It has been said that fear is one of the most powerful and ancient emotions in the human race. It should come as no surprise then that horror as an art form has existed for centuries. Throughout history, horror has let humans externalise their fears. It is my conjecture that the artists who make horror films and literature have, unintentionally, found a way to let people expose themselves to their very real fears by means of sophisticated metaphors.

Neo-liberal scholars, such as Stuart McPhail Hall (2011) have chosen to interpret the zombie genre in particular as a metaphor for the seemingly unavoidable political, economic, and cultural breakdown of Western capitalistic society, for which Stuart McPhail Hall compares to an epidemic, not unlike that of a viral zombie outbreak, and as such capitalism, “relentlessly expands, and it will collapse once there is no one else to infect.” Films such as ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004) and the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise are of this type. Similarly, Paul A. Cantor has suggested zombies have often been used to symbolise “the force of globalisation.” Other scholars have likewise identified racism, class warfare, deindustrialization, the spectre of nuclear warfare, genetic modifications, and even space exploration as subtexts for the upsurge of zombie media, several of which have been portrayed in George Andrew Romero’s iconic series of zombie films.

The definition of a serial killer is traditionally noted as a character who has a particular psychological motivation for killing. The murders are usually performed in a unique fashion and the killer has a signature that they are often known for. Serial killers are often compared to mass murderers; however, serial killers do not typically follow the mass murderer format where there are no breaks in between the murders. Serial killers tend to have characteristics that highlight the fact that they are murderers.

The nature versus nurture of a serial killer is a hot topic of debate in the psychological community, and in fact, serial killers are the best targets for study in this area. This is because they are so unnatural in their behaviour and it is common for individuals to want to comprehend why they are who they are, and their natural progression from childhood to adulthood. Here that question will attempt to be answered.

Since the late 1970s, the genre of heavy metal has come under criticism and has at times been constructed as a “problem” by concerned parent groups, religious groups, and the media.