Lectures on Tap - "We Are What We Fear: A History of Monsters in Horror"

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🧠 Lecture: "We Are What We Fear: A History of Monsters in Horror"

🎤 Speaker: Professor JR Pepper

Monsters are the beating heart of horror films—embodying the supernatural, the uncanny, and the unknown. What we fear, and how those fears take shape on screen, has transformed over time. In this multimedia talk, Professor JR Pepper will trace the evolution of monsters in horror cinema, revealing how each era’s creatures mirror our deepest cultural anxieties, shifting sympathies, and changing ideas of who—or what—we consider “other.”

From classic movie monsters to contemporary nightmares, we’ll explore how these figures speak to real-world fears about technology, politics, identity, and mortality. Featuring video and audio elements, this lecture brings the history of horror vividly to life.

JR Pepper is an adjunct professor of art history at CUNY Brooklyn College, a freelance lecturer, photographer, and self-described “professional eccentric.” Her acclaimed work in spirit photography has been featured in Haunted America: FAQ, Vice.com, and Musee Magazine. She regularly lectures for The Dead Ladies, Brooklyn Brainery, and the Long Island Convention of Horror, and leads tours at Green-Wood Cemetery in New York. She is also the photographer and author of Buried Boston: America's Revolutionary Necropolis and Buried New Orleans: The Resilient Cemeteries of the Crescent City.

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