Abstract
Sigmund Freud’s theory of the death drive, or Thanatos, indicates a deeper psychological framework for interpreting the horror in both texts. Freud argues that human beings possess an unconscious compulsion toward repetition, destruction, and a return to an inorganic state. In The Shining and The House Next Door, haunted spaces operate as an externalization of this death drive, revealing that the true source of horror lies not in external supernatural forces, but in the irresistible pull toward self-destruction inherent in the human psyche.
Recommended Citation
Markus, A.
(2025).
The Architecture of Annihilation: Freud’s Death Drive in King and Siddons,
Best Integrated Writing, 7
(2).