Greetings, this is Broxton Miles, and since everyone seems to be admitting what major they are, I am the physics/astronomy major. I will say that fantasy/science fiction literature has always been a great interest of mine, but up until recently I'd never really been into the dark/horror fantasy genre. Recently, I've actually started to read a bit of Lovecraft's works and found that the genre doesn't have to be the stereotypical gore filled stuff you hear about, but can actually use your own imagination to put you in uncomfortable positions. While of course that's nothing new, I find it interesting how authors can describe just enough of something to give you a glimpse of what the characters are seeing and then gives the rest over to your mind. I've loved the X-Files since I was a little kid so that's always fun to talk about, and since Prof. Duncan said that Lost could fall under the category of things to write about in this blog, I will probably be writing a good bit about that because I may be slightly obsessed with it. Also, I promise my future posts will be much better.
I would have to agree with some of the other student's opinions that the 4 part model can apply to more than just horror. For my example I would say that it fits pretty nicely to the film No Country for Old Men in the following way:
The Sighting: In the beginning of the film, the villain, Anton Chigurh, is shown committing the first two murders of the film. You start to get a sense that this guy is pure evil
The Thickening: The I guess what you could call the protagonist, Llewelyn Moss, finds money at the sight of a drug deal gone horribly wrong, and is hunted by Anton who has been hired by people who want the money back.
The Revel: In a twist from the normal formula of film: the protagonist is killed off camera, the villain lives and escapes without consequence other than a broken arm.
The Aftermath: There is no relief, and there is no explanation as to why events went the way they did. All that is known is that evil has won this fight and is still out in the world.
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I think Clute's formula fits No Country for Old Men quite well -- both Cormac McCarthy's novel and the Coen Brothers' movie -- and I think, moreover, that Clute would indeed consider No Country for Old Men a horror story, as do I. The same is true for much of McCarthy's work: The Road, Blood Meridian, etc. He's a horror writer, among many other things.
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