Get out capitalized on an old formula of using exaggerated horror to commentate on pressing social issues in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Rosemary’s Baby. Do you think that it will usher in a new era of horror more concerned with having a greater social commentary?

Why do Offred’s (and the other handmaids’) experiences both terrify and resonate strongly with a 2017 audience? Did Atwood predict the future back in 1984 when she wrote the novel?

What makes two people (usually a man and a woman) compatible in an action movie? How do these moments get interspersed with action? What’s the difference between a Bond seduction and a Tron flirtation? Why is The Matrix my favorite romance series? Are there harmful stereotypes, is there empowerment of female characters? Does kink gloss over unhealthy habits? Much to discuss!

How do films and television shows utilize blood and gore in artistic ways to further the plot and to create a visceral reaction without going overboard. Where is the "sweet-spot" of horror and is it the gestalt of the production that makes it palatable?

Looking back to Peter Greenaway’s "The Cook the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover," the use of dynamic lighting, opulent costumes, and luxurious set draw the audience in while opening up all of the senses. It is as if you can taste, touch and smell this film. This, juxtaposition with filth and violence that follows creates a more dramatic sensory shift thus intensifying the horror of the film.

Currently, "Penny Dreadful" utilizes some of the same production values to appeal to the senses of the audience before flooding ballrooms with blood.

What are other examples of transcendent use of blood and gore and how are directors achieving high levels or artistry within horror.

Many great writers never studied the craft. Today, more and more students are enrolling in creative writing degrees. Edward Delaney has written in The Atlantic, on ‘Where great writers are made’, about America’s top graduate writing programs – emphasising the importance of time (money) and something to react against. Is that it? Lynn Davidson writes movingly in her article ‘A roof over my head’ for Text journal about structure, and being part of an ongoing conversation. How has the current long apprenticeship evolved; in what ways does it tap into a tradition of writing mentorships and creative communities and what aspects might be evidence that we are seeing a different model emerging?

A mash-up novel (also called mashup or mashed-up novel), is a work of fiction which combines the text from pre-existing literature, often a classic work of fiction, with another genre, such as horror, into a single mashed-up narrative. Though the term itself wasn’t coined till about 2009, the first mash-up (of sorts) may have been "Move Under Ground" by Nick Mamatas, a 2004 novel combining the Beat style of Jack Kerouac with the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The first mash-up proper was Seth Grahame-Smith’s hugely successful 2009 novel, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". Subsequent mash-up novels include "Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters", "Little Women and Werewolves" and "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" (also by Grahame-Smith), the last of which was adapted into a film of the same name. A more recent phenomenon within the genre is the combination of more than two original works, or genres, as in the case of Robinson Crusoe (The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope), which combines the original novel with elements borrowed from the works of H.P. Lovecraft as well as the popular genre of werewolf fiction, and is accordingly attributed to three authors – Daniel Defoe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Peter Clines. Mash-up novels are, by their very nature, derivative and lacking in creative substance … or am I being hypercritical? Is it all just a cheap marketing gimmick that’s doomed to die from lack of originality… or does the mash-up have potential creative legs to keep it running?

The Shadowhunters TV show has proved to be good at mixing the plot of the novel with new plots. Discuss the ways in which the show has been dedicated to its origin while also exploring new alleyways and the ways in which fan reactions have gone.

Which anime series or films have been successful at accurately portraying characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or part of any group in the LGBTQ community? Which ones have failed? Give multiple examples and explain why.