The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Opens LA Chapter & Announces Fall Schedule
We’ve featured The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies in the past here at Dread Central. The international educational community offers university-level explorations of film history, theory, and production with an emphasis (obviously) on horror. The Institute has branches in London and New York with word reaching us today that a new chapter is being established in Los Angeles.
In addition to the new branch, The Miskatonic Institute also announced their Fall curriculum, which kicks off on September 13th with a conversation with Phantasm mastermind Don Coscarelli (moderated by Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek). Check out the official press release below, followed by the full schedule for the ongoing series in Los Angeles.
Related Article: Overview of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies’ I Am Legend Talk
Tuesday, August 21 – The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, the world’s longest-running educational organization devoted to the study of horror history, theory, and production, has just announced a new Los Angeles branch to complement those in London and New York. The new Los Angeles branch will be hosted at the Los Feliz headquarters of the Philosophical Research Society, founded by famed occultist Manly P. Hall in 1934.
“The University of Philosophical Research is excited to partner with the Miskatonic Institute,” says PRS President and CEO Greg Salyer of the partnership. “Our storied campus in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles has been a home for seekers for 84 years now. Our mission has remained unchanged in all that time—to facilitate the exploration, discovery, application, cultivation, and rediscovery of wisdom. What has changed are the forms that meaning takes, so in addition to literature, philosophy, and religion, we now explore the arts with our new art gallery, as well as film and media—and now horror studies. Welcome, Miskatonic. We look forward to engaging and edifying discussions of what the horror genre can teach us about ourselves and culture, and we’re glad you have made your home here.”
The new LA branch will be co-directed by Miskatonic founder Kier-La Janisse with scholars Elric Kane and Rebekah McKendry, both of the Shock Waves podcast. Classes will begin on September 13th with a monthly pilot season, starting with a masterclass with filmmaker Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM, BUBBA HO-TEP, JOHN DIES AT THE END) – whose new book True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking is due out October 2 – moderated by Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek. The season will continue with a class on aquatic horror by filmmaker and Miskatonic LA co-director Rebekah McKendry, PhD, author David J. Skal expanding on ideas from his book The Horror Show about the ways medical crises such as Thalidimide and AIDS were manifested in horror cinema, and filmmaker Rodman Flender with a breakdown and analysis of the Murder Set Piece in horror.
Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organization that offers university-level history, theory and production-based masterclasses for people of all ages, founded by film writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse in March 2010, with regular branches in London, New York and Los Angeles as well as presenting special events worldwide.
FULL CLASS DESCRIPTIONS – LA:
September 13: Live From Miskatonic: Don Coscarelli in Conversation
Moderated by: Ryan Turek
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is proud to open its LA branch with a career talk with one of the most important independent directors of American genre cinema, the man whose imagination brought us The Tall Man, whose KENNY & COMPANY and PHANTASM gave pre-teen genre fans an indelible image of empowerment in the form of actor Michael Baldwin, and who adapted the books BUBBA HO-TEP and JOHN DIES AT THE END into instant cult classics.
With a new biography on the horizon – True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking, due out October 2 – Don Coscarelli has agreed to sit down with us at Miskatonic, and over the course of a three-hour illustrated discussion moderated by Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek, will explore the key influences, collaborators and filmmaking lessons of his life.
October 11: I Dream of Deep Water: An Exploration of the History and Psychology of Aquatic Horror
Instructor: Rebekah McKendry
The summer of 1975 completed changed movie history. Not only did the release of JAWS set the standard for the “summer blockbuster”, it also ignited society’s communal anxiety, fear, and fascination with what could be lurking just the below the surface of the water. The success of JAWS not only led to a slate of rip-off films soon to be dubbed as “sharkploitation”, but also had real life repercussions of pure terror leading to deserted beaches and massive shark culls. However, JAWS was by no means the first or last aquatic horror media to pique our interest in the deep blue. Our fascination for monsters of the abyss goes back to the dawn of man and has traveled with us throughout time, from Jonah’s whale to ancient sea monsters depicted in early cartography to Moby Dick to the upcoming MEG film.
From unknown ghosts of the deep to sharks, mermaids, gators and the Great Old Ones of Lovecraftian lore, This lecture by Rebekah McKendry will examine not only the history of aquatic horror, focusing on film, but also touching on earlier texts and visual arts. McKendry will also explore the psychology behind our fascination with unknown fathoms, exploring the mental intersections of fear and fascination, the symbolism of submergence, and the subconscious primordial elements of the deep.
November 8: Rotten Bodies, Rotten Blood: Medical Crises as Reflected through Horror Cinema
Instructor: David J. Skal
The horror genre has always been informed by bottomless displaced anxieties about the body, disease, and medicine. In this lecture, David J. Skal, the author of THE MONSTER SHOW and HOLLYWOOD GOTHIC explores the pop culture underpinnings of modern horror in real-life medical crises and controversies, including the preoccupation with demon children that took hold as thalidomide, birth control, and abortion changed the reproductive landscape; the poisoned Tylenol crisis of 1982; the vogue in visceral, transformative special effects that paralleled the development of the plastic surgery industry; the link between the AIDS epidemic and a resurgent fascination with vampires; and much more.
December 13: Focus On: The Murder Set Piece
Instructor: Rodman Flender
Director Rodman Flender breaks down visual storytelling to its most basic narrative requirements. Often the centerpiece of horror and thriller films, the murder set piece is its own three-act “mini movie,” with beginning, middle and climax. With close-read examinations and comparisons of murder set pieces from the silent era through contemporary releases, students will gain an understanding of the essential tools needed to create tension and suspense on a visceral and psychological level. Deconstruction will include set pieces from classics many students know (Psycho, Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), modern favorites (High Tension, The Babadook), and lesser-known films (Edison’s Frankenstein, Horror Hotel, Kristy). Flender will also walk through his own preparation for a set piece he directed for the Dimension TV series Scream.
Topics covered include: What are the individual elements in Hitchcock’s Psycho shower scene that created the template for the modern murder set piece (music, editing, cinematography, lighting, performance)? Where have directors Brian De Palma and Dario Argento taken Hitchcock’s template in films like Dressed to Kill and Suspiria? What elements in Fritz Lang’s 1931 German thriller M did Ron Howard use 65 years later in his Hollywood film Ransom? A discussion of “high” vs. “low” art will compare similar scenes in Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring and Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left — why one is considered an art film while the other is thought of as grindhouse sleaze? Which do the students prefer, and why? We will compare antagonists in murder set pieces, from man (Frenzy), nature (Jaws), technology (2001, Demon Seed), and the supernatural (Nosferatu, Final Destination 5). Hitchcock’s Frenzy will also be examined as a master-class in blocking a scene.
You can learn more about The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, as well as all of their curriculums, at their official website, HERE.
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