‘They Have Risen Once They May Rise Again’:
Animals in Horror Fiction
(Or: Why you should never anger a cat).
Dr Bernice Murphy, School of English TCD.
What I’ll Be Discussing Tonight:
1. The most commonly roles played by animals in horror fiction.
2. The ways in which the most commonly depicted animals species are
represented.
3. Two key animal revolt stories.
The Mistreatment of Animals Provides an
Obvious Indication of Human Malevolence.
The Dead Zone (1979)
The Bad Seed (1954)
Animals as Food
The Butcher Boy (1992)
Meat is Murder in These Books
The Backwoods Horror Film Tradition
Beware Amateur Taxidermists.
The Collector (1963); The Silence of the Lambs
(1988)
Animals as Supernatural Early-Warning System
Man’s Best Friend
Don’t Mess With A Cat.
‘The Cat is Cryptic and Close to Strange Things’
You Will Regret Teaching a Cat How to Talk.
Pigs Will Eat ANYTHING: Hannibal (2000)
Sheep: Pretty Harmless
Black Philip: The Breakout Horror Film Star of
2016.
Carroll 1. ‘Magnification’
Carroll: 2. ‘Massification’
British Pulp Animal Horror of the 1970/80s
Tentacular Horrors: We Fear the NonMammalian
The Avian Apocalypse (1957)
‘They Have Risen Once…’
GOOD NIGHT.