Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | ENG-2420-VO01 - The Literature of Horror

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Jennifer Alberico
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Heath Fuller

General Education Requirements

Arts and Aesthetics

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

In this course, students will explore horror literature, beginning with the Gothic tradition in the 19th century and continuing through to diverse modern examples of horror in both literature and film.

Essential Objectives

1. Identify specific characteristics associated with the horror genre in literature and film and what distinguishes horror from related genres such as Gothic or suspense.
2. Define basic literary elements such as theme, character, plot, imagery, point of view and narrative technique, and explain how these elements are used to create fear, anxiety, suspense, and terror.
3. Discuss the ways horror literature illuminates different perspectives of gender, race, ethnicity, and class.
4. Compare and contrast horror literature from different eras and cultural perspectives, taking into consideration the original context of the creative work.
5. Analyze the social, cultural, and historical factors that influenced the emergence of the horror genre.
6. Identify common themes throughout the history of the horror genre to find connections to contemporary perspectives and experiences.
7. Evaluate significant contributions of horror writers to literature, film, and culture.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a low cost ($50 or less) textbook or resource class.
This class may require purchase of supplies or materials that are not available through the CCV bookstore. ***

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations, along with free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials.

Fall 2025 textbook/book details will be available on 2025-05-19. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

ENG-2420-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

For Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Allowed: This course's generative AI policy acknowledges technology, including generative AI, plays a supportive role in learning and feedback. During our class, we may use AI writing tools such as ChatGPT in certain specific cases. You will be informed as to when, where, and how these tools are permitted to be used, along with guidance for attribution. Any use outside of these specific cases constitutes a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

If we are to use AI in this class, I'll let you know when, why, and how. You are expected to use your own creative and critical thinking skills in response to posts and in any written assignment. It's too fun a subject to miss around with letting a bot do the work! If AI use is suspected, I will reach out to you so we can discuss it. If we are unable to connect in any way (email, through Canvas, by phone), AI-use will be assumed.

Methods

In this class, we will be doing a lot of reading (roughly 50-70 pages most weeks), watching films, and writing reaction papers and essays in response to those readings and films. Sometimes there will be casual journal responses. We will also have a mid-term and final evaluation that will be a review and evaluation of the material reviewed prior to that mid and end point. Discussion will play a heavy role in determining comprehension and completion of assignments, but you will never know that is the purpose it serves because of the fun we will be having.

Evaluation Criteria

Discussion 30%

Journals and Reactions 10%

Essays 20%

Midterm 20%

Final 20%

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Participation in the class is measured through your discussion posts. Participation (discussion) is 30% of your grade. I use a rubric to score your weekly discussion posts and the criteria includes timeliess, orgiinality (no robots), and responding to others in the class. In more detail, it looks like this:

• Post at least once by Friday at midnight
• Respond to at least two classmates by Sunday at midnight
• Respond to me, if I specifically address your post, ask you a question, etc.
• Respond in a meaningful wway, add to the conversation uniquely and don't use AI

Missing & Late Work Policy

Let me know if you have trouble keeping up with the work. The best way to resolve that is to talk to me. Please do not submit late or missing work without reaching out to me. I'm a bit OCD, so when I think I'm done grading for the week, it is jarring to see something added to the pile after I'm finished. I just ask that you reach out so we can resolve the issue. Beyond that, missing assignments receive a zero, especially if I haven't heard from you, and I will only accept late work once or twice.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

Apply Now for this semester.