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85
ENGLISHJOURNAL 112.2 (2022): 85–92
When Miss O’Brien looked at me . . . what did she see
that caused her to turn away? What did she see?
— WALTER DEAN MEYERS, MONSTER
uelz, an eighth- grade student studying the
novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers, said:
“I get suspicious when people are labeled as
monsters” (all students’ names are pseudonyms).
A few of Juelz’s peers leaned in with curiosity,
and he added, “Like, are people actually born mon-
sters? Or does society make people into monsters?”
“I think people say, ‘Oh, that person is weird,’
or ‘We don’t like this group,’ and then they become
seen as monsters,” Alecia responded. Their class-
mates used hand signals to show their agreement.
Alex taught Monster to Juelz, Alecia, and their
eighth- grade class as a central text. In Monster, a
Black teenager named Steve Harmon is unjustly
criminalized in the New York City court system.
By analyzing Steve’s story, these middle
schoolers engaged with relatable charac-
ters, developed empathy for the protago-
nist, and began to critically examine how
systems (such as the justice system) can
demonize youth of color. While Monster
is not traditionally classified as a horror
text, the novel introduced Alex’s students
to ways that society can dehumanize cer-
tain identities to make people seem like
monsters.
As three teachers from New York City public
schools and fans of horror texts, we are interested
in supporting youth in critically investigating pop-
ular horror fiction. Each of us loves different types
and modalities of horror texts. Alex loves films such
as Get Out by Jordan Peele and Candyman by Nia
DaCosta. Karis loves choose- your- own- adventure
horror video games like Until Dawn and Oxenfree.
Scott is interested in online horror storytelling com-
munities like Blaseball. Despite our love for hor-
ror, however, we also know that horror texts can be
harmful. While monsters thrill audiences, they can
also be written in ways that reinforce stereotypes in
society. So, we ask this question to guide our cur-
riculum design: How can we teach horror in ways
that guide youth toward witnessing humanity in
other people?
We believe that critically analyzing literary
monsters supports youth in fostering tolerance and
acceptance of others in and beyond our
classrooms. This article will present a
four- step framework for reading hor-
ror texts together in humanizing ways.
To illustrate how to accomplish this,
we share activities from Alex’s class-
room, highlighting the successes and
challenges of this approach. In addi-
tion to horror novels, we share how to
study horror through films, comics, and
short stories.
J
The authors present
a framework to guide
youths’ analysis of
literary monsters and
foster the acceptance of
others—in and beyond
our classrooms.
Humanizing Horror:
Rereading Monstrosity
in Popular Literature
KARIS JONES, ALEX CORBITT, AND SCOTT STORM
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Copyright © 2022 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.
86 NOVEMBER 2022
HUMANIZING HORROR: REREADING MONSTROSITY IN POPULAR LITERATURE
EMPATHY THROUGH
HORROR
Horror allows us to unpack what scares us
and to think about what makes someone,
or something, monstrous. As Robin Cole-
man, a historian and critic of horror film,
explains, horror can expose “the issues
and concerns of our social world” (xix).
For instance, in the novel Frankenstein;
or, The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shel-
ley presented Europe’s growing anxieties
about industrialization in the early 1800s.
At the same time, the horror genre some-
times plays into societal fears about people
from certain marginalized social groups.
According to researcher Kishonna Gray,
biases shape people’s ideas of the mon-
strous. She explains, “[T]he horror genre
particularly hinges on constructing fears
of the monstrous, deviant other” (78).
Recent movies in the horror genre,
such as Jordan Peele’s award- winning
films Get Out and Us and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite,
pull back the curtain on monster tropes and reveal
how horror is connected to racism and classism. For
instance, Get Out exposes examples of how Black
people can be exploited in modern White communi-
ties, and Parasite shows how poverty strips people of
their humanity.
Recent developments in horror are a call to
action in today’s English language arts classrooms.
We want to build on
youths’ fascination with
horror while also encour-
aging them to push back
against the dehumanizing
aspects of the genre. As lit-
erary critic Anna Lindhé
argues, literary texts inher-
ently paint some people
as worthy of empathy and
others as unworthy (227).
As educators, we must col-
laborate with students to analyze horror in ways that
ensure all people are worthy of empathy.
FOSTERING CRITICALITY
THROUGH HORROR
In Searching for Sycorax: Black Women’s
Hauntings of Contemporary Horror, Kini-
tra Brooks explains that many classic
horror texts portray marginalized groups
as monstrous. We see these dehumaniz-
ing themes in the works of well- known
horror writers such as Edgar Allan Poe,
H. P. Lovecraft, W. W. Jacobs, and Bram
Stoker. As horror fans, we grew up loving
these authors.
Over time, however, we recognized
how these authors’ fictional works can
be oppressive and dehumanizing if left
unchallenged. For instance, H. P. Love-
craft was considered racially prejudiced
even among his own contemporaries, and
he marginalized people of color in his
imaginary universes (“N. K. Jemisin on
H. P. Lovecraft”). Classic horror stories
by these White male authors are included
in school curricula as well as state tests and have been
used to teach storytelling conventions like suspense
and foreshadowing. If we do not take up critical
lenses (Muhammad) to study these texts, we avoid
thinking deeply with our students about the ways
that horror can stigmatize historically marginalized
communities and dehumanize the Other.
More critical works of fiction can be useful for
pointing out and disrupting biased aspects of horror.
The contemporary TV show Lovecraft Country shows
characters explicitly commenting on Lovecraft’s
racial prejudice. Additionally, the first character
killed on- screen is a White police officer, disrupting
the racially biased horror trope of Black characters
dying first. Remixing this horror trope is an exam-
ple of what educational researchers Ebony Elizabeth
Thomas and Amy Stornaiuolo call “restorying.”
Restorying describes how writers can rewrite story ele-
ments and conventions to avoid stereotyping and to
represent diverse identities in texts. As teachers, we
can support youth in discovering ways to restory the
horror genre and practice restorying techniques in
their own compositions.
We want to
build on youths’
fascination with
horror while
also encouraging
them to push
back against the
dehumanizing
aspects of
the genre.
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ENGLISHJOURNAL
KARIS JONES, ALEX CORBITT, AND SCOTT STORM
DISCUSSING HORROR
IN THE CLASSROOM
We recommend a four- step framework for discuss-
ing horror in the English language arts classroom:
(1) feeling horror, (2) analyzing horror, (3) critiquing
horror, and (4) restorying horror (see Table 1). When
guiding classroom discussions, we challenge stu-
dents to understand moments of horror from multi-
ple perspectives. We note that this discussion routine
meets local and state standards, particularly Com-
mon Core State Standard (CCSS) R.8.6., which
requires youth to “analyze how differences in the
points of view of the characters and the audience or
reader create such effects as suspense or humor.”
To draw students into conversation, we first
arrange classroom desks to allow everyone to see each
other. Then, with the whole class, we explicitly talk
through discussion norms to promote civil, respect-
ful dialogue. These norms might include protocols
for youth to pause a conversation if it becomes trig-
gering or upsetting— for example, by asking, “Can
we press pause and revisit this topic later?”— and
amplifying student voices that demonstrate empathy
and inclusion.
TAB LE 1
Framework for Discussing Horror
Step Strategy Reflection Questions
Feeling
horror
Invite students to share their
emotional responses to a
horror text.
• How do I feel after reading this text?
• What specific words or scenes make me feel this
way? Why?
• With whom in the text do I relate? Why?
• What frightens me and why? How are my fears
beneficial or harmful?
Analyzing
horror
Examine horror conventions
(e.g., tropes, symbols, and
themes) that create moments
of horror.
• Who or what does the text position as monstrous?
• How does the author structure the narrative and
build tension around monsters?
• What specific words or conventions can I point to
as evidence?
Critiquing
horror
Uncover how horror makes
certain characters human and
others monstrous. Challenge
horror when neurodiverse,
disabled, LGBTQ+, and
characters of color are
marginalized.
• What is the text implying by making a specific
character or concept monstrous?
• What are the societal consequences of being made
monstrous in this way?
• Do I think society should be afraid of this character
or concept? Why or why not?
• What is truly monstrous in this situation? How
might the social structure be monstrous?
Restorying
horror
Support students in writing
stories that subvert common
horror tropes, explore and
arm their fears, and/or work
toward cathartic endings.
• How can I rewrite this story in a more critical way?
• What literary tools or images will I use to create
fear or empathy?
• How will my story help my readers reconsider what
counts as monstrous in society?
• How can horror work to represent and humanize
historically marginalized communities?
These four steps invite students to discuss issues of monstrosity as they read horror texts.
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HUMANIZING HORROR: REREADING MONSTROSITY IN POPULAR LITERATURE
Educators can guide students through these
steps either in a single class period or across multi-
ple lessons. Below, we elaborate on each discussion
step and highlight how four eighth graders— Amara,
Naely, Jordan, and Kendra— discussed issues of
monstrosity in Alex’s English classroom.
STEP ONE: FEELING HORROR
We start with inv itin g stud ents to identify a nd
analyze their emotional responses to horror texts.
Students need a chance to openly discuss their
joys, fears, and intrigue as they read. In this step,
we make space for students to relate to characters
and express what scared them. This exercise can
launch into more general discussions of their rela-
tionships with fear. We suggest asking students to
share depictions of their personal fears and anxieties
using techniques such as freewrites, comics, visual
drawings, or collages with pictures from popular
magazines.
In Alex’s classroom, his students shared their
emotional responses to a mini- documentary titled
The Box. The Box documents the experience of a
16- year- old Latinx boy named Ismael “Izzy” Nazario
who was tried as an adult
for robbery in New York
State. This film explicitly
addresses how youth of
color are viewed as adults
instead of children in the
criminal justice system.
The film follows Izzy’s first-
hand account of his life
leading up to and during
his incarceration at Rikers
Island. Izzy explains the
complex circumstances that led to his arrest, such
as his mother’s cancer, academic struggle, and peer
pressure. The film also highlights the psychological
dangers of solitary confinement.
Alex asked his students to reflect on how The
Box made them feel. A Dominican student named
Amara said, “Honestly, jail is scary . . . maybe even
evil. Should people be treated that way? [Izzy] was
just a kid. . . . [I]t doesn’t feel fair.” Some of Amara’s
classmates agreed, leading to a student- initiated dis-
cussion about how Black and Brown youth like Izzy
are often criminalized in New York City. After this
discussion, Alex prompted the class to revise their
personalized definitions of monstrosity from the
beginning of the lesson. In their exit tickets, some
students redefined jail as the monster instead of Izzy,
because in jail, incarcerated people are treated as less
than human.
STEP TWO: ANALYZING HORROR
Next, we guide students to analyze how horror is
written with specific storytelling techniques. During
this step, we identify and discuss specific literary ele-
ments like tropes, archetypes, symbols, and themes.
We keep a word wall in our classrooms and add each
new term to the wall throughout the unit.
In Alex’s classroom, he showed students horror-
related scenes from films such as WALL- E and Get
Out. The students pointed out narrative devices that
made the scenes frightening. In one lesson, a student
named Naely noticed that the beginning of WALL- E
uses juxtaposition to shock viewers. In this scene, the
main character, WALL- E, a robot, is shown cleaning
up an abandoned wasteland full of trash. Then, the
camera zooms out to reveal that the wasteland resem-
bles a futuristic New York City. “It’s like a warning,”
Naely said to her classmates, who were fellow New
Yorkers. “People watch this movie, even kids, and
realize that pollution could mess up our home if
we don’t change our ways.” Across the lessons, Alex
saw many instances of youth identifying techniques
authors use to shock readers and make them reflect
on their lives.
STEP THREE: CRITIQUING HORROR
As we analyze horror texts, readers can critique how
narratives encourage us to sympathize with certain
characters while fearing other characters. To support
discernment in students’ reading practices, teach-
ers can pose critical questions about the bounda-
ries between humanity and monstrosity. Together,
teachers and students can unpack how certain por-
trayals of monsters implicitly reinforce what is seen
as normal. To illustrate this concept, Alex showed his
As we analyze
horror texts,
readers can
critique how
narratives
encourage us to
sympathize with
certain characters
while fearing
other characters.
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ENGLISHJOURNAL
KARIS JONES, ALEX CORBITT, AND SCOTT STORM
students clips of Star Wars: Episode III—
Revenge of the Sith. A critical moment in
the Star Wars series is when Anakin Sky-
walker transforms into Darth Vader, a
menacing cyborg villain, after he is dis-
membered and severely burned in battle.
Vader’s most iconic characteristic is the
haunting sound of his ventilator. While
the hiss of Vader’s breathing is effectively
frightening, it also suggests that disabil-
ity is monstrous. Alex encouraged his
students to consider whether or not they
agreed with how the ventilator was used to portray
monstrosity in the film.
A contemporary horror short story that Alex’s
students enjoyed critiquing was “The Price” by Neil
Gaiman. In “The Price,” a black cat defends a White
nuclear family from the Devil. In the climax of the
story, the Devil takes the form of a French woman
and battles the black cat. When analyzing this scene,
the students interrogated who and what were labeled
as monstrous. First, a few students noticed that the
Devil’s portrayal as a French woman implied that
women and non- English- speakers were strange and
nonhuman. Then another student, named Jordan,
asked why the cat was black. He explained that
“[i]t seems wrong . . . or, like, disrespectful that the
cat is black. Why does the black character have to
sacrifice itself for the White people?” While the
black cat was a hero, he helped the White family
at the expense of his own injury. The students con-
cluded that Neil Gaiman could have rewritten the
story to avoid depicting a sacrificial Black character
who preserves Whiteness.
STEP FOUR: RESTORYING HORROR
Drawing on techniques of restorying (Thomas and
Stornaiuolo), teachers can guide students to rewrite
horror texts and humanize characters who are por-
trayed as monsters. Based on the critiques students
share, they can remix stories and reinterpret how
monstrosity is represented. Creative writing provides
youth with opportunities to express their excitement
for horror conventions while confronting social jus-
tice issues in society. As a result, writing horror can
support students’ reflections on how to
recognize and celebrate the humanity in
others.
Alex’s students created multimodal
compositions to restory “The Price.”
They practiced rewriting its ending,
changing the identities of its characters,
shifting where the story was located, and
reframing what was the monster. One
student, named Kendra, remixed “The
Price” to center her own fears around
social belonging. Instead of the Devil
haunting a White family, Kendra made herself the
protagonist and wrote about how she was haunted by
a “Loneliness” monster. She explained: “[‘The Price’]
happened in the woods, but I didn’t really connect
with that. So I switched it up to tell my story . . . on
my block.” By sharing her story with her peers, Ken-
dra was able to compose a personalized horror narra-
tive, build community, and overcome her own met-
aphorical “Loneliness monster” by celebrating her
writing with others. This project aligned with CCSS
W.8.3a: “Write narratives to develop real or imag-
ined experiences or events using effective techniques,
relevant descriptive details, and well- structured event
sequences.”
TOWARD HUMANIZING HORROR
As teachers, we can use horror to engage students in
high- interest texts while inviting them to empathize
with diverse characters and critically examine who
is considered human. Using the framework show-
cased here, we encourage teachers and students to
take up critical discussions, analyze popular media,
and create multimodal projects. As critical readers
and writers, we also must carefully consider how
people construct conceptions of monstrosity and
humanity.
The education movement #DisruptTexts (Ebar-
via et al.) reminds us that youth should challenge
classic novels and encounter contemporary fiction in
the classroom. Beyond critiquing older stories that
portray characters with marginalized identities as
monstrous, there are many new texts that can sup-
port explorations of horror in more inclusive ways.
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HUMANIZING HORROR: REREADING MONSTROSITY IN POPULAR LITERATURE
In Table 2, we provide a few suggestions of central
texts teachers might use. These texts are written by
diverse authors and address themes of monstrosity.
We also offer questions that propel students to dis-
cover how the texts challenge oppressive systems and
examine how authors make choices to foster empa-
thy for certain characters.
In line with Alex’s practices, we propose that
teachers pair literature with multimodal texts that
students enjoy— like documentaries, movie trailers,
video game clips, or fan fiction— to foster humaniz-
ing discourses. We suggest surveying students before
selecting texts to see what existing interests they have.
RETURNING TO OUR
SHARED HUMANITY
As the three of us reflected on what it means to teach
texts that deal with monstrosity, we returned to our
epigraph from Monster, when Steve hauntingly asks,
“What did she see that caused her to turn away?”
Like Steve, we ask ourselves, What, or who, do we
turn away from in society? We think back to gratify-
ing moments in our classrooms when students have
been enthusiastic about a terrifying monster in a
story. All of us love sharing horror texts that elicit
shock, surprise, and delight from our students. As
we have developed in our practice, though, we have
learned to guide students to thoughtfully unpack
how the authors construct the text to create empathy
for some characters and to create distance around
others. As seen through some texts Alex taught,
like the novel Monster or the documentary The Box,
the text itself can guide readers to see characters as
human instead of monsters. In other texts, like “The
Price,” it is less clear and we as readers must ask ques-
tions about who the monster is and why.
When people regard others as “monsters,” they
reveal their underlying biases and values. It is through
the challenging of stereotypes that we counter what
is dehumanizing about horror texts. We must work
TAB LE 2
Texts for a Humanizing Horror Unit
Tex t Focal Characters Humanizing Questions
My Soul to Keep by
Tananarive Due
Jessica, David What does it mean to trade away our humanity?
How far should we go to be with those we love?
The Only Good Indians by
Stephen Graham Jones
Ricky, Gabe, Lewis,
Cass, Elk Head Woman
How do ghosts of our past aect our daily lives? How
do we build a relationship with our family histories?
Her Body and Other Parties
by Carmen Maria Machado
Eight female
protagonists
In what ways does society position female bodies as
monstrous? How can individuals learn to take pride
in their identities?
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi Jam, Redemption,
Pet
What makes someone or something monstrous?
How can we speak up against violence in our
community?
Dread Nation by
Justina Ireland
Jane, Katherine,
Red Jack
When humanity unites to fight the monstrous, who is
on the front lines and why? What forces lead to
slavery and what is the cost of freedom?
Cemetery Boys by
Aiden Thomas
Yadriel , Ju lian When do our community’s rules dehumanize certain
people? How can we change them to be more
inclusive?
We recommend central texts teachers can use in humanizing horror units.
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KARIS JONES, ALEX CORBITT, AND SCOTT STORM
to rewrite the stories that render marginalized com-
munities as less than human. Coming back to Juelz’s
question in the opening of this article (“Are people
actually born monsters? Or does society make peo-
ple into monsters?”), we see that society creates mon-
sters through shared stories, and what we read plays
a role in what we see as monstrous. By rewriting and
reimagining these stories, we are able to face fears
together and work toward cathartic endings. Teach-
ing horror in critical ways supports youth in moving
away from ungrounded fear, and allows us as teach-
ers to refocus the narratives of our classrooms on our
shared humanity.
WORKS CITED
Blaseball. Game Band, www.blaseball.com.
The Box. Directed by Richard Kelly, Warner Bros. / Radar Pictures
/ Media Rights Capital, 2009.
Brooks, Kinitra D. Searching for Sycorax: Black Women’s Hauntings
of Contemporary Horror. Rutgers UP, 2017.
Candyman. Directed by Nia DaCosta, Universal Pictures / Metro-
Goldwyn- Mayer / BRON Studios, 2021.
Coleman, Robin R. Means. Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror
Films from the 1890s to Present. Taylor and Francis, 2011.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy
in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices /
Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010.
Due, Tananarive. My Soul to Keep. Harper Collins, 1997.
Ebarvia, Tricia, et al. “#DisruptTexts: An Introduction.” English
Journal, vol. 110, no. 1, 2020, pp. 100– 02.
Emezi, Akwaeke. Pet. Random House Children’s Books, 2021.
Gaiman, Neil. “The Price.” Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and
Illusions, William Morrow Paperbacks, 2021, pp. 51– 58.
Get Out. Directed by Jordan Peele, Universal Pictures / Blumhouse
Productions / QC Entertainment, 2017.
Gray, Kishonna L. Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital
Gaming. U of Washington P, 2020.
Ireland, Justina. Dread Nation. Balzer and Bray, 2018.
Jones, Stephen Graham. The Only Good Indians. Saga Press, 2021.
Lindhé, Anna. “Processes of Empathy and Othering in Literature:
Towards a New Ethics of Reading.” Nordic Journal of English
Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, 2021, pp. 225– 48.
Lovecraft Country. Created by Misha Green, Bad Robot /
Monkeypaw Productions / Warner Bros. Television, 2020.
Machado, Carmen Maria. Her Body and Other Parties: Stories from
My Childhood. Graywolf Press, 2017.
Muhammad, Gholdy. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework
for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic
Professional, 2020.
Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins, 2009.
“N. K. Jemisin on H. P. Lovecraft.” The New Yorker Radio Hour,
hosted by David Remnick, 31 Jan. 2020. WNYC Studios,
www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/episodes/n- k-
jemisin- h- p- lovecraft- and- tumultuous- week- impeachment.
Oxenfree. Night School Studio, 2016.
Parasite. Directed by Bong Joon Ho, Barunson E&A, 2019.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Oxford UP,
2008.
Star Wars: Episode III— Revenge of the Sith. Directed by George
Lucas, Lucasfilm / Twentieth Century Fox, 2005.
Thomas, Aiden. Cemetery Boys. Swoon Reads, 2020.
Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth, and Amy Stornaiuolo. “Restorying the
Self: Bending toward Textual Justice.” Harvard Educational
Review, vol. 86, no. 3, 2016, pp. 313– 38.
Until Dawn. Sony Computer Entertainment America / Super-
massive Games, 2015.
Us. Directed by Jordan Peele, Monkeypaw Productions / Blum-
house Productions / Dentsu, 2019.
WALL- E. Directed by Andrew Stanton, FortyFour Studios / Pixar
Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures, 2008.
ALEX CORBITT taught language arts at a public middle school in the Bronx. He is
now a doctoral candidate at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human
Development. His education research focuses on literacies, equity, gaming, and
speculative fiction. He has been a member of NCTE since 2014 and can be contacted at
corbitta@bc.edu.
KARIS JONES taught middle and high school English and drama in Brooklyn. She is an
assistant professor of English language arts education at SUNY Empire State College,
where she studies learning and literacies across fandom and gaming spaces. She has been
a member of NCTE since 2017 and can be contacted at karis.jones@esc.edu.
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HUMANIZING HORROR: REREADING MONSTROSITY IN POPULAR LITERATURE
SCOTT STORM is a founding English teacher and department chair at an urban public
school. He is also a PhD candidate in English education at New York University studying
disciplinary literacies, critical literacies, adolescents’ literary sense- making, and social
justice teaching. He has been a member of NCTE since 2009 and can be contacted at
scott.storm@nyu.edu.
READWRITETHINKCONNECTION Lisa Storm Fink, RWT
This strategy guide introduces consensus decision making, a
method for facilitating and engaging students in a critical
discussion of the central ideas of a text. https://bit.ly/3EL9YxE
Three Succulents on the
Classroom Windowsill
I can only water; I can only teach.
Read the signs of wilt and parch,
See signals of confusion or defeat.
Arrange the pots and choose the soil;
Set the desks and calm the room.
The succulents keep growing,
Hardy and tranquil, year to year.
Flowerless, though, they’ve yet to bloom;
An unassuming green on the periphery.
Classes cycle and semesters end,
Yet the effects of learning remain elusive,
Sprouting some time past the growing season.
Their future, too, has yet to yield its fruit.
—ANTHONY WYATT
© 2022 BY ANTHONY WYATT
ANTHONY WYATT teaches sophomore English and
College Credit Plus composition at Paul Laurence
Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio. Anthony has been
a member of NCTE since 2018 and can be reached at
anthonygwyatt@gmail.com.
EJ_Nov_2022_B.indd 92 11/4/22 7:57 PM
Copyright © 2022 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.
