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Grotesque Gaming: The Monstrous in Online Worlds

2016; Penn State University Press; Volume: 5; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5325/preternature.5.2.0213

2161-2196

Robert M. Geraci, Nat Recine, Samantha Fox,

Media, Religion, Digital Communication

ABSTRACT Videogames and virtual worlds that provoke dread and horror have grown in popularity throughout the twenty-first century. Based on the online games Requiem: Memento Mori and DayZ, this article shows how players relish such dread and enjoy landscapes of the monstrous and the grotesque in order to engage with and tentatively conquer inner fears and anxieties. As such, the game worlds continue the age-old work of horror—to exorcise one's inner fears and demons—but do so with the viscerality that is the hallmark of gaming. Using theoretical analysis, “textual” interpretation, and empirical data garnered through interviews and surveys, we show that Requiem and DayZ produce cathartic experiences associated with long traditions of popular and religious approaches to human fear and sin. It is this visceral engagement with the horrific and monstrous that connects the games and their environments to long-standing folk traditions in pop culture.