It’s that time again when Americans must elect another president to run the US for four years. By now, you’re likely aware that President Trump (or as some call him, “Don the Con”) is up to his usual tricks again. Who could’ve ever predicted the US would fall into such an absurd political situation…aside from Matt Groening that is. Those watching from afar gnaw on the situation like a good bit of juicy gossip. But for Americans, it’s not quite as funny; for some of us, the fact of Trump’s nomination alone is the stuff of Real Horror.

Political Purgatories, the forthcoming Showroom film and lecture series, looks at US politics through the lens of Horror films. We’ll discuss how American Horror films have played upon some of the racial and gender anxieties of their era, making monsters out of average men and women while encouraging voters to elect villains into power. We’ll also consider how post-millennium political rhetoric borrows from Horror tropes and, conversely, how Horror reproduces politics on screen.

If disinformation sounds right, it’s because we’ve been watching (and reading) those stories for generations. We might laugh to think of Trump insisting that Haitian immigrants have been eating their neighbours’ pets, but American Horror films have trained viewers to accept the notion that Haitians get up to far worse hijinks. Thankfully, some Horror creators, like George Romero, are well-known for critiquing the populism that seizes the country from time to time. For example, Land of the Dead is replete with examples of catchy political rhetoric that’s merely an appealing tune luring citizens towards a cliff.

This season’s series will look at Horror Films from the early twentieth-century up to our current times to consider how Horror writers and directors have grappled with the murky mess that is US politics. We’ll examine the phantasms that continue to prove popular among Horror spectators and partisan parties alike. Of course, it’s an oversimplification to assume that we can untangle the political mayhem through Horror alone (and over the course of a mere eight weeks) but we can start to pull at some strings and have fun while we’re doing it. So join us for what is sure to be an entertaining and informative series run alongside the dizzying sideshow that is the American presidential election. Who knows, we might even review some of Groening’s other political predictions along the way.

Film Studies begins on 9 October. Book your pass at /filmstudiespasspolitical