After reading some of our short stories from Straub, particularly The Adventure of the German Student, Berenice and The Yellow Wall Paper, I've been sort of plagued by thoughts about just how much of horror fiction is in fact "horror" as we think of it. Monsters, ghosts, strange happenings that cannot be explained, considered supernatural or paranormal. And honestly, after considering it, I've realized that a huge number of the movies and books considered horror or "scary movies" do not involve these things at all.
Maybe this is in response to seeing Black Swan too many times. I don't know. But think about it. In 'The German Student,' there is nothing to suggest any of the tale actually happened as the student tells it, at all. In fact, I'm led to believe it was mostly all in his head. One of the side effects of Irving's warning against being too introverted or obsessive about things.
Same goes for Poe's 'Berenice.' There are no monsters in this story. Only people. Sick people, who do the unimaginable. And you know what? I think it's more horrifying that way. People are the most dangerous monsters in the world, after all. Countless tales of real life and of fiction have proved it time and time again.
The Yellow Wall Paper is nothing more than the story of a woman who has been cooped up too long, not being listened to by those she trusts the most, who goes mad from the stress of it all. But yes. It is horrifying.
The Amityville Horror, if I'm remembering correctly, didn't actually have any monsters or anything in it, right? Just a man who went crazy and started killing his family? Even movies and books which do have ghosts and things, like The Shining... Is any of it even real? Or just what someone is making up in his/her head, induced by the feelings he or she gets from the environment and legends passed through time?
I'm sure we've all seen Fight Club, yes? If not... go watch it/read it. You'll be glad you did. Think about that for a moment when considering horrifying works of fiction. It isn't exactly in the horror genre on the shelves at Blockbuster, but I think the premise behind the whole movie is one of the scariest things that can happen to a person.
So... What are your thoughts on what makes something true horror? How much of the genre today (or in history) is actually psychology-related? Do 'real' monsters and ghosts make horror more enjoyable? Less believable? Do you feel closer to the story if it's all in someone's mind? Or is there any difference to you? Just something to ponder...
5 comments:
I think true horror is in the eye of the beholder. I've heard of people freaking out watching the Exorcist, yet I can watch it without flinching and sleep soundly the same night. The scariest thing I've ever seen is the episode "Hush" from Buffy the Vampire slayer, which was deemed to be tame enough for network television. This episode gave me nightmares for the longest time, and I re-watched it a couple of weeks ago and found myself having trouble sleeping and even just being alone.
That's the beauty of horror, I think. It's comprised of tons of different categories so everyone has their certain area that frightens them to the core unlike other genres such as Romance, Comedy, Drama etc. that may have a few subcategories, but they all somewhat induce the same feeling.
I agree with Shauna that a lot of horror is in the eye of the beholder. However, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty, I think fear is entirely psychological. For example, clowns dont freak me out, but they do a lot of people. However, the one thing that scares me more than any thing else is thunder. Yes, the boom part, not the lightning part. Why does this one noise scare me more than ghosts, demons, and monsters? I wish I could tell you. haha.
Although, I personally think the best horror is the one that you cant tell if its real or not. Because thats, at the heart of it, what makes horror scary. The unknown. If it is something you know, you can control it. If you can control it, it isnt scary. This can even be seen in What Was It? It was a scary thing until it was bound with rope. Humans fear that which they cannot control.
So, I think stuff like Silent Hill and F.E.A.R. are some of the best horror because in the end, you don't really know what is real and what isnt.
Just my 2 cents :-P
I think we fear what we can't fight. Whether it's physical monsters or psychological enemies, we are terrified of the unknown. I don't know if anyone will know what I'm talking about, but there's a quote that I learned in my high school theory of knowledge class which basically says "the mind makes the unknown known." Pretty much, our minds strive to make sense of everything by giving it all a meaning, but when our minds tell us the shadown in the corner is a person and then can't explain logically why the person is there, fear creeps in, at least, that's how I see it.
Also, I agree with Shauna, "Hush" is probably the scariest episode of Buffy and one of the scariest TV episodes I've ever seen. The thought of not being able to scream for help absolutely terrifies me.
I think that the psycological aspect of horror is what makes most of these "horror" stories so enjoyable. There is something horrifying, to me at least, about not knowing who or what to believe and having no answers to many questions created by the story.
I just have to give you mad props for thinking of fight club as horror. It is my favorite movie and my second favorite book, behind Call of the Wild, and I have read/watched it countless times. Although I feel like I see something new everytime, I've never thought of it as horror so kudos to your connection.
My editor friend Ellen Datlow has included a number of Chuck Palahniuk stories in her various horror anthologies.
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