Horror is everywhere in media: the presence of sounds, images and situations that inspire fear and terror in an individual have become an integral part of contemporary society. So too have videogames. Their presence is felt across media: film and television reference gaming and the boundaries between the different media is blurred by this transmedia relationship. In this seminar, Dr Dawn Stobbart will discuss the relationship horror has with videogames, showing how this medium portrays horror, how it utilizes representations of horror in other media to horrify the player, and how videogames can incite a stronger reaction than in other media.

Dr Stobbart’s doctoral thesis On Videogames has formed the basis of her research at Lancaster University, along with an interest in Horror and the Gothic and how these transition to the videogame medium. Her monograph, Videogames and Horror: From Amnesia to Zombies, Run! Is due for publication this summer.