Uncanny films: Watching horror narratives through the sight of Alper Mestçi

Fear is one of the auld emotions that have existed since the emergence of "liveliness" on earth. It takes away people from avoidance to adoration with what it makes feel. Fear, draws its strength from survival instinct. It has managed to find a place in human life right from the start. Fear that secures its position as a genre in art, cinema and literature has gained acceleration in the field of cinema, which is a branch of visual art, in Turkey in the early part of twenty-first century. Turkish horror cinema that takes its main source from folk beliefs and appeals to young generation, besides transforming oral culture products into visual stories on the movie screen, also gives the audiences opportunity to experience the emotion they want in a safe environment. In this research, it has been studied the experience of fear, which Turkish horror cinema realized by using horror narratives. Horror narratives, which were listened to by source people and were inspiration to movies were compiled in the interview with the director of the films and seventy-two people from different ages and occupational groups. Examples have been selected from gin-themed horror narratives, which are common in Turkish folk beliefs and constitute the basic of the movies. Preference of confrontation offered to the audience by these narratives familiar in Turkish culture and messages to be given were analyzed in the light of the concept of uncanny. Key Words Horror Narratives, Turkish Horror Cinema, Uncanny, Alper Mestçi