A while back I published an interesting article about horror, and some of the various reasons why we like it. If you are a horror fan, what is the best element to you, and why?
I absolutely love to be terrified...especially if it's by an original, unique character with a bit more than 'BOO!' to scare me with. I usually prefer equal elements of horror and macabre, but I'm not a fan of anything that's all gore and no story - that's not horror to me. If you can only scare somebody visually, and not psychologically aswell, then you aren't doing the job right! I love the imagery/visuals though, dark settings, half-lighting..but best of all, I like to see/read about something unique and original - not your average ghost story settings. I also think it's important to have a very unique, and well-developed antagonist in a good horror - something that has depth to it, aswell as being terrifying. I guess that counts for the victims, too - I want to actually give a crap that they're being tortured by some beast/person/ghost. Whenever I've read a good hororr, I've enjoyed it because of the pace, imagery, and developement of it's characters, not to mention how those elements contribute to making something terrifying. 'Heart shaped box' by Joe Hill genuinely scared me, and I was in love with the story and it's characters too...had the victims been cardboard cutouts with absolutely no soul or depth to them, then the novel simply wouldn't have succeeded in scaring me. When you put yourself in a characters shoes, you begin to realise their fears, and when those fears come to life...well, you're scared out of your pants for them. So, all those factors play a big role in making a horror good in my eyes, but in general... Yeah, I love the thrill and the exhileration of being frightened by a good book/movie. It gives me kicks
You, Ashleigh, took the words right out of my mouth. 100% accurate sd to what I believe is true horror, as well! That is why I enjoy the works of Rob Zombie so much; yes, there is a lot of wacky blood and stuff in his flicks, but it's so intertwined with base psychological horror that it really does affect you for more than just ten minutes after you leave the theater. In fact, it may cause you to want to shower immediately. And I have been up several times in the dark of night, after everyone else has gone to bed, and been scared stiff by a book I was reading. Too terrified to even get up and shut the light off when I'm done lol! I guess that's why I like the genre so much - it really affects ME personally.
^ Haha, I've had that situation too. I'm scared to turn the light off because I know I have to walk back to my bed in the dark...a perfect chance for something to jump out and scare the crap out of me
Shame he had to ruin Halloween, but I agree on his other two movies. The other night I was hearing noises as I tried to sleep - which I later deduced were the sounds of the phone ringing, I guess. It freaked me out at the time though. As I was lying back down, I had a very vivid, frightening image of a giant wolf-beast coming out of the shadows of my room and looming over me, close enough for its molten saliva to drip down onto my face, snarling as if it were...hungry. Horror is something that is universal. No matter what we fear, we all know the feeling of it, whether it be of bugs or thunderstorms or just the plain old unknown which lies in the dark. The reason I'm so fascinated by the horror genre is that I appreciate the skill of those who can artificially create that feeling through writing or filmmaking or even music. It's wondrous to me. And like Ashleigh said, it's the thrill of it. It's very exhilarating, like having just gotten off a big roller coaster. I'm not easily scared, so if someone can make me scared, they are ****ing good, and I will appreciate their work.
I don't like horror. I LOVE IT! Why? We will just go with - I enjoy the darker side of every story I enjoy gore to any extreme I could say the fear part of it, but I do not fear that which is not real. When you have witnessed horror first hand, you realise that there is no reason to fear a movie.
