Category: Week 7 Questions – Horror

WEEK 7 HORROR  

1. 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. 

Stephen King wrote a book in 1981 called “Danse Macbre” which covers the horror genre, in TV, film, radio, and text, from 1950-1980. He casually moves from boyhood to manhood describing and dissecting each horror story explaining what the appeal is, how they impacted him and states “The good horror tale will dance its way to the center of your life and find the secret door to the room you believed no one but you knew of ”(King, 2020). 

Stephen describes the horror genre as being able to find national phobic pressure points, and those books and films which have been the most successful seem to play upon expressed fears which exist across a wide spectrum of people. The popularity of horror stories is a product of its times (Hendrix, 2018) and swings around every ten to twenty-year cycles coinciding with periods of serious economic and/or political strain (King, 2010). 

Stephen recalls as a ten-year-old in October,1957 sitting in a picture theatre watching a sci-fi movie Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and just as the saucers were mounting their attack (the good part), everything just stopped. The screen went black, the lights came on, the manager walked to the middle of the screen and announced the Russians had put a space satellite into orbit around the earth called Sputnik. As a war baby he had been raised in an atmosphere of paranoia, patriotism, and national self-importance. They were told they were the greatest nation on earth, America was on top and had replaced England as the colossus that stood astride the world, a future filled with “AMERICAN PIONEER SPIRIT.” The horror on screen was no match for the horror in real life he was grappling with in the secret recesses of his heart that Russia had beaten America into space (King, 2020).   

The above is an example of one of the three levels of horror that Stephen explains in what captivates us and makes us so scared: The Gross-Out, Horror, and Terror.  

The Gross-Out is the lowest tier and is where there is revulsion. The “ew” factor when witnessing gruesome, bloody, grotesque scenes in movies. 

The Horror is the second tier and “graphic portrayal of the unbelievable.” (King, 2010) When audiences are faced with something implausible and unnatural, their minds struggle to comprehend it and often react in fear. 

Terror the highest tier “induces fear through imagination,” (King, 2010) where the creepy specifics exist in the readers mind.  

The Sixth Sense in 1999 blew my mind. Yes “I see dead people” movie is about a child psychologist Malcolm Crowe played by Bruce Willis tries to help a young boy Cole Sear played by Haley Joel Osment who sees dead people everywhere and is tortured by this.  

The Gross-Out part starts when Cole reveals to Malcolm of his affliction and the audience start to see what Cole has been seeing, gory dead people everywhere.  

Malcolm suggests to Cole that he try to find a purpose for his gift by communicating with the ghosts and helping them finish their business. Cole is unwilling at first, then finally agrees to try to help.  

The Horror part is when Cole awakens one night to discover a ghost girl vomiting. After finding out who she is, Cole goes with Malcolm to the funeral reception at her home. Cole is directed to a box holding a videotape, which he gives to the ghost girl’s father. The tape shows the girl’s mother poisoning her daughter’s food. By doing this, Cole has saved the girl’s younger sister from the same fate. 

The Terror part is when the movie moves under the surface to things that can really haunt a person, not just ghosts, but things in your past. Experiences like regret, sorrow, pain, loss that bring up sadness and deep emotion of being afraid that late in life you might realize there are things you never got around to do.   

REFERENCES 

Hendrix, G. (2018) Paperbacks from Hell. 

 King, S. (2010) Danse Macabre.   

 King, S (2020). Danse Macabre. Cumberland Public Libraries. Retrieved from https://cpl.catalogue.library.ns.ca/Record/5394/Excerpt 

The exploration of horror through narrative dates back to the dawn of humanity, as stories of terror and violence have always existed, though their purpose hasn’t always been the same. In the context of modern horror, the genre is executed as an artform through movies and books with varying intentions and interpretations. If we examine the pre modern evolution of horror, the historical reasons for conjuring terrifying stories are quite different to the purpose they derive from today. The very first horror stories were crafted to be cautionary tales, warning humanity to be weary of the dark, unknown, and dangers that may lurk if they are not careful. Around the time of the Spanish inquisition, horror became closely tied to religion as the Catholic church strived to condemn heresy. Horror stories were created in order to shock and scare the people away from engaging with witchcraft and satanism, as well as being a conditioning tool to encourage obedience and submissiveness. The significant difference between these older forms of horror and modern horror is that the former had a real influence on people in a time when scientific discoveries had not yet been made in order to explain how the world works, while the latter exists purely for entertainment purposes.

It is important to discuss what horror actually is in artistic form, as it is not identical to the horror we feel arising from certain real life events. Caroll explains these to occurrences as “art horror” and natural horror. A horrifying tragedy which happened in real life is not equal to a form of horror which was for example created for the big screen. The differentiating factor is the artistic purpose. “Generally when the word “horror” is used in what follows, it should be understood as art-horror. This kind of horror is different from the sort that one expresses in saying “I am horrified by the prospect of ecological disaster,” Caroll, (p.12)

According to Stephen King horror is a form of conveying emotions and thoughts we would not usually share due to them being socially unaccepted. In a way horror allows us commit acts of violence and absurdity in our imaginations and face our fears as we are being brutally confronted by them. “Horror appeals to us because it says in a symbolic way things we are afraid to say right out straight with the bark still on ; it offers us a chance to exercise (that’s right not exorcize, but exercise) emotions which society demands we keep closely in hand.” King, (chapter 3)

When examining the structure of modern horror or art horror, it becomes apparent that there are three defining components. These components are revulsion, horror and terror. Revulsion is the first tier of creating something that will have an overall horrifying affect on audiences. This component showcases an occurrence which will cause the reader/viewer to be disgusted and repulsed. Moving to the next component, which is horror, allows for a graphic portrayal of something shocking and unbelievable. The purpose of the horror component is to generate fear, as it is a natural reaction for the human brain to have when faced with something they don’t understand and is out of their depth. The third component induces fear through imagination, and this is terror. Once confronted with something horrifying and incomprehensible, the brain will conjure up images to further fuel the unfolding terror.

If we were to use the theory of the three defining components while analysing a popular horror movie, it would look like this. In the movie adaptation of It, Stephen Kings novel, revulsion, horror and terror are demonstrated in the following ways. In the opening scene of the movie, Bills younger brother Georgie is attacked by an unknown entity resulting in him getting his arm bitten off in a gruesome and graphic way – the scene works as a form of revulsion, as it is a gory depiction of violence. When applying the horror component the scene with the disturbing painting is a great example. Stanley is confronted by the surrealist and absurd portrayal of a woman in a painting who comes alive. This is horrifying because of how surreal and unfathomable the occurrence of a frightening painting coming to life is. Finally the third component which is terror, is comprised by the character of Pennywise ; who the audience doesn’t know much about. It is left up to their imagination to ponder where he originates from and who he is exactly, which will leave the mind twisting and reeling from fear.

References

Carroll, N. (2003). The Nature of Horror. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com  

King, S. (2010) Danse Macabre.  

Nellan, D. (2017) Stephen King Breaks Down the Different Levels  of Horror https://www.avclub.com/stephen-king-breaks-down-the-different-levels-of-horror-1806112160

Carroll (2003) and King (2010) discuss how the “monster” is really a defining feature of a horror story. Using references, explain in your own words how a monster in horror differentiates from monsters in other popular genres. 

Monsters have been a prevalent theme and feature of the horror genre long before the horror genre was even clearly defined. Ghosts and ghost stories alike have been around even prior to civilisation. Using monsters as a mark of horror can be useful, however, the term can be broad as many different genres incorporate their own sense of a supernatural being. An article by Bell (2017) identifies four broad categories of monsters found in films, plays, novels, and other media, such as monsters from nature, which embodies the human fear of an uncontrollable force in the natural world (e.g. King Kong, the Loch Ness Monster), they are often elusive and mysterious. Monsters associated with the fear of science are also prominent, such as Frankenstein’s monster. The Jekyll and Hide type monster eludes to a psychological aspect which presents that people have double lives or selves, and their monstrous qualities are of one’s repressed self. Lastly, there are monsters from the past, such as Dracula, which take revenge on modern living and progress and provide unconventional ideas (e.g. promise of immortality).

Monsters are typically found dispersed in more than just the horror genre, and where it is a very large aspect of horror content, it also plays a big role in sci-fi, fairy tales, myths, and odysseys (Carroll, 2003). However, many sci-fi experts explain that monsters in this genre are secondary to the imagination and fantasy of alternate universes/technologies. Monsters can either be supernatural beings or have sci-fi origins, this often distinguishes horror from other stories which are called tales of terror, for example, William Maginn’s ‘The Man in the Bell.’ The presence of monsters helps clarify what is horror from terror – which can incorporate other features like abnormal psychologies. In relation to fairy tales and myths, monsters also inhabit these worlds greatly, however they are not considered horror. This often has to do with the attitudes of the surrounding characters and their encounters with the monsters. Horror fiction depicts that humans find the monsters abnormal and unnatural, but in fairy tales, monsters are an ordinary characteristic of their universe. For example, in Star Wars, the beast-like character Chewbaca is regarded as one of the ordinary characters, but in a film like The Howling, a similar beast-like character that resembles a wolf would be regarded as a dangerous monster by the human characters. In myths, creatures like griffins, chimeras, dragons, and satyrs are common and bothersome creatures in their worlds, but are not implied to be unnatural, instead they are explained by the metaphysics and cosmology that creates them. Carroll (2003) simplifies this argument by demonstrating that monsters are extraordinary characters in our ordinary worlds, and in contrast, monsters in fairy tales are ordinary creatures in extraordinary worlds.

Moreover, prior to horror becoming a more prolific genre for books and movies from the 80’s, there was a thread of gothic tales that were prevalent in the 1960-1974. One of its defining features was the usual terrified women running away from a dark, brooding house, and the genre was known as “gothic romances,” that were mainly adult-based fairy tales. These paperback novels took inspiration from the 18-19th century gothic literature, and involved themes of murder, confinement, and ancient curses, with the major plot of a young woman falling in love with a dark, handsome, but brooding master (Hendrix, 2018).

Overall, horror movies and novels have always been popular to some extent, and sees a cycle of increased popularity and visibility every couple of decades (King, 2010). These periods often coincide with serious, real-life events of economic or political strain, and the fictional narratives often reflect those anxieties. The over-arching theme of a ‘monster’ takes on a different shape according to the anxieties felt by the people during these periods, and are often symbolic and allegorical. The idea of escapism thrives on the horror genre as the grotesque and scary features of the genre can be appealing to the public, and provides a space to indulge dark fantasies. Monsters are almost always prevalent in these horror stories, and depending on the genre, have differing encounters with the human characters.

References

Bell, S. (2017, October 30). Monsters on our minds: What our fascination with frightful creatures says about us. https://news.usc.edu/130364/monsters-on-our-minds-what-our-fascination-with-frightful-creatures-says-about-us/  

Carroll, N. (2003). The Nature of Horror. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com  

Hendrix, G. (2018) Paperbacks from Hell.  

King, S. (2010) Danse Macabre.  

Humans typically characterize the concept of “fear” as a negative feeling, which is obviously almost always upsetting. Regularly, we urgently need to avoid the being of  this feeling since it causes pain and dread. However In any case, the concept of aesthetics and brain research behind thrillers clarify “dread” can actually also be an experience to enjoy if that is what you would like to seek out. The idea of “fear”, of “dread” is a fundamental component with dismay classification, which is the reason we reliably pine for the adrenaline surge in alarming movies. Neuroscientists, therapists, and producers continually study the audiences reactions in terms of fear to see which procedures can startle such watchers (Park, 2018). Thus, that being said, according to (Carroll,2003) the idea, the being of “the monster”, is the defining aspect of a given horror movie. She (Carroll) states that “they are putrid or moldering things, or they hail from oozing places, or they are made of dead or rotting flesh, or chemical waste, or are associated with vermin, disease, or crawling things”. This distinguishes the genre of horror from many others. The supposed actions which are taken when the protagonists, or set group of people face such creatures within the story line. For instance, in fantasies, myths and fairytales the being of monsters are acknowledged as conventional creatures by characters as ordinary creatures known to mankind and are of commonness. They can be somewhat irritating or unnerving creatures in the story, however they normally enter the characters’ recognitions and don’t commit any actions to create the feeling of “fear” for them. Be that as it may, with however, horror stories, such beasts, “monsters”, are acknowledged as disturbing the request for the universe past the existential legitimacy of humankind. The distinction between the monsters from harrowing tales and other famous types of common genres is that they are scary and tainted. The monster from the horror story is consistently perilous. They can be mentally, ethically, or socially undermining. Also according to (Carroll, 2003) “Monsters may also trigger certain enduring infantile fears, such as those of being eaten or dismembered, or sexual fears, concerning rape and incest”. However, according to (King, 2011) he has attempted many, many times to portray a portion of the contrasts between sci-fi and horror, fear and loathsomeness and ghastliness and repugnance. This, again in contrast with (Carroll, 2003) who also tends to separate the idea of sci-fi and horror. She (Carroll) claims that “it is tempting to follow the lead of the defenders of science fiction and to differentiate the horror genre from others by saying that horror novels, stories, films, plays, and so on are marked by the presence of monsters”. The facts demonstrate that monsters tend to be the most essential conditions with sickening apprehension stories, however they are insufficient to be an essential for loathsomeness since they originate from a wide range of stories, for example, fantasies and legends. So Carroll is searching for approaches to recognize shocking tales highlighting characters of monsters and other mainstream classes. Monsters can be extraordinary in relation to the supernatural or science fiction, contingent upon our motivation, which then makes horror recognizable from stories of fear or Gothic activities. Asides from all of this, (Bauer, 2018) also says that “a monster is something more inhuman than human. The monsters can resemble humans, but they lack the mercy and compassion of a normal human being. Monsters are typically cruel and destructive”. Film makers utilise a splitting or combination of devices to pollute a monster, for instance, they intertwine portions of a human body into a beast’s body, or they partition distinctive natural creatures so they can exchange in one body. These awful creations inspire enthusiastic responses to perusers, for example, dread of incomprehensible creatures, and cause them to feel terrified just by their essence, indicating that it isn’t another sort yet Horror itself.  Thus, characters then deny reality. The idea of these settings conjure dread and disgust. This further then determines if the story is horror or not based on the given reaction.  

References:

Bauer, A. (2018, October 14). The Case For Horror Films, Part 1: Creature/Monster Films. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://medium.com/cinenation-show/the-case-for-horror-films-part-1-creature-monster-films-3f921a9c0501

Carroll, N. (2003). The philosophy of horror: Or, paradoxes of the heart. Routledge.

King, S. (2011). Danse macabre. Simon and Schuster.

Park, M. (2018). The Aesthetics and Psychology Behind Horror Films [Doctoral dissertation]. https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=post_honors_theses

3.Carroll (2003) and King (2010) discuss how the “monster” is a defining feature of a horror story. Using references, explain in your own words how a monster in horror differentiates from monsters in other popular genres.

According to King(2011), He has tried to delineate some of the differences between science fiction and horror, terror and horror and horror and revulsion. Carroll(2003)also separates science fiction from horror and claims that “it is tempting to follow the lead of the defenders of science fiction and to differentiate the horror genre from others by saying that horror novels, stories, films, plays, and so on are marked by the presence of monsters”. We can make monsters supernatural or sci-fi, depending on our purpose, which makes Horror distinguishable from tales of terror or Gothic exercises. It is true that monsters are the most necessary conditions in horror stories, but they are not enough to be a prerequisite for horror because they come from all kinds of stories, such as fairy tales and myths. So Carroll is looking for ways to distinguish between horror stories featuring monsters and other popular genres.

First of all, what distinguishes horror stories from many genres is the action taken when characters face monsters in the story. In fairy tales or myths, for example, monsters are accepted as ordinary beings by characters as everyday beings in the universe and come as devices that highlight the heroic nature of the characters. They are annoying or terrifying creatures in the story, but they naturally enter the characters’ perceptions and do not create fear for them. But in horror stories, monsters are accepted as disrupting the order of the universe beyond the existential validity of human. “They are putrid or moldering things, or they hail from oozing places, or they are made of dead or rotting flesh, or chemical waste, or are associated with vermin, disease, or crawling things”(Carroll,2003). In terms of the monster in horror story, Bauer(2018) says that “a monster is something more inhuman than human. The monsters can resemble humans, but they lack the mercy and compassion of a normal human being. Monsters are typically cruel and destructive”. So the characters shrink from the monster or deny their existence. Also, these settings create not only fear but also disgust for them. Like this, The characters’ actions or reactions to the monster determine whether the story is horror or not. 

Next, the difference between the monsters from horror stories and other popular genres is that they are intimidating and impure. The monster from the horror story is uniformly dangerous. Monsters can be psychologically, morally, or socially threatening. Also, “Monsters may also trigger certain enduring infantile fears, such as those of being eaten or dismembered, or sexual fears, concerning rape and incest”(Carroll,2003). Besides, creators use a fission or fusion device to impure a monster, for example, they fuse parts of a human body into a monster’s body, or they divide different biological beings so that they can alternate in one body. These terrible productions evoke emotional reactions to readers, such as fear of unimaginable beings, and make them feel scared just by their presence, showing that it is not another genre but Horror itself.

References

Bauer, A. (2018, October 14). The Case For Horror Films, Part 1: Creature/Monster Films. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://medium.com/cinenation-show/the-case-for-horror-films-part-1-creature-monster-films-3f921a9c0501

Carroll, N. (2003). The philosophy of horror: Or, paradoxes of the heart. Routledge.

King, S. (2011). Danse macabre. Simon and Schuster.

1. 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.

According to King (2010) the horror genre is built by three different elements, or as he describes it, horror exists on three different levels. King (2010) writes: Terror on top, horror below it and lowest of all, the gag reflex of revulsion.”
King himself favours the level of terror and tries to avoid revulsion and writes that he is “not proud” if he has to use it to get a reaction from his reader.
He writes on that terror is what the readers mind sees, the unpleasant speculative thoughts our own mind creates. Horror is the underlying emotion of terror, slightly less fine and it “invites a physical reaction by showing us something which is physically wrong.” The third element, revulsion is King’s least favourite and he says that “the ‘chest-buster’ form Alien” fits into the revulsion category.

How does King’s three levels fit into a horror film I’ve seen? Well let’s have a look at my personal favourite vampire movie, The Lost Boys, which is categorized as a “black comedy horror film” (Wikipedia, 2020), though it might not be as scary as many other horror films, it definitely contains King’s (2010) three elements.  
The first and finest element can be found quite early in the movie where ‘something’ is flying over a dark amusement park, a night guard sees ‘it’, screams and starts running to his car. He franticly tries to get in, the camera goes everywhere until the guard (and the car door) is pulled from the car and disappears up in the air. We have a similar scene later one (which might be more classic horror film) where a couple is fooling around (or at least he is) in a car, she hears a sound, he says it’s nothing and the next thing that happens is that the roof disappears and they are both taken by ‘something’.
Moving on to level two we have a scene where we finally get to see the vampires aka the horror element where we see something physically wrong. The handsome teenage boys are transformed into scary vampires with pointy teeth and pale eyes, the light in this scene is set so that their facial features appear more terrifying then what they really are. The same scene takes the movie to a gorier level when we get to see the vampires feed on innocent people.
Now, revulsion! One of the most revolting scenes in The Lost Boys takes place during the last fighting scene, although there are many scenes in this movie that fits into the third level, I think this one hits the jackpot. During the last fight one of the vampires is pushed into a bathtub filled with garlic and holy water, he melts and makes a rather disturbing appearance before disappearing into the tub, but it doesn’t end there. The melted vampire then causes a chemical reaction if you like (or he’s taking revenge) by flooding the house with.. well.. vampire goo and the whole scene is rather disgusting.

Although The Lost Boys aren’t particularly scary it still follows a ‘horror movie model’ and we see a lot of classic elements. After reading about King’s (2010) three levels of horror elements it was rather easy to point them out in the movie.  

Sources:

King, S. (2010). Danse Macabre. Everest House.

Both Hendrix (2018) and King (2010) take us through the horror history of the 60s 70s and 80s. Using references, explain this process in your own words, then think about the current trends of horror movies in your lifetime. What kinds of social or political changes in the world during these times do you think can be reflected in the horror you’ve read/watched/heard from that particular era? 

Horror is a unique genre that never seems to go out of fashion. While its popularity may ebb and flow, throughout the last sixty years there’s been a consistency in the genre, and each decade horror has reflected the societal and political atmosphere of the time. According to Prince (2004), audiences never tire of horror because they’ll never stop being frightened about the society they live in. Hendrix (2017, page 9) agrees, saying, “more than any other genre, horror is a product of its time,” meaning the social and political changes within society largely influence the types of horror produced. 

The 1960s was a decade defined by its interest in satanism, the occult and astrology (Hendrix, 2017). During the late 60s and early 70s, horror was forever changed with the introduction of three books – Rosemary’s Baby, The Other and The Exorcist (Hendrix, 2017). Every paperback now needed Satan on the cover, and it needed to be compared to these three books in order to sell (Hendrix, 2017).  

As the 60s and 70s progressed, the sociological conflict of changing gender roles and the family institute saw a rise in demon or killer child horror (Prince, 2004). The contraceptive pill was invented in 1960, IUDs were introduced in 1968, abortion was legalized in 1973, and the first successful IVF occurred in 1978 (Hendrix, 2017). The changing rules around reproduction and the massive advancements in contraception and fertility saw an emergence of fear in pregnancy and childbirth (Hendrix, 2017). Horrors such as The Omen and The Exorcist reflected these fears, and many books and films revolved around vulnerable women during pregnancy and labor, hospitals experimenting on human fetuses, and doctors warning people about ‘playing God’. The message implied that women should have babies the way nature intended rather than experimenting with scientific advancements (Hendrix, 2017). 

The 70s also saw a rise in animal and nature horrors, such as Jaws and The Fog. This was due to several environmental catastrophes that saw a slew of protective laws being passed in the United States, as well as the foundation of Greenpeace (Hendrix, 2017). While it was established that nature needed to be protected from humans, the horror from this time asked who would protect humans from nature (Hendrix, 2017). The 70s were also defined by high inflation, unemployment, the oil crisis, recession, school desegregation and high crime, and horror answered with the haunted house story reaching critical mass (Hendrix, 2017). These stories spoke to people and addressed their anxieties around class, mortage and equity (Hendrix, 2017). Plus, there was nothing more terrifying to a family who had barely scraped enough money for a house for it to end up being haunted (Hendrix, 2017). The civil unrest, riots and increase in crime during this time period also saw approximately six million Americans leave the cities for the countryside. This saw the rise of folk horror such as The Wicker Man, as well as many stories involving America’s rural communities being built on cursed land (Hendrix, 2017). 

By the 1980s, a new type of horror in society emerged. The HIV/AIDs epidemic in 1981 heightened fears around human contact and the poisoning of bodily fluid, and from this came Anne Rice’s vampire novels (Hendrix, 2017). Vampires tuned into the fears of swapping blood, but they also humanized the idea of the other and symbolized our attitudes towards outsiders and the AIDs epidemic (Hendrix, 2017). By the mid-1980s the Satanic Panic was in its crux, and in 1985 the Parents Music Resource Center issued their ‘Filthy 15’ blacklist of metal bands they felt were encouraging satanism (Hendrix, 2017). Horror answered with the rise in splatterpunk, offering excessive gore and juvenile nihilism that went hand in hand with metal music as they both rebelled against the conservative authority of the day (Hendrix, 2017). 

In terms of horror from my own lifetime, I think there is a definite continuation of films and books reflecting the social and political climate. For example, Get Out (2017) explores the issues of benevolent and casual racism, and exposes just how truly horrifying that racism is (Wilkinson, 2017). Protests against police brutality and systematic racism have been extensive within the last few years, most notably the Black Lives Matter movement, and films such as Get Out explore one of the very real fears of living as a Black person in America, that of being objectified or colonized by another consciousness (Wilkinson, 2017). Duchaney (2015) argues that modern horror filmmakers are exploring the psychological, and instead of preying on people’s anxieties of what could happen, they focus on an already established real-world fear. Get Out does this by showing us the very real fear of racism, and exposes just how prevalent it is in our society and what its horrifying consequences are. 

References 

Duchaney, B. (2015). The spark of fear: Technology, society and the horror film. McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. 

Hendrix, G. (2017). Paperbacks from hell: The twisted history of ‘70s and ‘80s horror fiction. Quirk Books. 

Prince, S. (2004). Introduction: The dark genre and its paradoxes. In Prince, S. (Eds.), The horror film (pp. 1-15). Rutgers University Press. 

Wilkinson, A. (2017, February 25). Get Out is a horror film about benevolent racism. It’s spine-chilling. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/24/14698632/get-out-review-jordan-peele 

W7

Carroll (2003) and King (2010) discuss how the “monster” is a defining feature of a horror story. Using references, explain in your own words how a monster in horror differentiates from monsters in other popular genres.

According to Carrol 1987, horror and science fiction are not really in the same genres. For them, science fiction explores in many different technologies of the theme of horror but in the horror genre is a matter of scary monsters. According to Carroll, 1987 said that ‘should not be assumed that all genres can be analysed in the same way’. She gives some example such as in Westerns; they use a monster in horror in novels, films, plays, paintings, and other works are group under the label of ‘horror’ which has monsters there to scare people. Some people can say that horror novels, stories, films, plays, and so on can be marked by the presence of monsters (Carroll, 1987). But in Carroll purpose, the monsters not just only in horror but it can be either a supernatural or a sci-fi origin.

Some of the horror in fairy stories, myths and odysseys can’t be told as a horror genre, it can be distinguished the horror genre from mere words and in other genres such as fairy tales. What is the difference between monster in horror and different genres is that rarity in horror can be a monster appear as an extraordinary character in an ordinary world. In contrast, in other genres such as fairy tales, monsters appear like a familiar creature in an incredible world. The monster in horror fiction creates some utmost significance and also disgusting to people who loves and what monster in fictions. Therefore, in the context of a horror narrative, the anomalies are identified as impure and unclean (Carroll, 1987). The art of horror is that the creator of the genre keep doing it until the audience can feel of the horror in the movie to make them feel the scare and horror of the monsters in the film. Monsters in horror make the audience’s emotional reaction is scared to the monsters in the movie. Another kind of horror in the movie is that alien, who comes from another galaxy, who can manipulate people by control or rot people’s psychology and physical. Whether these aliens can be called monsters or not, it is still horrifying in the context of fiction. And some monsters can be only threatening rather than terrifying some audiences, and some audience feels opposite way, but whether their feeling is threatening or horrifying, the movie is still thriving in a genre to make people scared of monsters in the film. The monster can be contradictory in many forms such as ghosts, zombies, vampires, mummies, the Frankenstein monster, Melmoth the Wanderer, and so on and whether they are in terms of being both living and dead.

Monster in horror can be a horror-comedy in movies such as Beetlejuice; it gets audiences laughing when some of them may be screaming (Carroll, 1999). The purpose of this movie is making audience alternative between laughing and crying throughout the duration of the film (Carroll, 1999). This genre aims to shift moods rapidly to turn horror to humour or vice verve, on time (Carroll, 1999). Horror-comedy is one of the well-known genres in the film that everyone may know and like it exists (Carroll, 1999). Vampires can seem like a monster in a horror movie, but vampires have in many different genres such as horror, comedy, or even romantic genre such as vampires fall in love with a human and protect human.

Some other popular genres turn to psychoanalysis in search of enlightenment. In some part of the genre itself invokes psychoanalytic considerations. “It’s imagery from symbolic apparatus of dream interpretation as well as allowing fictional characters to advance pseud- Freudian accounts on their own and other’s motivations. Some monster has been compulsive murders, the genre’s common presumption rooted in the psychosexual dynamics of childhood.” (Tudor, 1997). A monster can be different form in horror and popular genre. A superhero can be a monster as well in another form of transfer the characters to the audiences.

Reference:

Tudor, A. (1997). Why horror? The peculiar pleasures of a popular genre. Cultural studies, 11(3), 443-463.

Carroll, N. (1999). Horror and humor. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 57(2), 145-160.

Carroll, N. (1987). The nature of horror. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 46(1), 51-59.

1. 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.

In Danse Macabre (King, 2010) acclaimed horror writer Stephen King defines the horror genre as being comprised of three basic elements these elements being, terror which King considers to be the finest element, horror, and revulsion the element King attempts to avoid the most. King also mentions how these three elements are layered in order of importance with “terror on top, horror below it, and lowest of all, the gag reflex of revulsion” (King, 2010, p. 22). The Witch (Eggers, 2015) is a horror film that makes use of all three of these elements to craft the horror within the film’s narrative.

The first, and finest element that King defines as the essential elements of horror is terror, King (2010, p. 20) says that “it’s what the mind sees that makes these stories such quintessential tales of terror. It is the unpleasant speculation called to mind when the knocking on the door begins in the latter story.” This definition of terror is quintessential to The Witch as it builds horror primarily in this way, what the film shows to the audience is a lot less scary than what the film does not show. An example would be towards the beginning of the film when the baby Samuel is kidnapped by a witch living in the woods. During this scene, we are shown brief glimpses into what the witch is doing with Samuel but never enough for the audience to fully understand. It is the implication that instils a sense of fear within the audience not what is shown, such as when the witch holds a knife close to Samuel and the audience is terrified that she may kill a baby.

The second element King mentions is horror, which he classifies as the second most important element and describes it as “that emotion of fear that underlies terror, an emotion which is slightly less fine, because it is not entirely of the mind. Horror also invites a physical reaction by showing us something which is physically wrong” (King, 2010, p. 20). The Witch makes use of horror by using imagery that elicits a physical reaction from the audience by showing them something wrong and unnatural. The most obvious scene where this occurs is the possession scene in which Caleb writhes around uncontrollably as his family watches in horror. He first spits out a bloody apple and then begins to scream and move in a way that disturbs the audience before he passes away. The audience recognises this as physically wrong and is how the horror is crafted.

The final and least important element to King is revulsion, he finds it to be the least important element because it relies on shock and disgust rather than the horror being carefully constructed to scare the audience. Yet despite this, he still says that “the truth of this can’t be argued; it’s bad enough to see a gelatinous crab-thing spread over some fellow’s face, but the infamous “chest-burster” scene which follows is a quantum leap in grue” (King, 2010, p. 20). Much like how King does not like to rely on revulsion to create horror, The Witch is very light on moments intended to gross the viewer out and as mentioned, builds its horror slowly and does not reveal a lot to the audience. But it is still utilised within the film with can be seen when small glimpses of blood and violence do appear in the film. It is not overly gratuitous but still enough to gross out the audience, the most blood and gore appears when Thomasin kills her mother with a cleaver and begins to hack away at her. Covering herself in her own mother’s blood. It shocks the audience which completes the usage of King’s three elements of horror in The Witch.

References

Eggers, R. (2015). The Witch [Film]. A24.

King, S. (2010). Danse Macabre. Everest House.