In my Latin America Gothic class, I read an excerpt of Anne Radcliffe’s On The Supernatural In Poetry. In it, Radcliffe writes, “Terror and horror are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them.” Radcliffe’s distinctions between terror and horror are clear, but aren’t the physical and the mental close companions?
Around the same time, I began re-watching Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, an anthology horror drama series. My younger self vividly remembered the sexual violence in Seasons 1-3, but I had not remembered how recurring it was throughout the entire series. This comes as no surprise. The horror genre has consistently incorporated sexual assault, but why is that?
I mulled over how at the Ithaca Town Hall on Sept. 27, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned the alleged 2024 sexual assault at Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity house. She described the alleged sexual assault as part of the “culture of rape,” naming rape “a form of torture.”
The political and social climate are reflected in the media we consume. In many gothic stories, the real horror is the power imbalance between men and women. In many cases, the depiction of horror manifests in sexual violence, typically at the expense of women. American Horror Story exhibits this multiple times. In Season 2, Oliver Thredson, a court-appointed psychiatrist at Briarcliff Manor, is revealed to be Bloody Face, the serial killer who has repeatedly threatened the lives of women in the ‘60s. Before he’s found out, Oliver Thredson builds false trust with Lana Winters, an ambitious journalist who is in a secret closeted relationship. When his identity is revealed, Oliver ends up sexually assaulting Lana in a manner that appears incestuous. Viewers are led to understand that his mother’s abandonment is to blame, and that Oliver has found a mother in Lana.
“In many gothic stories, the real horror is the power imbalance between men and women.”
For the following reasons, Lana Winters was kept mentally unstable and physically captive:
- The fact that she is a lesbian woman in the 1960s
- Distrust in the higher ups and patients around her
- Grieving her wife, who was murdered by Oliver
- The aversion and electroshock therapy that was forced upon her
- The fact that she’s trapped in a basement chamber and mental institution
After returning to Briarcliff Manor, the only factor holding back Oliver from killing Lana is the fact that she is the mother of his child. The value of her life is attached to someone else. Meanwhile, Oliver has the power of his charisma, gender, job, and wealth on his side in case things go south. Lana survives, but at what cost?
Over the course of the series, the power imbalance is exhibited through multiple avenues such as abuse of power, physical strength, opposite genders, and supernatural abilities. The mental state of multiple victims becomes a form of manipulation that preys on their desperation and vulnerability. It is worth noting that all the male perpetrators commit violent acts prior to the present timeline. The actual or attempted sexual violence was never the first crime to be committed. By committing sexual assault, the male perpetrators feed their hunger for power, tearing apart the lives of women.
In the end, I wonder how we can separate horror and terror, especially as women. Is that not downplaying our experiences? What about the male victims of sexual violence?