An essay in which we ramble a bit and try to work out our own thoughts about a peculiar and often disorienting subgenre, lyric horror, before we look more closely at specific films in our upcoming Dissections series. Think of this Judgment as a first draft of our thoughts on lyric horror.

(In fact, think of this kind of essay as a new kind of Judgment article. The Pre-Dissection Thinky-Definey Essay, in which we think our half-informed thoughts and define some of the terms and ideas we’ll explore in the series.)