The impact of horror: Edmund Burke's "the sublime" and botched executions

The recent botched execution of the relative of Saddam Hussein whose hanging resulted in accidental decapitation illustrates (at least to me) how horrific spectacles (or even the descriptions) have a long-lasting emotional impact. It is a sense of horror that transcends ordinary language -- and it evokes what 18th- century rhetorician Edmund Burke refers to at "the sublime." The sublime is not pretty. It is horror-inducing -- causes an altered state in the person who is in contact, simply because the experience is so ghastly.

guide: susan nash

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[Danbo342]

Where did you get that information? I saw his execution (video) and his head was very much still attached to his body. Maybe his neck was broken. Maybe even in half internally, but it was very much still attached.