Editing Fear (section)

=== Fiction and mythology ===
{{See also|Dystopia#In society|Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction#In society}}
[[File:COS 09.JPG|thumb|right|200px|A still from the film ''[[Carnival of Souls]]'']]
Fear is found and reflected in [[mythology]] and folklore as well as in works of [[fiction]] such as novels and films.

Works of dystopian and (post)apocalyptic fiction convey the fears and anxieties of societies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dystopia facts, information, pictures|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/literature-english/english-literature-20th-cent-present/dystopia|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=3 March 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114045/http://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/literature-english/english-literature-20th-cent-present/dystopia|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="fever">{{cite book| vauthors = Kyle RG |title=Apocalyptic Fever: End-Time Prophecies in Modern America|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-62189-410-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1dJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|access-date=3 March 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225222128/https://books.google.com/books?id=p1dJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|archive-date=25 December 2017|date=2012-08-01}}</ref>

The fear of [[Eschatology|the world's end]] is about as old as civilization itself.<ref name="princetonbuffer">{{cite web| vauthors = Yeung K, Zhang Z  |title = The Neverending Apocalypse|url=https://princetonbuffer.princeton.edu/2014/01/23/the-neverending-apocalypse/|website=The Princeton Buffer|access-date=3 March 2017|date=24 January 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114155/https://princetonbuffer.princeton.edu/2014/01/23/the-neverending-apocalypse/|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> In a 1967 study, [[Frank Kermode]] suggests that the failure of religious prophecies led to a shift in how society apprehends this ancient mode.<ref name=jstor1>{{cite web | vauthors = Schmidt C |title=Why are Dystopian Films on the Rise Again?|url=https://daily.jstor.org/why-are-dystopian-films-on-the-rise-again/|publisher=|access-date=3 March 2017|date=19 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114038/https://daily.jstor.org/why-are-dystopian-films-on-the-rise-again/|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> Scientific and critical thought supplanting religious and [[Mythopoeic thought|mythical thought]] as well as a public emancipation may be the cause of eschatology becoming replaced by more realistic scenarios. Such might constructively provoke discussion and steps to be taken to prevent depicted [[global catastrophic risk|catastrophes]].

''[[The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was]]'' is a German fairy tale dealing with the topic of not knowing fear.
Many stories also include characters who fear the antagonist of the plot. One important characteristic of historical and mythical [[hero]]es across cultures is to be fearless in the face of big and often lethal enemies.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

''[[The Magnus Archives]]'' is a fiction horror podcast written by Jonathan Sims and directed by Alexander J. Newall that, among other things, formulates an [[archetype|archetypal]] [[ontology]] of fear through the dissemination of case files at a [[paranormal]] research institute set in a world where the [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] basis of paranormal activity and unexplainable horrors is fear incarnate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meszaros |first=E. L. |date=2020-09-23 |title=The Magnus Archives: A Beginner's Guide to the Popular Horror Podcast |url=https://www.cbr.com/magnus-archives-horror-podcast-beginners-guide/ |website=CBR |language=en-US |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101043304/https://www.cbr.com/magnus-archives-horror-podcast-beginners-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The diegesis states that true categorization of fear is impossible, that fear is all one unknowable thing;<ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 80 Transcript: The Librarian | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/080.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref> however, there exists an ontological structure of fear archetypes in this universe proposed by a fictional version of the architect [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]]. It is a unique construction of fear in that it is not based on the science or neurology of fear, but on thematic and experiential connections between different phobias. For example, the fear of disease and vermin comes from the same place as the fear of abusive relationships, as both lie in fearing corruptions to the self.<ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 35 Transcript: Hive | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/032.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 102 Transcript: Nesting Instinct | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/102.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref> The final season of the podcast consists almost entirely of [[poetry|poetic]] meditations on the nature of fear.

Fear in art has been explored by the Japanese scholar [[Kyōko Nakano|Kyoko Nakano]], in a series of books and a 2017 exhibition about ''kowai-e'' (lit. scary pictures).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hudson |first=Sue |date=2017-09-08 |title='Fear' in Many Forms: Exhibit Based on 'Kowai-e' Series {{!}} JAPAN Forward |url=https://japan-forward.com/fear-in-many-forms-exhibit-based-on-kowai-e-series-comes-to-kobe-and-tokyo/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=japan-forward.com |language=en-US}}</ref>