The american nightmare: Graveyard voters, demon sheep, devil women, and lizard people

Abstract

Symbols of the uncanny, from the biblically apocalyptic to the cinematically campy, have increasingly manifested in political discourse, from the communication of campaigns to the dramas of democracy. Undead metaphors help the public to make sense of a political discourse that calls out hidden evils to prey on primal fears. A rhetoric of monstrosity used by politicians and pundits alike exposes the decaying landscape of American public discourse. This chapter examines how symbols and tropes of horror stories are employed in political messages, especially with regard to the politics of fear that marked the eras of terrorism and Trump.