i THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Sometimes the Darkness Can Show you the Light: Horror Comics and their Contribution to the Genre. TAYLOR N. BIELECKI SPRING 2018 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees in English and Art with honors in English Reviewed and approved* by the following: Dr. Scott Smith Professor of English Thesis Supervisor Dr. Marcy North Professor of English Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT Throughout its history, the horror genre has sought to illicit fear and discomfort in audiences, as it brings unfamiliarity and deep symbolic undertones to everyday settings. Theorists such as Noel Carroll and Sigmund Freud have sought to highlight several aspects of the genre to establish its foundations and to attempt to illustrate the complex and shifting genre. Through the comics medium, both visual and written languages are combined in individual panels to effectively illustrate several aspects that are the cornerstones to the horror genre. Sequential artists capitalize on tools that comic masters such as Scott McCloud and Will Eisner have presented to be able to effectively create a visually gripping narrative. In surviving early history censorship, comics have continued to evolve with the times, alongside the horror genre itself and new horrors that current society brings. Growing from the classic EC short story comics into full episodic arcs with classic horror monsters such as the Swamp Thing and ending up in the world of the computer screen by means of web comics, the horror genre in comics has had to adapt and reinvent itself. The medium has become more effective in encompassing readers deep in the stories by means of closure and visual interest and detail. This constant growth and creative invention is a major reason as to why comics have been an effective addition to the horror genre. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v Chapter 1: The Horror Genre ....................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Introduction to the Comics Medium .......................................................... 12 Chapter 3: The Grounds for Horror! ............................................................................ 20 Chapter 4: The Saga of the Swamp Thing ................................................................... 33 Chapter 5: Emily Carroll’s “His Face All Red”........................................................... 45 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 56 Academic Vitae of Taylor Bielecki ........................................................................... 58 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Scott McCloud understanding comics, page 67 ....................................................... 14 Figure 2: Moment-to-Moment Transition, from D’Source Vocabulary of comics Article. ..... 16 Figure 3: Action-to Action Transition, from D’Source Vocabulary of Comics Article .......... 16 Figure 4: Subject-to-Subject Transition. From D’Source Vocabulary of Comics article. ....... 17 Figure 5: Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg: 47 ..................................................................... 21 Figure 6: Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg 51 ...................................................................... 23 Figure 7: Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg 48 ...................................................................... 24 Figure 8: Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg: 50 ..................................................................... 26 Figure 9:Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg: 50 ...................................................................... 27 Figure 10:Pg: Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, 50 .................................................................... 28 Figure 11:Tales from the Crypt, Issue 29, Pg:54 ..................................................................... 31 Figure 12:Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 38, Pg: 2 ..................................................................... 34 Figure 13:Moore, Swamp Thing, Issue 38, Pg: 3 .................................................................... 35 Figure 14: Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 38, Pg: 7 .................................................................... 36 Figure 15: Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 39, pg. 1 ..................................................................... 37 Figure 16: Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 39, Pg. 8 .................................................................... 37 Figure 17: Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 39, Pg 6 ..................................................................... 40 Figure 18:Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 39, Pg: 7 .................................................................... 41 Figure 19: Moore, Swamp Thing Issue 39, Pg: 4 .................................................................... 42 Figure 20: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 46 Figure 21: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 46 Figure 22: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 48 Figure 23: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red. ........................................................................... 49 Figure 24: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 51 Figure 25: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 52 iv Figure 26: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red ............................................................................ 53 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the support and help of my Thesis Supervisor Dr. Scott Smith. Thank you for helping me build this piece from the ground up and for helping me in overcoming and learning from the ongoing challenges in the writing process. Without your help and constant support and encouragement, I would not have been able to complete this piece. Your time and patience in helping me develop and evolve this piece truly means a lot and I will be forever grateful for your encouragement and inspiration. I wish to thank my mentors Ann Shostrom and John Bowman for always being there for me and my creative endeavors and for providing constant inspiration; for teaching me to always believe in myself. For also offering comfort and guidance even through some of the greatest of adversities in my life. Thank you for always being there to lend an ear, a smile, and even the simplest acts of kindness; thank you for teaching me that there is light even in the darkest of places. I also wish to thank my professors Dr. Robert Yarber, Brian Alfred, Kim Flick, Joel Priddy, and Paul Chidester, and Helen O’Leary for also inspiring me along my journey here at Penn State. Without you and your teachings, I would never have found the courage to follow my interests in comics, literature/film studies, and my love for the horror genre. I hope that someday I can honor your teachings and make you all proud. Thank you to my family and friends for believing in me from day one and helping me along on this uncanny journey that I often find myself upon. For my parents and their support, you took me for who I am, my faults and all, and made sure I found my way. And thank you to all of the BFA’s and faculty, for becoming my family and helping me in creating my home in the studio. Thank you also to Dr. Jeffrey Kollar, Dr. Michael Siggins, and Mr. Douglas Reigner for inspiring me through my early years all the way to today and in helping me find my way to Penn State and beyond. “Life makes detectives of each of us, there’s something at the end of the trail that we’re all looking for.” – David Lynch 1 Chapter 1: The Horror Genre The horror genre is quite eclectic and certainly has not been static in its long history as a literary genre. Horror began in oral traditions of storytelling and has moved since into novels, comics, and the silver-screen. The genre itself encapsulates multiple sub-genres that merge other elements into the general framework of what is considered the horror genre. Defining what constitutes horror literature is challenging due to shifting popular culture beliefs and the growing popularity of the genre through Hollywood within our visually focused society. Compared to horror films, horror literature focuses on storytelling specifically as its intent on relaying meanings to readers by writing rather than visual imagery. This type of storytelling relies on rhetorical and literary devices such as hyperboles, metaphors, allegories, and others to drive the narrative forward. Horror literature also places focus on character investment and development as well as various ways in which the writing affects the emotions of terror, fear, and discomfort that are often associated with the horror genre. Other sub-genres of the horror genre also come up in regards to literature, such as Lovecraftian or Supernatural