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How do we talk about that which can't be spoken, the thing which resists naming?

Issue thirteen of nasty tackles the representation of fear in literature, cinema and pop culture. Although the antagonist plays a crucial role in many conflicts, the representation of conceptual evil necessarily takes some kind of form. In Early Modern England, the devil might appear as a black man with cloven feet or a tail - his minstrels, in the form of familiars. In modern horror novels, the monster may likewise be an animal, an automobile, or more often than not, human. The Exorcist - a film where the monster is a little girl - has recently been voted the scariest movie of all time. Although her possession moves her from innocence to evil, a stereotypical trope, why does this movie remain so terrifying?

How do we discuss fear in a jaded post modern world? Why do the things which frightened us 600 years ago continue to scare us now? How has 9/11 changed what we are scared of on a daily basis? What scares us? What frightened those in the texts we study?

nasty welcomes submissions addressing the concept of fear from across the humanities. Submissions should be in MS Word format, and emailed to Kirsten C. Uszkalo. Submission deadline is October 15th, 2002.

For more information, contact nasty at submissions@nasty.cx, or visit the website