Q1: King (2010) describes Horror as being defined through three basic elements. Explain, using references, what these three elements are. Think of a horror story you’ve read/watched/heard that makes use of all three of these elements and show how King’s definition is at play in that narrative.
““Horror,” as a category of ordinary language, is a serviceable concept through which we communicate and receive information. It is not an obscure notion,”says Carroll, N. (2003). Although Horror is a well-known genre, there are many sub-genres to consider such as Body Horror, Supernatural Horror, Psychological Horror, Art-Horror and those Horror stories involving monsters whether they are perversions of human beings or aliens.
When describing Horror, King (2010), describes three basic elements, Terror, Revulsion and Horror to identify sub-genres. He uses the examples of Freaks or Carnival folk in the context of Revulsion. To audiences they seem to be drawn to the weird oddities of people on the fringe of society such as dwarves, Siamese twins and bearded ladies. An example of this style of Horror features in season 4 of the Television series “American Horror Story – Freak Show”. As well as the aforementioned freaks there is a woman with male genitalia, a strong man, a pin-head and more. The season is creates uncomfortable emotions for the viewer as they become more familiarized with the characters and sense how exploited and disposable they are in the society they must survive in.
The two other elements written by King (2010) are Horror and Terror. I’ve chosen the (2005) film “Hostel” as an example of both, as when I viewed it a number of years ago it left me with a very unsettled experience. The film is set in Slovakia where tourists are kidnapped from a backpacker’s hostel and sold to members of a mysterious organization. These people travel to this area to torture, mutilate and kill the kidnap victims. When the protagonist wakes up in a dungeon he is confronted by a masked man holding a drill. In the background you can hear the screams of people being butchered while awake. In this example there is the splatter and gore or a classic Horror as well as the psychological terror that comes from the knowledge this could happen to anyone anywhere. I believe it left me particularly terrified as I’ve stayed in back packer accommodation in many parts of the world. In some ways “Hostel” could also take on the Revulsion factor because the people who are paying to torture humans are of a Freakish nature.
References:
King, S. (2010) Danse Macabre
Carroll, N. (2003). The Nature of Horror. In The Philosophy of Horror. Routledge.
Hendrix, G., & Errickson, W. (2017). Paperbacks from Hell. Quirk Books, pp9-14
American Horror Story (2014-2015) [TV Series] “Freak Show” Season 4
Roth, Eli (2005) Hostel [Film]
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