MEMORIES OF THE NIGHT: MODERN FEARS IN THE SHADOW OF THE UNKNOWN

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the fears of modern pre-industrial society in the West, and to understand how its horror stories and symbolic figures have echoed in contemporary times, fostering prejudices, but also raising awareness of differences in recent times.  It is justified by the possibility of promoting reflections on the popular imagination, between different temporalities and societies, debating the way in which they deal with the unknown. Qualitative, descriptive and transversal in nature, it is a documentary analysis based on bibliographical, filmic and literary research. He analyzed how the modern notion of fear still impacts contemporaneity and how it is being portrayed by popular culture in the twenty-first century, emphasizing the importance of a critical look at fear and the structures that surround it as a way to break down prejudices and build bridges.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2025.015-003