I’m obsessed with horror films, books, and podcasts. I’m currently alternating between reading Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Just rewatched Us (2019) and had to pause to get up and pace and run around and wriggle because I kept getting so excited by all the tense and scary bits. And recently I’ve been soaking up a podcast called The Evolution of Horror, I listen to it a couple hours a day
I love horror as a genre because I love to analyse WHY something is scary to me or to other people, I love to peel back the layers to understand what I’m supposed to be afraid of, what the roots of it are, how my experiences interact with it, and what physical sensations watching a really scary movie for example can cause for the viewer
I also find it a really comforting way to engage with feelings of fear, aggression, confusion, isolation etc while being able to have an end point to those feelings and the adrenaline that comes with being scared by something. It’s finite, there’s a resolution, even when something stays with you. And horror always has social, political and cultural contexts/messages that often are explored in super unique ways Because they’re within the horor genre which I adore and am so fascinated by
I am VERY fussy about the stuff I like though. I don’t like exploitative horror and I despise the way that some horror creators have zero understanding of the genre and just throw tropes around to make a quick buck. I’m a horror writer myself so I’m very specific about what I like to take from things
What about you all, do you like horror? Or hate it? Or is it just meh?
I used to love them but now they make me question some things since I’ve had nightmares about them.
Now I think when I see horror movies or violent stuff, the creator needs to really reflect on what they’re putting out and how its affecting us. It’s not as harmless as ghost stories or campfire stories… whatever.
This stuff can make us desensitized to violence in real life and I’ve noticed that a lot of the desire to watch it comes from unresolved pain. Particularly, I loved to play friday the 13th and even though it makes you kind of giddy to be the villain in those games… It really does come from internal pain. So I stopped indulging in the stuff.
There are real life experiences that are already scary and painful, but horror movies don’t touch on that in a healthy way. You’re not getting some kind of value out of that stuff.
I’m starting to feel a lot less apologetic to these kinds of things because getting nightmares at night by a simple thought of a imaginary being that has wicked powers creeping in your closet is not fun…
I wholeheartedly agree!! It’s so hard to find horror media that explores violence as a concept without just shoving it in your face and going “look how hardcore this is, isn’t this sooo scary.” And yeah I steer very clear of games that are just like, relentless violent killing of innocent people, there’s literally nowhere good that can go lol
I will say it’s a lot easier to find horror novels that are much more thoughtful and tasteful about any violence that is present in the content. Famous and popular horror movies tend to try to attention-grab in lazy, boring ways like hyperrealistic violence because they know it gets the biggest reaction out of people and it’s unfortunately what most people expect
For me when I consume horror content, I’m not there to see hyperrealistic gore or people being cruel and violent. The world’s ■■■■■■ up and humans aren’t invincible. I already know that, it’s not interesting at all. I’m there to experience a story about something that could never really happen, but that reflects things from the real world that I can analyse the layers of. Gets pretty annoying after a while sifting through piles of gore for the occasional gem lmao
I agree though in regards to a lot of these young directors. They try so hard in making a movie violent and scary it just fails.
The reason why some classic horror films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre are still scary is because the story is so simple, and anyone of us could find ourselves in that situation.
And a lot of horror films do have a lot of socio-political commentary.
Dawn of the Dead (The Romero version) commented on America’s rise of consumerism and false sense of safety.
Night of the Living Dead was a play on mob mentality and morality.
And The People Who Live Under the Stairs had a lot of commentary on class and race relations in America.
YES so true!!! I love horror as a vessel for exploring topics that other genres are often too afraid to go near. There’s something about horror that allows for brutal, even visceral honesty, I think. Dawn of the Dead is one of my all time favourite movies!!!
Exactly!!! Horror has always been about challenging the status quo and exploring themes and topics that make us uncomfortable.
OMG, Dawn of the Dead is one of my faves too. I watch it at least once every year. I just love the paranoia and tension in it!! And Ken Foree is amazing in it.
Do you like Stephen King? I feel he’s a low brow writer and don’t like most of what I’ve encountered by him. 1922, a novella by King is a true masterpiece. It is in the book FULL DARK, NO STARS. I listened to it on CD from the library. Another book by him I listened to that was good was SLEEPING BEAUTIES. He wrote that with his son Owen King. It was about 24 hours long, a lot of CDs. I’m not scared by horror movies usually. ALIEN, the first movie of the franchise, was terrifying.
I basically raised myself on Stephen King’s books!! Though I actually agree now, so much of his work is… really not good lol. I read Full Dark, No Stars over and over as a kid - I remember really liking 1922, I’ll have to read it again though because I don’t remember much about it! Haven’t read Sleeping Beauties but definitely heard of it, I’ll chuck that on my reading list too
I looooove Alien. I rewatched it last week and it’s so good, I love the pacing and the constant tension!! I miss the days when horror films relied more on practical effects, puppetry, and costumes than CGI
