ABSTRACT
Terrorism, long a popular theme in Hollywood movies, became even more fashionable after 9/11 as violent “terrorists” appeared with increasing frequency in many genres, including thrillers. Charles Darwin observed that the more powerful an antagonist appears to be, the more our anger transforms into terror. 1 Darwin also commented upon terror’s relationship with surprise. “Attention,” he wrote, “if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement. The latter frame of mind approximates terror.” 2 The dictionary defines “terror” as
Intense, overpowering fear.
One that instills intense fear: a rabid dog that became the terror of the neighborhood.
The ability to instill intense fear: the terror of jackboots pounding down the street.
Violence committed or threatened by a group to intimidate or coerce a population, as for military or political purposes.
Informal: An annoying or intolerable pest: that little terror of a child. 3
