I will be giving a talk about “The Popular Uncanny”, free and open to the public, at Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA) on Oct 26th. Come join us at 4:30 p.m. in the Bruder Life Center. In the spirit of Halloween, there will be weirdness, laughter, and intriguing conversation, followed by a book signing for… Continue reading “The Popular Uncanny” Event: Guest Lecture at Neumann University Coming 10.26.12
Author: Michael Arnzen
Michael Arnzen holds four Bram Stoker Awards and an International Horror Guild Award for his disturbing (and often funny) fiction, poetry and literary experiments. He has been teaching as a Professor of English in the MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University since 1999.
The Uncanny Valley: Expanded and Uncut! Notes on Mori’s Groundbreaking Essay
I like to think I’m good at keeping up with research on the Uncanny, but somehow I missed an important event this June: IEEE Spectrum published the first complete English translation of Masahiro Mori’s highly influential article on “The Uncanny Valley” (originally published in what they call “an obscure Japanese journal called Energy in… Continue reading The Uncanny Valley: Expanded and Uncut! Notes on Mori’s Groundbreaking Essay
The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education
“The Transformative Power of Film” — online panel — 2pm est. TODAY — I’ll be discussing horror in the classroom:meridianuniversity.edu/index.php/comp… — Michael Arnzen, Ph.D (@arnzen) September 13, 2012 I’ll try to update this entry with the archives afterward, if you can’t attend. The panel, hosted by Christine Jarvis, and featuring Drs. Paul Armstrong, Michele Paule,… Continue reading The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education
Weird Advertising Characters
Just joined a flickr photo sharing group called “Weird Advertising Characters” (w/thanks to AdWeek and Laughing Squid). Some fascinating history of popular uncanny icons in here — living embodiments of products that should not be. Filed for future reference, added to my flickr account, posted on my delicious page…and shared with you here. Related flickr… Continue reading Weird Advertising Characters
Since I’ve been reviewing or including online videos so often in this weblog, I decided to create a YouTube Playlist on The Popular Uncanny that features many of the vids mentioned either here, or that are analyzed in the book (still pending publication — the delays are all mine). Right now there are about 21 videos of the weird you can peruse. I’ve also been posting book trailers and adaptations of my fiction/poetry. Please click the button to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there.
The Trophy Talks Back: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “House” Ads
The series of “House” party ads that Mike’s Hard Lemonade have started running are pretty effective and funny in the way that they domesticate tropes of the uncanny. In my favorite, the host of the party answers the door bell, and a headless deer simply stands on the doorstep, breathing. The mounted head in the… Continue reading The Trophy Talks Back: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “House” Ads