The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – Montréal is proud to present its Fall 2017 / Winter 2018 lineup of courses. Welcome to another year of picking at the flesh of the horror genre!

 Kicking off the Fall 2017 semester is Melanie Ashe’s three-week course, “Australian Horrorscapes.” From 1970s “Ozploitation” films, to the historically canonized art-cinema of the same time, and the more recent cycle of Australian horror films, this course asks how Australian horror films engage with Australian Indigenous and settler histories, myths of nationhood and national cinemas, and the ‘wilderness’ versus ‘culture’ binary. Screenings may include WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971), PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975), CARS THAT ATE PARIS (1974), WOLF CREEK (2005), and WYRMWOOD (2014).

 Next up is “Daughters of Darkness: Women in Horror,” a five-week course with five different instructors focusing on issues related to women’s and gender issues in horror. Topics include horror films by female directors, feminist horror, feminist readings of horror, and female performances of abjection in horror. Screenings may include TÉSIS (Alejandro Amenábar, 1996), À L’INTÉRIEUR (Axexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, 2007), THE BABADOOK (Jennifer Kent, 2014) and EVOLUTION (Lucile Hadžihalilović, 2015).

Rounding out the semester is “Duane Jones: Race and Revolution in the Vietnam Era,” a two-week course with Dave Austin and Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare examining the important place of the actor who played the now-iconic character of Ben in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and the lead in the experimental horror film, GANJA AND HESS (1973), as a figure embodying the revolutionary aspirations of the Vietnam era.

 Miskatonic-Montréal co-coordinators, Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare and Kristopher Woofter lead us into the Winter 2018 semester with a focus on one of horror’s most important and least-discussed elements with “Sounds of Terror.” This three-week course will include discussion of sound design, music, and voice-over, among other aural features, in films such as MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932), LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) and BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (2014).

 Ellen Freeman follows with three weeks of “Shock Horror.” Focusing on Tom Six’s three HUMAN CENTIPEDE films (2009, 2011, 2015), Freeman explores the moral-emotional implications of moviegoers’ responses to these films as “disturbing.”

 Next up is “Miskatonic Brood, Vol. 2,” the second in our series of lectures, where we invite past and current Miskatonic students to take on a class devoted to interests of their own.

 Wrapping up the year is Bernard Perron’s three-week French-language course, “Bienvenue dans le monde des jeux vidéo d’épouvante” (“Welcome to the World of Horror Video Games”), a short introduction to the history of horror video games from HAUNTED HOUSE (1981) to RESIDENT EVIL VII (2017). Perron, a professor of art history and cinema at Université de Montréal, is a leading scholar of horror video games and interactive cinema. His books include the edited collection, HORROR VIDEO GAME: ESSAYS ON THE FUSION OF FEAR AND PLAY (2009), as well as SILENT HILL: THE TERROR ENGINE (2012, version français en 2016), and the upcoming WORLD OF SCARY VIDEO GAMES: A STUDY IN VIDEOLUDIC HORROR (2018).

 [Courte introduction de l’histoire des jeux vidéo d’épouvante de HAUNTED HOUSE (1981) à RESIDENT EVIL VII (2017). Analyse de quelques stratégies utilisées par les concepteurs de jeu pour faire peur au joueur. Bernard Perron est professeur titulaire au département d’histoire de l’art et d’études cinématographiques à l’Université de Montréal. Fan d’horreur, il aime bien jouer à se faire peur en lisant des romans et des bandes dessinées, regardant des films et s’immergeant dans des jeux vidéo. Il a entre autres dirigé l’ouvrage HORROR VIDEO GAME: ESSAYS ON THE FUSION OF FEAR AND PLAY (2009), et écrit SILENT HILL: THE TERROR ENGINE (2012, version française en 2016) ainsi que THE WORLD OF SCARY VIDEO GAMES: A STUDY IN VIDEOLUDIC HORROR (2018).]

All Miskatonic-Montréal courses are hosted by Microcinema Être (6029a, ave du Parc). Course dates are Tuesday nights, from 7pm to 10pm. A suggested donation of $7 per lecture can be paid at the door. A significantly discounted rate of $50 for an entire semester can be paid at the door.

 For further information, check our website at http://www.miskatonic-montreal.com/, our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/miskatonicinstitute/?fref=nf, or email us at [email protected].

Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a non-profit, community-based organization with sites in Montréal, Québec, and London, UK.

Miskatonic-Montréal – FALL 2017

Australian Horrorscapes

Sep 26, Oct 3, 10 October

Melanie Ashe

Daughters of Darkness: Women in Horror (5 weeks)

17 October  – Kristopher Woofter

24 October – Alanna Thain

[31 October – Halloween Break]

7 – Rosanna Maule

14 – Karen Herland

21 – Anne Golden

Duane Jones: Race and Revolution

28 November & 5 December

Dave Austin & Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare

WINTER 2018

Sounds of Terror

23 & 30 January, 6 February

Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare & Kristopher Woofter

Shock Horror

13, 20 & 27 February

Ellen Freeman

13 March – Spring Break

Miskatonic Brood, Vol. 2

20 March

Horror Video Games

27 March, 3 & 10 April

Bernard Perron