The horror genre has conquered the contemporary literary and popular market. From Jason Voorhees and Freddie Kruger to Hannibal Lecter and Pennywise the Clown, the monstrous figures of horror stories terrify and titillate us. Yet, there is an important tradition of Latinx literary and cultural production that mobilizes the tropes of the genre in unexpected ways, compelling us to reimagine what horror can be as it intersects with race and ethnicity.
This course examines Latinx horror to understand how the genre addresses the unique experience of Latinx people in the Americas. We will gain a deeper understanding of the capacities of horror to depict the foundational yet spectral presence of Latinx people in the “American” imaginary, treating monsters and haunting expansively.
Attending to how writers use images of ghosts, zombies, monsters, and the otherworldly, we will explore shifting definitions of citizenship, nationhood, belonging, and identity. As we survey a variety of monstrous bodies, postapocalyptic landscapes, and dystopian fantasies, we will consider questions such as: What is a monster? What is “Latinx”? How does the unique experience of Latinx people in the “New World” haunt conceptions of nation, citizenship, “illegality,” and personhood? Why do Latinx authors and filmmakers turn to horror in order to depict the Latinx experience?
In the Spring 2020 version of this course I asked students to curate their own “Monster Blogs.” These are spaces where students write weekly posts about the novels and films we read and watch throughout the semester, presenting reflections and nascent arguments about the course material and class discussion. Because I asked them to blog as part of their major course assignment, I also blogged along with them. You can see my reflections on the class here.