The Vampire Freak Show

I feel as though our culture always has and always will be intrigued by "freaks" and "the other." Could it be that horror movies serve the same purpose as the early freak shows? Are they a reflection of the times/public sentiment, beliefs, especially those about gender, etc.? Did the people who watched these films watch them to feel reassured in their thinking processes? Williamson writes, "If the 'New Woman' could be turned into a 'silent body,' her resistance to convention could be treated as a case to be solved." I think this statement is a reflection of the attitudes that many men shared during the Victorian Era. By dissecting the woman as an object as most of the men in these vampire films did, it made it easier for them to gather information about them and assert their dominance over them. It also justified the patriarchal structure that existed. These sexually characterized women were to be feared, but at the same time they were desired, and then killed. Interesting.