The Portrayal of ‘Ecstatic Agony’ in Hellraiser (1987) and Martyrs (2008)

I recently rewatched the horror classic Hellraiser (1987), and as well as finding it better on the second watch, I was fascinated with its portrayal of the ‘ecstasy of agony’ or the ‘agony of ecstasy’ (which we could also call ‘ecstatic agony’). I’m currently working on a book on the subject of ecstasy, and despite…

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Fear and Fascination: How Horror Films Evoke the Sublime

Part of the appeal of horror films – which is underappreciated, I think – is their capacity to evoke the sublime. This is a curious and complex emotion. It’s a mixture of fear and fascination. It involves feeling simultaneously nervous or threatened by some perceptual phenomenon – because of its vastness or power – and…

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