Von Lustschl ssern und Spukh usern. Raumatmosph ren in Kunst, Literatur und Film

In the baroque age the maison de plaisance – summer residence – was the symbol for the exclusive way of passing the time for the European aristocracy and upper classes. With these grand country seats the atmosphere of pleasure and amusement obtained its architectural arrangement. In modern literature and film this tradition was continued to create with architectural settings spatial atmospheres of highest symbolic expression. The most famous example of dark spatial atmospheres is the haunted house. In many ghost stories and horror films haunted houses play the leading part, and important architectural details, for instance doors, staircases or walks, are transitional elements, which evoke the different moods of fear and terror. These architectural dramaturgies are frequently based on ancient partly mythical patterns of imagination integrated in an archetypal dimension of cultural anthropology. Therefore – if positive or negative – spatial atmospheres have a deep attraction for everyone, especially in media of art, literature and film.