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Horror is alive and well at the Dietrich School's new Horror Studies Center

The macabre is all around us, monsters lurking in every corner, and not all of them are fictional. Just ask English and Film and Media Studies professor Adam Lowenstein.

Horror is the intersection of many areas of study, and Lowenstein aims to connect them all, which is why he has been working like the living dead for years, alongside numerous collaborators across Pitt and beyond, to establish a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary Horror Studies Center.

When people think of Pittsburgh, they think of sports, Mr. Rogers, our 446 bridges, but not as many think of horror. At least not at first. The steel city is home to some of the most iconic moments and makers in horror, including Hannibal Lecter’s jail cell located in Soldiers and Sailors, Richard Gere researching Mothman in the Mellon Institute, and, of course, George A. Romero, the “Godfather of Horror” himself.

Romero first came to Pittsburgh in the late fifties to study graphic arts at Carnegie Mellon University. He went on to direct some of horror’s most notable films: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, among others, all right here in the steel city.

Lowenstein met Romero in Pittsburgh early in Lowenstein’s time at Pitt. After his passing in 2017, Romero’s wife, Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, and his daughter, Tina, couldn’t think of a better way to honor George than by entrusting the university and Lowenstein with Romero’s archival collection. In 2019, Pitt acquired the George A. Romero Collection, filled with scripts, posters, and props from all of his films. This positioned the University to eventually become the premier research facility on all things horror.

The Horror Studies Center consists of five pillars:

  • “Horror Genre as Social Force” Scholar Community in the David C. Frederick Honors College (FHC), which focuses on horror’s relation to social issues.
  • Global Horror Studies Archival and Research Network (GHSARN), which includes partnerships with institutions worldwide, along with close ties to the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) and Pitt Global.
  • Horror Studies Working Group (HSWG), a collaborative team of faculty, students, staff, and community members that has helped launch horror studies at Pitt.
  • The George A. Romero Foundation (GARF), a non-profit organization dedicated to building on the artistic legacy of famed Pittsburgh horror filmmaker Romero.

 

Since 2019, the University Library System’s Horror Studies Collection, coordinated by Ben Rubin, who is also a member of the Horror Writers Association, has expanded by adding first edition copies of Dracula, Frankenstein, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe; draft scripts from John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and films like Jaws, Dracula, and Hellraiser; the literary papers of authors such as Linda D. Addison, Gwendolyn Kiste, Daniel Kraus, Elizabeth Massie, Tim Waggoner, and L. Marie Wood; horror pulp magazines and comics; special edition and fine press books; the records of the Horror Writers Association; and most recently, the archive for The Blair Witch Project.

Rubin notes that when he’s curating, he’s not always looking for “final drafts.” He wants the items that show the development, as seeing the edits helps students learn what that creative process looks like.

“These materials serve as a scholarly resource to document the history of the genre and illuminate its often hidden social and cultural significance. It also captures the creative process to help inform and inspire aspiring writers and filmmakers.”

The collections are open to both the Pitt community and the public, with some already on display in the Hillman Library. For everything else, there is a process for accessing them.

Kornelia Tancheva, the Hillman University Librarian and Director of the University Library System, said that when she started working with Lowenstein and Suzanne to acquire the Romero Collection, she faced doubt from some people but saw what others didn’t at the time.

“Horror studies is something that is applicable well beyond just literature, literary study, cultural studies, or film studies. It has sociological aspects that pretty much permeate every humanistic, social sciences discipline.”

Tancheva says they focused on acquiring minority or underrepresented voices in horror. A couple of years ago, the Horror Studies Collection had the opportunity to host a reception for StokerCon, the official convention of the Horror Writers Association, where they were able to show off part of the archives. Tancheva remembers one of the writers in attendance, Linda D. Addison (a celebrated poet who has her own work in the collection), telling her, “Now that I'm in the archive, nobody can erase me.” For Tancheva, Addison drove home the point that this collection, and now the center, matter in more ways than one; a sentiment that she shares with everyone who made this dream a reality, including Lowenstein. Tancheva says that without Lowenstein’s tenacity, perseverance, and vision, the center would not have happened.

That tenacity, along with the support of Jeff Whitehead and Allyson J. Delnore at the University Center for International Studies (UCIS), has played a key role in taking Pitt’s horror studies initiatives global. In a world where it can feel impossible to connect, horror is a language that crosses barriers. Something that everyone involved in this project believes is that at the end of the day, we are all human, and we all face the same human emotions.

“Horror is a universal experience with a global vocabulary, but its expression can vary significantly across cultures. The Horror Studies Center brings together Pitt’s interdisciplinary expertise in international studies to look at how individuals understand and how they process their own particular societal and cultural anxieties through the genre,” said Allyson J. Delnore, Ph.D., Interim Executive Director of the University Center for International Studies at Pitt. “This program is a culmination of many long-standing 'Global Horror' collaborations fostered by a number of our centers, including the Global Studies Center and Asian Studies Center. It is a natural partnership, and we couldn't be more pleased.”

The Frederick Honors College has also played a significant role in getting this center up and running. Nicola Foote, the Dean of the Honors College, along with Lowenstein and Whitehead, spearhead the Horror Genre as Social Force Scholar Community. Students have enhanced their research and creative skills through the unique Horror Genre as Social Force Scholar Community, which focuses on studying horror through social issues, and now, with the launch of the Center, this work will be expanded even further. Foote hopes this will also help in recruiting more students into the Honors College.

“The launch of this first-of-its-kind Horror Studies Center is absolutely thrilling. The Frederick Honors College has been proud to help expand horror studies research through the Horror Genre as Social Force Scholar Community for more than five years, giving our students hands-on opportunities to create their own horror films, novels, and other projects. I was privileged to be part of the team that advanced the successful proposal for the center, and I could not be prouder to see this vision come to fruition,” says Foote.

Perhaps the biggest piece of this chilling puzzle is the George A. Romero Foundation. Established in 2018 by Suzanne Romero, the foundation aims to empower a new generation of filmmakers. Suzanne says that she has always been keen on promoting horror’s legitimacy through education and study and carrying on George’s legacy. She calls this new center their north star and says she hopes it attracts researchers from all over the world.

Tina followed in her father’s footsteps and has become a filmmaker herself. She’s taken on her own brand of zombies with her debut film, Queens of the Dead, which will be released this month. She speaks highly of her father, emphasizing the significance of his films. She notes that while they were entertaining, they also served as valuable teaching tools.

“My dad was king of that. He was so good at doing entertainment with social commentary. You know, getting people to eat their spinach while having a lollipop at the same time.”

Tina says the next step is working with Adam on securing funding for the center, with the hope that it can be endowed in Romero’s name.

As for George, Suzanne thinks that he would be proud of everything they’ve accomplished with this center:

“He would think it's the cat's meow, because I think his work was often considered B movies, you know, and he was often dismissed. [And] as you know, the archive is full of scripts and his work is all there, and I just think that he would feel like this was legitimate. He was an intellectual, he was the smartest man I've ever known, and it would have appealed to him intellectually, 100%.”

The team is already planning to expand the program by introducing a major, minor, and certificate option to complement the existing studies. And much like George’s beloved zombies, Suzanne, Tina, and Adam want his legacy, and the pursuit of horror research, to keep infecting people for generations to come.

For more information about the center, you can visit their website. If you’re brave enough to get a taste of what’s to come, there are three events lined up in October that are open to the public: