Online Branch Director of The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Claire Donner:
To start, please introduce yourself:
My name is Claire Donner, and horror aficionados will most likely know me as the Online Branch Director of The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. Founded in 2010 by Kier-la Janisse, we offer academic lectures by scholars and industry veterans both online and in-person in London, England, with some special live programs scattered throughout the year. I have delivered a few research papers for Miskatonic myself, focusing on movies that are marketed as being “based on a true story”. As someone who grew up during the Satanic Panic when horror media was under especial suspicion, it is a huge honor to support the artists, authors, and audiences who take the genre seriously.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
Defining horror is a fascinating challenge. I’d like to say that the term applies to any media whose primary purpose is to provoke fear and disturbance, but obviously that isn’t a very exclusive description. Like a lot of folks, I watch and write about a horror movie a day every October, and I often think about including an “honorary” horror movie like the SWEET NOVEMBER remake: I mean, Charlize Theron essentially kidnaps Keanu Reeves, kills his career and all of his existing relationships, destroys his possessions, and forces him to become exactly like her. We’re meant to accept this because she’s an enlightened hippie and he’s an ad executive, but in reality, this is terrifying–how is that a romantic comedy? When people ask what is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, I like to say it’s Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA, which few would call a horror movie, but it is plenty disturbing! I’m not sure it’s possible to create a crystallized definition of horror that reliably includes and excludes the right stuff. The conversation around “elevated horror” is no more useful than the insistence that something “isn’t a real horror movie” if it isn’t explicitly violent or doesn’t make you jump out of your seat. I could quote Potter Stewart and just say “I know it when I see it,” but I’d rather paraphrase Miskatonic guest speaker Tony Burgess (of PONTYPOOL fame) who said, “If you find yourself having to argue that something isn’t a horror movie…it’s probably a horror movie.”
What made you want to work in horror?
People love to talk about what their “gateway” horror movie (or book, or show) was, and I always find that a little flummoxing. Isn’t there anybody else who was just always into spooky stuff? There has never been a time when I wasn’t fixated on horror, despite my family’s disapproval and my friends’ inability to take it seriously. Actually I didn’t know that anyone was taking horror seriously until I was in college, in my world that just wasn’t allowed! But it seems like working in horror was inevitable for me since it was the main thing on my mind all my life. I went to school for Art History, but I only ever used what I learned there to think about horror. There was never a risk that I would specialize in anything else.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I’m very inspired by work that is imperfect, and even rejected by critics and audiences, but whose author doggedly refuses to give up. You may laugh but I’m very inspired by Rob Zombie, whose movies have been slammed by his peers and his heroes–I mean imagine being a passionate fan like him, and having to hear what John Carpenter said about your HALLOWEEN remake? Some of us would never get out of bed again! But he doesn’t let anything stop him, and he seems to have this intense work ethic that anyone could admire. I’m actually not a fan of his movies on the whole, but they have a certain energy and commitment that is compelling to me. When I think about my own ambitions and the challenges that I face, I don’t tend to relate to artists who are certified geniuses who seem to only create masterpieces; a more achievable goal for me would be to learn how to persist, to keep the proverbial pilot light on, and stay true to your vision even if other people don’t get what you’re up to. …But with all that said, I love LORDS OF SALEM unabashedly, I watch it at least once a year. It has the most perfect autumn atmosphere, it’s like the movie version of an aromatherapy candle for me.
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
My work with Miskatonic is very important to me. I hope that people will remember us as having fostered a passionate community of like-minded people–perhaps especially people like me who didn’t grow up with any kind of horror culture–based around a consciousness-expanding engagement with our oft-maligned favorite genre. When I book a guest speaker, I do everything in my power to make them know that their work is important, and it thrills me when our audience reflects that back to them. So, I guess that’s a pretty achievable goal in terms of my legacy! I also have genre fiction in the works, which is TBA for now, but I would love to think that someday I could write something that makes even one other person feel as provoked, perturbed, and inspired as my favorite films and texts have done for me. The best thing you can do as an artist is to inspire other people to take their own thought processes even further.
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
We’re at a point where the conversation about diversity in the horror scene is at a constant simmer, and even if it is sometimes frustrating, at least it is lively! There is a lot to say that requires more intersectional nuance than I could give it in this space, but I can say this on a personal level:
When I was coming up it felt like horror had been almost universally condemned as a straight male id release valve, but ironically, that connects directly to why the genre is so good at describing women’s experiences. To take an easy example, the historical party line about slasher movies is that they encourage the viewer to identify with the misogynistic killer–and not to say that that is never true, but you have to question the assumption that everything you see in media is aspirational and a prescription for real life. This is the propaganda model of media consumption, and it can blind you to art’s ability to delve into difficult subjects frankly and honestly. The same slasher movie that you accuse of old school sexism may in fact offer a vivid reflection of women’s real experiences of living under threat of violence, be it institutional, social, or physical. This is still not an obvious conclusion for many people, and so it is important to have female voices speaking loudly and thoughtfully about what horror does for us.
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
There are so many now! I could probably name more female scholars off the cuff than I could men in today’s horror scene. Kier-la Janisse is a creative force you really cannot label effectively, but her work has totally changed the way I think and write about horror. Mikita Brottman is a multidimensional writer whose work never strays far from the dark side, and her critical writing, journalism, and fiction are extremely exciting to me. Diana Walsh-Pasulka is more involved in the UFO/UAP sphere lately, but she has written fabulous analyses of horror fiction’s relationship to real anomalous experiences and the belief systems that grow around them. In film, DANS MA PEAU is hardly a new movie but it’s so powerful and unique that I’m constantly hoping Marina de Van will return to the genre; I miss Jennifer Kent, too, as another female voice capable of being shockingly confrontational but still moving and intelligent. I’m dying to know what Julia Ducournau is going to do next, what is a person supposed to do after they make TITANE? If I were her, I’d probably just retire!
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
I may be a bit of a late bloomer as professionals go, but in the past few years a lot of people were willing to take a chance on me, so I have several projects out now or coming soon. I penned essays for Severin’s new Blu-rays of Michele Soavi’s films THE CHURCH, THE SECT, and DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE; those texts are the result of a lifelong obsession with Soavi’s work, and I hope it shows. This month should see the release of the new 88 Films Blu-ray of the original AMITYVILLE HORROR, which includes a commentary track with myself and Miskatonic’s Executive Director Josh Saco. I’ve been researching the formation of the Amityville lore for years only to answer my own burning questions, so this represented an incredible opportunity to put all that knowledge to use. I do have some fiction in the works that I can’t discuss just yet, though I have written a novelization of the movie SPLICE that should be out this Fall from Encyclopocalypse Publications. When I accepted that project, I had no idea how profoundly personal and all-consuming it would become; I was a little afraid I was doing something insane with it until I heard back from the publishing team and filmmaker Vincenzo Natali, who could not have been more supportive. Hopefully everyone else likes the book as much as they do, and I will be able to brag about more original work in the near future. In the meantime, folks can find me at donnerpartyof1 on Instagram, and donnerpartyof_1 on Twitter (no, I’m not going to call it that). I’m always happy to meet more horror fans.