Horror is an emotion-focused genre that taps into our innate need for safety and the value we place on life. Horror stories often emerge in response to significant societal and political events, portraying them as evil and serving as a metaphor for our deepest fears and the struggle for survival in a hostile world. By highlighting the loss of humanity, horror underscores severe threats to human identity and raises awareness of the fundamental uncertainty surrounding human nature.
Themes and Metaphors
Horror raises essential questions about what it means to be human, challenging societal and cultural norms and introducing disorder and counter-logic to our perceptions of order. Societal issues such as social unrest, natural and human-made disasters, violence, and conflict all contribute to the genre’s continuation. Horror is always poised to address our fears, forcing confrontations with monsters that disrupt the natural order of life and death and threaten our physical and mental integrity. Horror stories revolve around a monster or form of monstrosity that challenges the dominant ideology and reflects society’s anxieties and fears, often tied to social, cultural, political, and historical issues concerning marginalised groups. In horror, darkness and shadow are critical elements that create suspense, often appearing when the monster is about to reveal itself. While horror aims to elicit gut-level reactions such as fear and revulsion, it also stimulates more complex emotional and intellectual responses.
The Antagonist
A horror story must contain an element that elicits the emotional response of horror, such as unease or disgust. Typically, this is a monstrous entity that is harmful, impure, and inexplicable by science. The horror antagonist is a powerful and destructive force, an irrational and monstrous entity driven solely by primal impulses and a desire to destroy and plunge the world into a nightmare. Lacking any sense of morality or self-control represents chaos and irrationality at their worst. It is the double of the protagonist, serving as their external (real world) and internal (psychological and emotional) opponent. The protagonist’s drive is first to escape the monster and then to defeat it, while the protagonist’s internal desire is to defeat death.
The Final Girl
To be truly terrifying and effective, the evil in a horror story must attack the characters’ specific weaknesses and blur the line between human and inhuman. Although the monster’s appearance may be grotesque, it is its humanness that truly makes it frightening. The final girl is a common character in horror narratives, often serving as the protagonist and lone survivor of a terrifying ordeal. She is depicted as intelligent, curious, and vigilant, setting her apart from her peers. She is often portrayed as abstinent or uninterested in sexual relationships, which further distinguishes her from other characters. Additionally, she may have a familial or personal connection to the antagonist. Throughout the story, she takes on a more masculine role by acquiring a weapon and confronting evil, often at great personal cost. The final girl presents a strong, empowered, and self-reliant female character capable of saving herself instead of waiting for a male hero to rescue her. As such, the final girl represents a nuanced depiction of femininity by subverting traditional gender roles and expectations to become the hero of the story.
Psychological Horror
Psychological horror delves into the psychological toll evil takes on its victims, causing feelings of paranoia and distrust, fear of the unknown, and the disintegration of peace of mind and relationships. It often starts with an ordinary, everyday setting, but features a growing sense of unease and danger. The protagonist is initially sceptical of the existence of true evil, but as the story progresses, their understanding of the world is gradually eroded and their trust is shattered. By the end, the protagonist has become a believer, realising that evil is chaotic, dangerous, and pervasive and must be confronted. In psychological horror, the audience follows the protagonist’s emotional and mental journey through psychological manipulation, an unsettling atmosphere, and a distorted reality. The genre explores the darker aspects of the human mind and the unknown, blurring the line between what is real and what isn’t. The protagonist and the audience both experience a descent into madness and an ultimate understanding of the true nature of evil.
Found Footage
The found footage technique involves creating the illusion of real-life recordings, which enhances the sense of realism and immediacy for the audience. This style is widely used in horror movies, as it increases the suspense and terror by making the audience feel as if they are witnessing actual events unfold. Although the found footage style can be applied to other genres, it is primarily associated with horror.
Occult Horror
Occult horror incorporates supernatural elements, such as magic, witchcraft, and the paranormal, to create a sense of terror and suspense. These stories blur the lines between reality and fantasy, introducing the unknown and mysterious, and tapping into primal human fears. The horror in occult tales often stems from characters’ interactions with the supernatural and their attempts to comprehend and wield it. This genre delves into the deeper aspects of the human psyche and often evokes a sense of unease and horror through the unknown and mysterious.
Cosmic Horror
Cosmic horror highlights the fear of the unknown and things beyond our comprehension. It uses the vastness and mysteries of the universe to delve into profound philosophical questions about humanity’s place in the cosmos. The genre creates a sense of terror by introducing the inconceivable into our reality, evoking feelings of fear, dread, and revulsion. Cosmic horror challenges the notion that humanity is at the centre of the universe, suggesting that we are insignificant and that the universe is indifferent to our existence. It reveals that destruction isn’t an act of malice but simply something that happens, unaffected by the hopes, desires, and struggles of individuals and groups. The genre forces us to confront our insignificance but also to acknowledge that we, as tiny as we may be, can also be cosmic horrors to other irrelevant life forms. In a world where everything is meaningless, values and meanings start to fade, leading to a sense of pessimism. Cosmic horror explores the existential dread that arises from the realisation that our existence is trivial in the grand scheme of things, challenging us to find meaning and purpose in an uncaring universe.
Supernatural Horror
Ghost stories focus on the presence of spirits or the souls of the deceased. These tales often delve into themes such as the afterlife, the essence of the soul, and the aftermath of unresolved matters in the living world. The ghost itself is a crucial element that elicits fear and unease in the audience. Ghost stories can occur in any period and a diverse range of settings, from haunted houses and abandoned asylums to remote rural areas and other haunted places where ghosts are known to reside. The versatility of this genre allows for a range of moods and tones, from eerie and creepy to humorous and light-hearted.
Slasher Horror
Slasher horror creates fear and terror through the actions of a single relentless and homicidal antagonist, or sometimes a group of them. These slashers often wield sharp weapons and engage in wanton destruction and killing. The slasher genre is known for its high body count, graphic violence, and often vivid death scenes. The primary antagonist is often portrayed as a psychotically driven killer who appears to target victims in a seemingly random fashion, which adds to the audience’s fear. However, as the story unfolds, the motivations behind the killing spree are revealed, exposing a dark and twisted backstory. The slasher is often portrayed as coming from a troubled family background, with a history of abuse and trauma that has led to delusional beliefs and a desire for destruction. Slasher stories are typically set over a short period, often within one night or a few days. The protagonist is usually in an unfamiliar location, such as a remote cabin or an abandoned institution with a dark history of violence or secrets. The weapons used are typically low-tech, allowing for close and intimate killing scenes. The killings in slasher horror are characterised by their sudden, shocking nature, designed to elicit physical reactions such as jumping and screaming as a result of intense fear and anxiety.
Undead Horror
Undead horror brings terror to the forefront through the depiction of immortal, undead non-human beings and creatures. The setting and period can vary, but the central focus is on the undead and their relationship to the living world. This genre showcases a range of vampire archetypes, from the classic bloodsucker to the romanticised figure to the morally ambiguous anti-hero, as well as zombies, skeletons, and spirits. While some tales feature vampires as the main characters, the aim is often to create sympathy rather than fear. The traditional vampire story revolves around a group of people trying to survive in a world overrun by these immortal creatures. The cause of the vampire outbreak can range from a contagious disease to an experiment gone wrong. The genre delves into themes of immortality, power, and the cost of eternal life.
Zombie Stories
Zombie stories revolve around the concept of reanimated corpses that typically seek to devour the living and are usually depicted as relentless and dangerous. These stories may be set in a world where a widespread outbreak of a mysterious infection or virus has led to the dead coming back to life as mindless, flesh-eating creatures. This outbreak often leads to a collapse of society, creating a post-apocalyptic setting. The protagonist and main characters are usually survivors who must band together to fend off the zombie hordes. These survivors often come from diverse backgrounds and may include ordinary people, law enforcement, military personnel, or other groups. Zombie stories often explore themes of survival, human resilience, and the breakdown of societal norms. Characters must make difficult decisions to stay alive and protect their loved ones. Many zombie stories use the zombie apocalypse as a backdrop to explore human nature and behaviour under extreme stress. Zombie stories frequently feature intense action sequences and graphic horror elements, including gory depictions of violence and the grotesque appearance of the zombies themselves.
Werewolf Horror
Werewolf horror uses the transformation of a human or a group of humans into wolf-like creatures to create a sense of fear and terror. The werewolf is portrayed as a savage and monstrous being, controlled by its instincts to hunt and kill. The transformation of the werewolf may be dictated by the full moon or they may have the ability to shape-shift at will. The genre often explores themes such as the duality of human nature, the balance between civilisation and primal instincts, and the consequences of being cursed or infected with lycanthropy. The werewolf genre can be set in any time and place. It features various archetypes of werewolves, including the traditional werewolf, the cursed werewolf, and the werewolf as an anti-hero.
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