section_path: Society and culture/Fiction and mythology
section_name: Fiction and mythology
paragraph_text: Fiction and mythology
  
  Fear is found and reflected in mythology and folklore as well as in works of fiction such as novels and films.
  
  Works of dystopian and (post)apocalyptic fiction convey the fears and anxieties of societies.
  
  The fear of the world's end is about as old as civilization itself. In a 1967 study, Frank Kermode suggests that the failure of religious prophecies led to a shift in how society apprehends this ancient mode. Scientific and critical thought supplanting religious and mythical thought as well as a public emancipation may be the cause of eschatology becoming replaced by more realistic scenarios. Such might constructively provoke discussion and steps to be taken to prevent depicted catastrophes.
  
  The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was is a German fairy tale dealing with the topic of not knowing fear.Many stories also include characters who fear the antagonist of the plot. One important characteristic of historical and mythical heroes across cultures is to be fearless in the face of big and often lethal enemies.
  
  The Magnus Archives is a fiction horror podcast written by Jonathan Sims and directed by Alexander J. Newall that, among other things, formulates an archetypal ontology of fear through the dissemination of case files at a paranormal research institute set in a world where the metaphysical basis of paranormal activity and unexplainable horrors is fear incarnate. The diegesis states that true categorization of fear is impossible, that fear is all one unknowable thing; however, there exists an ontological structure of fear archetypes in this universe proposed by a fictional version of the architect Robert Smirke. It is a unique construction of fear in that it is not based on the science or neurology of fear, but on thematic and experiential connections between different phobias. For example, the fear of disease and vermin comes from the same place as the fear of abusive relationships, as both lie in fearing corruptions to the self. The final season of the podcast consists almost entirely of poetic meditations on the nature of fear.