With Halloween fast approaching, Long Island students got into the Halloween spirit with the recent Horrors in Humanities event.
Hosted by the Department of Philosophy and FCTL, Michael Burke, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy, and David Andreas, English lecturer, spoke about various topics relating to horror movies.
Andreas presented his book, Angels of the Underground, and described watching horror movies as his way to get through the day.
“Watching these movies is not always about getting scared, but they also serve a greater purpose to remind us that no matter how hard we think we have it, someone else has it worse,” said Andreas. “We all know that at the end of the day, the woman who got stabbed in the face with a sledgehammer is an actress who got up, wiped the blood off of her face and went home.”
Burke presented the Ethics of Horror Movies and spoke about the impact of the 20th century.
“Our worldview has been seriously augmented in light of the atrocities of the 20th century, and we have to seriously reconsider what we mean when we talk about ethics and responsibility,” said Burke.
Horror movies encompass a wide range of themes, and styles that highlight many forms of cultural expression. This causes horror movies to have a diverse audience who bring in their own perspectives and interpretations.
While a horror movie may be something you only watch during Halloween, for David Andreas, he will continue watching them year-round. “I am going to keep watching horror movies until the end as a reminder of what is inevitable,” said Andreas.
