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Karla Patricia Cristobal, University of the Philippines Diliman, PhilippinesAbstract
Is the horror genre characterized by the existence of the monster, the "horrific creature", an "extraordinary character in our ordinary world"? Is it typified by the effect that it has upon the reader, namely "a sense of suspense, a sense of mystery, a sense of horror"? Noël Carroll provides several criteria: a monster that stirs emotions of threat and disgust; a character’s “affective reaction to the monstrous” in the text; and a particular emotional state derived from reading horror. In Shirley Jackson’s postwar America, instead of the monster, horror fiction was “rooted in real-world anxiety", where she focused upon "individual, domestic, and psychological terrors" (Murphy). Using Carroll’s criteria as a framework, I will be examining Shirley Jackson’s short stories, "Flower Garden", "Of Course", and "Elizabeth". I argue that while we can classify these stories based on Carroll’s definition of horror, Jackson’s short fiction goes beyond Carroll’s indicators of the genre by reflecting the fears and anxieties of the period. Moreover, she also provides a critique and a keen observation of American society through her stories, with themes concerning race, suburbia, marriage, and female anxieties. I propose that instead of the horrific creature, what counts as horror in Jackson’s short fiction is the mundane. Indeed, what proves terrifying in her fiction are next-door neighbors, and ordinary men and women. Instead of the monster, what elicits terror is the threat of, and threats from, everyday life.
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