Rikke Schubart - Mastering Fear: Women, Emotions, and Contemporary Horror

With all my love

To
Ditte and Rasmus

To
My mother
Susanne Schubart

Fear is like fire. It can cook for you. It can heat your house. Or it can burn it down.

CUS DAMATO, MIKE TYSONS TRAINER

Breaking habits is a little like breaking your own bones. What should keep you trying is the knowledge that by experiencing the world from a very different perspective, you will enrich your life considerably.

MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, CREATIVITY

Michael J. Apter, Danger: Our Quest for Excitement (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2007), eBook, 56.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, HarperCollins eBooks, 2007, Kindle edition, 360.

To be a werewolf affords a woman to kill with a single nail transformed into a claw. Elena (Laura Vandervoort) is about to get even with a molester from her childhood in Bitten: Season 1, Episode 10 (Caged). Space, 2014.

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) in her new, pretty dress and an intertextual nod to Alices dress in Alices Adventures in Wonderland from 1865. Pans Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno, 2006, Guillermo del Toro). Estudios Picasso, Tequila Gang and Sententia Entertainment, 2006.

Jamie (Christian Bale) is covered in mud and saluted by American POWs in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during the Second World War. Empire of the Sun (1987, Steven Spielberg). Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros, 1987.

Eli (Lina Leandersson) looks like a girl. Let the Right One In (2008, Tomas Alfredson). EFTI, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB, Filmpool Nord, 2008.

Elis (Lina Leandersson) scar in Let the Right One In (2008, Tomas Alfredson). EFTI, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB, Filmpool Nord, 2008.

Werewolf Alice (Amanda Ooms) dreams that she is caged and about to be operated on in Ben Bolts British three-part mini-series Wilderness (1996). Red Rooster Film & Television Entertainment and Carlton Television, 1996.

Alice (Amanda Ooms) retreats into a wildlife reservation where she with smooth CGI transforms from woman. Wilderness (1996). Red Rooster Film & Television Entertainment and Carlton Television, 1996.

and into wolf. Wilderness (1996). Red Rooster Film & Television Entertainment and Carlton Television, 1996.

Sixteen-year-old Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) gets her first period after being bitten by a werewolf in Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett). Copperheart Entertainment, Water Pictures, Motion International, 2000.

The social outcast Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) becomes assertive, sexy, and self-assured after being bitten. Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett). Copperheart Entertainment, Water Pictures, Motion International, 2000.

Young and insecure Christina (Freya Tingley) with her friends, the sexually experienced twins. Hemlock Grove: Season 1, Episode 2 (The Angel). Netflix, 2014.

Christinas (Freya Tingley) face graphic and visceral transformation into a werewolf in Hemlock Grove: Season 1, Episode 12 (Children of the Night). Netflix, 2014.

Petite teenager Christina (Freya Tingley) becomes a huge white werewolf. Hemlock Grove: Season 1, Episode 12 (Children of the Night). Netflix, 2014.

The beautiful young werewolf Elena (Laura Vandervoort) is a supernatural SYF (single young female) in Canadian show Bitten: Season 1, Episode 1 (Summons). Entertainment One, Hoodwink Entertainment, No Equal Entertainment, 2014.

Elenas (Laura Vandervoort) change from human into werewolf is rendered in smooth CGI. Bitten: Season 1, Episode 5 (Bitten). Entertainment One, Hoodwink Entertainment, No Equal Entertainment, 2014.

Elenas (Laura Vandervoort) limbs slowly elongate into wolf limbs. Bitten: Season 1, Episode 5 (Bitten). Entertainment One, Hoodwink Entertainment, No Equal Entertainment, 2014.

The transition from human to wolf in Bitten has no blood or gore as in Hemlock Grove. Bitten: Season 1, Episode 5 (Bitten). Entertainment One, Hoodwink Entertainment, No Equal Entertainment, 2014.

Caroline (Candice Accola) can fling rapist Damon to the ground, now that she is no longer a weak human but a strong and an assertive vampire. The Vampire Diaries: Season 2, Episode 2 (Brave New World). Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, Warner Bros. Television, 2010.

Vampire Caroline (Candice Accola) cries, when she sees her new fangs in the mirror. The Vampire Diaries: Season 2, Episode 1 (The Return). Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, Warner Bros. Television, 2010.

Caroline (Candice Accola) is tortured by her father who wants to fix her vampirism through conditioning with pain. The Vampire Diaries: Season 3, Episode 3 (The End of the Affair). Alloy Entertainment, Bonanza Productions, Warner Bros. Television, 2011.

Nina (Natalie Portman) pulls the skin off her finger in Black Swan, a self-injury that takes place in her imagination. Black Swan (2010, Darren Aronofsky). Fox Searchlight Pictures, Cross Creek Pictures, Protozoa Pictures, 2010.

Nina (Natalie Portman) cringes and makes a universal disgust face when she self-injures. Black Swan (2010, Darren Aronofsky). Fox Searchlight Pictures, Cross Creek Pictures, Protozoa Pictures, 2010.

Esther (Marina de Van) self-injures in the basement, a scene which is beautifully composed and lit in chiaroscuro. In My Skin (Dans ma peau, 2002, Marina de Van). Lazennec & Associs, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinmatographie (CNC), 2002.

Esther (Marina de Van) is fascinated by her wounds, which she examines and reopens. In My Skin (Dans ma peau, 2002, Marina de Van). Lazennec & Associs, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinmatographie (CNC), 2002.

The mother in the nuclear family finds a little white mouse stuck in the drain in the garden. A meta-reflexive comment on nasty experiments. Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier). Canal Horizons, Canal+, CinCinma, 2008.

Sarah (Alysson Paradis) holding her stomach after a car accident in French extremity film Inside ( Lintrieur, 2007, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury). La Fabrique de Films, BR Films, Canal+, 2007.

The Woman (Batrice Dalle) attacks Sarahs (Alysson Para dis) stomach with scissors. Inside ( Lintrieur, 2007, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury). La Fabrique de Films, BR Films, Canal+, 2007.

The Woman (Batrice Dalle) cuts Sarahs (Alysson Paradis) baby from her stomach on the stairs in Sarahs house. Inside ( Lintrieur, 2007, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury). La Fabrique de Films, BR Films, Canal+, 2007.

Madeline (Jordan Ladd) prepares a bottle with cow blood for her baby Grace. Grace (2009, Paul Solet). Ariescope Pictures, Dark Eye Entertainment, Leoma Entertainment, 2009.

Wild, deep, and dark play between mother Amelia (Essie Davis) and her son Sam (Noah Wiseman) in The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent). Screen Australia, Causeway Film, South Australian Film Corporation, 2014.

Amelias sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney) and her friends performing motherhood as Perfect Mothers at the princess play birthday. The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent). Screen Australia, Causeway Film, South Australian Film Corporation, 2014.