), The Transfiguration (2016), or His House (2020) have presented in recent years.

An optional screening slot will be offered.

The reading will be uploaded on Moodle.