Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Generation Dead did not prove to be your typical zombie book, where corpses rise back from the dead to haunt and kill people randomly. Instead it is about a minority group of people, who share similar features to those of zombies. These people's organs do not function. They are slower in the movement and actions and seem to only be capable of thinking and talking. It is unclear why this phenomena is happening or how this genetic mutation came into being. What is even more strange is that it only happens to American teenagers. Generation Dead thus brings up the struggles that minority groups face against the rest of society. Discrimination, xenophobia, and ignorance are important themes in this book. This social minority faces continuous harassment, from being called "corpsicle" to being burned alive. I appreciate how this book shows these important, existing, social issues while also creating a humorous story about zombies. It is not often that the reader is sympathetic with zombies. It even leaves out the gore that we are used to from zombie stories. Zombies are usually a danger or a threat to society, but this book approaches it from another angle. It is also a coming of age novel. The main character, Phoebe Kendell, and her two friends, Margi and Adam, prove to be somewhat heroic in her struggle to integrate the "zombies" with the rest of society. Kendell's curiosity and attraction to one of the zombies lead her to enter the zombie's organization. She is a goth teenager and so is already familiar with being ostracized merely for being different. By establishing a new relationship with Tommy, Phoebe leaves her familiar world and enters a world of fear and struggle. There are no laws that protect the zombies, since theoretically they are  already dead. There are many dynamic characters in the story. Not all the zombies act the same. Each has his own opinions and struggles. there are those that want to be accepted by society while there are those that are against it, as a result of harassment.

Elements of Horror in Frankenstein

The elements of horror are used throughout the movie of Frankenstein. There are moments where the movie arouses emotions of terror, and disgust. Curiosity is always aroused in many cases throught the unkown, especially when Frankenstein is about to uncover a hidden room. He becomes intrigued to voluntarily travel deeper into the castle's mysteries. Fantasy and the supernatural also play crucial roles in the film. Frankenstein wishes to bring to life his own creation. Furthermore, Frankenstein seems to loose his sanity the closer he gets to realizing his goal. The lighting and setting sets the dark and mysterious atmosphere. Frankenstein is a character the fits the Gothic formula. His sensibilities are sympathetically familiar and contemporary. He is removed from the normal world that we ourselves are familiar with and placed into a darker setting. Also, Frankenstein sets to live up to his father's work.