Week Four : The New Weird

The ‘new weird’ is a modern medium/genre within film and literature.
The short reading I've chosen this week is, The Werewolf, written by Angela Carter. It was a strange, but overall, intriguing story. It was an interesting retelling of the classic fairytale of Red Riding Hood. I could see this becoming a psychological thriller if adapted into a movie.
The Werewolf is a story about survival with delusions of safety.
The twist had me shook.
“But it was no longer a wolf's paw. It was a hand, chopped off at the wrist, a hand toughened with work and freckled with age. There was a wedding ring on the third finger and a wart on the index finger. By the wart, she knew it for her grandmother's hand.”
The fact that the short story’s final words were, “, she prospered.”, after the realization that she assisted in the stoning, and overall, murder of her own grandmother, meant that she lacks remorse; she’s a psychopath.
This proves true to my prior statement of why this could be adapted as a psychological thriller. The ‘new weird’ holds promise in becoming a future trend in the genre of horror and developing into a new category within film and literature to explore. This modern form of suspense is what will captivate present-day and younger audiences.
ALSO, I immensely enjoyed our in-class film this week, Annihilation directed by Alex Garland, so much so, that after class I found the film online and finished viewing it. It’s symbolism was so perplexing, and the ending was so confusing. I didn't know what to make of it when I finished watching the movie, I just know that I really liked it.
.....
Here is a list of some other ‘the new weird’-inspired readings/shows/movies that I like: Fractured (Netflix), Us, Get Out, Bird Box (Netflix), The Quiet Place, AND finally Bandersnatch (Netflix).

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