Week 1
Lesson 1
Week 1 -- Are you ready for Freddy?  Making friends with fear
In 1998, "Are You Ready for Freddy" was released by the American hip hop trio the Fat Boys.    The music video is a celebration of Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise, coming out of the 1984 film classic by Wes Craven.  Now, Freddy is a delightful villain chasing comedic rappers through an abandoned house, all played for laughs.  Freddy has become funny and fun, beloved by audiences for his childish creativity (for example, Super Freddy in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5)
 Week 2
Lesson 2
Week 2 -- Freddy, the creepy stalker 
Freddy Krueger taunts Nancy in the 1984 original A Nightmare on Elm Street with, "I'm your boyfriend now."  Throughout the films, he invades her personal space, in dreams, her bedroom, while taking a bath.  An important context for understanding the series is that Freddy is a creepy stalker of Nancy over several films in the series.  Notably, she defeats him in the first film by turning her back and ignoring him, taking away his power of fear.
 Week 3
Lesson 3
Week 3 -- Freddy's finger-knife glove: the archetype of the predator
An important source of symbolism is Freddy's glove.  According to Craven, it symbolize the primal fear of the cave bear, or another predator that who hunt people back in the paleolithic.  We will explore this symbolism using the psychological works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Carl Jung, and well as findings from paleontology about the threats facing the first humans in the fight for survival.
 Week 4
Lesson 4
Week 4 -- Voodoo Zombies in The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
One of Craven's most sensational and frightening films, taking place in 1980s Haiti.  The "Tonton Macoute" were the sinister secret police of the dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier (1971–1986), who used torture and voodoo to terrorize the people—zombification being their most fearsome weapon of oppression over political dissidents.  The film is partially based on true events.  The class will explore the film, the origins of Voodoo, and the true history of the Haitian zombie
 Week 5
Lesson 5
Week 5 - Laughing with Wes Craven: Monstrosity and Otherness 
Comedy is showcased in several Craven's films, including Deadly Friend, A Vampire in Brooklyn (staring Eddie Murphy), and the werewolf themed Cursed.  The research of doctoral candidate Catherine Jeannette McCrary is presented on how Craven used "otherness" as both a source of horror and social commentary.  She argues that "otherness" has been used for stereotype, and that Craven has subverted these stereotypes by making the other the hero of the story.
 Week 6
Lesson 6
Week 6 -- The Grotesque as monster and victim
The Hills Have Eyes shows those with body deformity as a frightening threat.  But who are the actual monsters?  The villains are a family bearing the names of pagan gods. They are set against a typical suburban family that has happened upon their territory, a transgression that sets off a bloody conflict.  Craven created the film as a commentary on colonialism, blurring the lines on who exactly are "the bad guys" 
 Week 7
Lesson 7
Week 7 -- The People Under the Stairs (1991) 
The film showcases the exploitation of marginalized inner-city people, with the villains religious extremists who live secret lives of vice and depravity. The protagonist is a young African-American teenager trapped in their perverse home/dungeon—becoming very much a cinematic inversion of Home Alone (1990): whereas Kevin McCallister used his traps to terrorize burglars in a comedic farce, Poindexter “Fool” Williams must instead escape the lethal snares set by psychotic extremists
 Week 8
Lesson 8
Week 8 -- Noah's Ark: Diary of a Madman (1964)
After completing his undergraduate degree, Craven went on to graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. For his Master’s Thesis, he wrote a 407-page novel. It is a most remarkable work of fiction that anticipates many cinematic themes he would later explore, including an early vision of Freddy Krueger.  The novel was never published, but I was given special access to it.  I will detail its insights for the students, especially the religious themes he explores in this formational work.