Goosebumps book series is targeted at 9-12 year old readers
Upcoming Topic: Our historical and current fascination with the macabre in stories/podcasts/children fables/myths/tv shows/etc. What purpose does it serve us to be drawn to the macabre vs. being propelled away from it?
Date: Saturday, April 22nd at 6pm
Host: at Sabine’s house
Zoom option: See email from 3/17
Materials to spend some time with to help you think further about the topic:
From Chris: Seems like there's a link between our need for mythology and our fascination with crime thrillers, but I couldn't find anything directly in Joseph Campbell. To support Chris’ train of thought, I found this tracing our historic fascination pre-podcast with the macabre: https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-writings/true-crime-0016921 
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, published 1886
Or, somewhat related, we can look to Carl Jung’s psychological concept of a shadow (the part of our psyche that harbours our darkest impulses). Here is a video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgLQWutNxKc
Here also is Joseph Campbell speaking about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzYsi3SV1bY
Caravaggio’s painting of Medusa, 1597 (in the Uffizi, Florence, Italy)
From Sabine: Pretty basic, but not bad talking points on the topic: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/559256/why-we-love-true-crime
If you haven’t listened to any True Crime podcasts yet, maybe try your hand at an episode from one of NPR’s many: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/2069/true-crime
Or, consider an episode of a recent, Seattle-based, fictional crime / detective series I binged on, The Killing (on Hulu), based on the original Danish series, Forbrydelsen. This is not an American phenomenon, as Scandinavian crime shows are considered the best by film snob sorts, referring to them as Scandi Noir. Hate the title of the American version of this show, but man the character development of the two detectives is so well done, as are the moody Seattle specifics.
From Mitch: an SNL skit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4RdcE6H4Gs
Skim sections that interest you in this 200 page dissertation: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6644&context=etd#:~:text=Previous%20studies%20have%20shown%20that,drawn%20to%20female%20protagonists%20and
If you only have time to review the materials briefly, I’d suggest Mitch’s SNL skit first, then the first YouTube video explaining Jung’s shadow self concepts, and maybe the ancient-origins website link to get more sense of this not being a contemporary neuroses or new development in humans.
