ABSTRACT
An exploratory essay fear is concerned with human 'nature' and environmental 'nature' and, the relationship between them. It draws on the idea of a green cultural criminology because fearsome and monstrous nature has the characteristics of, and also inspires, the tropes of the gothic – it draws on the idea of a gothic criminology. This chapter outlines the ideas of a 'green cultural', and a 'gothic', criminology. It examines representations of human nature as ambiguous, misleading and monstrous. This is then extended to consideration of nature at large, the environment and 'other-than-human' species – and how these can be sources of fear, anxiety and the undermining of the familiar. The main aim and body of the essay concerns this discussion. In his book The Werewolf Complex, the French cultural sociologist Denis Duclos examines American popular culture in this light, in search of an answer as to why the United States has the highest number of multiple murderers.
