“[Horror] shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing.”
J.A. Cuddon, Literary Historian.
By definition, the horror genre is best understood through its intent: to induce negative emotional reactions in its audience. Typically, these responses are associated with shock, fear, repulsion, and loathing. To elicit these responses from the audience, a horror creator must work within their medium to stir the imaginations of the audience and make them feel invested in the story and characters.
Shock, Frighten, Repulse, Loathe
Breaking down that intro quote, we get four reactions: shock, fright, repulsion, and loathing. But what is the nature of those reactions, and how are they different?
Shock is best described as a sudden or surprising event or experience; to feel or be shocked is the immediate upsetting reaction one has to such an event. In the pursuit of shock, horror directors might utilize a jump-scare (slow, low, or no music right during a slowly paced scene ripe with tension, which is broken suddenly with the strike of a musical crescendo as we see something that breaks the tension- perhaps a vision of the killer that is stalking the lead actress, perhaps something as mundane as a cat jumping out of the dark). Shock can also be used by introducing the audience to events that are unusual and unexpected- perhaps, turning the corner to find Hannibal Lecter’s victim eating his own brains. Such an event serves to amplify the threat posed by the villain, but also cause an immediate reaction in the audience- one which may involve not only shock, but some of these other reactions, as well.
Fright is most closely connected to a feeling of fear, and fear is a complex beast, but at it’s root, fear is an unpleasant emotion typically associated with a reaction to a real or perceived threat. Fear can be associated with pain, but can also be more existential, like a fear of loneliness or isolation. In the above example, the perceived threat is that of Hannibal Lecter, the medical genius and cannibal, who is capable of medical acts as intricate and vile as keeping a person alive while their skull is partially removed and their own brains are fed to them. Some might see such a scene and have a thought- conscious or not- do people like that really exist? Or, maybe they’ll take that a step further- if they do, how do I know which person is dangerous?
Repulsion goes hand in hand with a sort of disgust, and is a big part of some of the more gross-out brands of horror. There’s always been a certain aspect of gore and personal violation in horror, but as time has gone on, these genres have taken on a sort of subgenre space of their own. Movies like Saw and Hostel capitalized primarily on excessive gore to scare their audiences, while movies like 500 Days of Sodom and the later Human Centipede movies relied on repulsive acts of personal invasion to make their audiences squirm. While other films don’t go to quite such extremes, use of blood and images of injuries, deaths, and freakish monsters have been a mainstay of horror throughout its history.
That brings us to loathing, in which the audience is directed by the writer to gain a particular hatred or fear of a particular person or creature. The evil qualities are highlighted, they are made to feel alien, monstrous, a true danger to those that may come into their path- and perhaps they even take glee in this. Making a horror villain loathsome (but relatable) is one of the great tests for a horror writer. There are plenty of horror villains out there who make us tremble, and yet we keep going back for more Ghostface, Freddy Krueger, Chuckie, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees.
How to Horrify?
There are a number of literary and film techniques that are utilized to create a suspenseful, scary, or shocking atmosphere, and a number of other commonalities, such as thematic elements, specific phobia triggers, or monsters. While there is a significant portion of horror that is supernatural, not all horror must be supernatural in nature. Likewise, while many horror novels and films deal with some element of the unknown, not all of them are rooted in an unknown element.
Still, the horror genre is one of fantasy, of variety, and of great catharsis for the reader or viewer. In order to instigate fear in the audience and stimulate the fight or flight response system that triggers the adrenaline that makes horror so much fun, good technique and reliable tropes aren’t enough. There are many different subgenres within the overall genre of horror, and part of the reason for this is that reliable tropes only work so much- each horror movie and franchise calls for some level of novelty as part of the way to catch the audience off guard. We spoke above about jump-scares as one way to do this, but there are a number of other ways to keep your audience on their toes.
One way to do this is with unexpected plot developments, things that wouldn’t happen in any other movie. Another is to push the levels of repulsion that the audience will experience, with unsettling images and details (This, of course, led to the evolution of the “gore porn” wave of the early 00’s that included movies like Saw and Hostel).
Yet another is to take something common and comfortable and present it in a new and terrifying way. Take Chuckie, the killer doll from the Child’s Play movies- he’s an image of childlike joy and innocence corrupted into an unstoppable murderous force of evil. Or Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask- what should be a piece of sporting equipment becomes the face of violence and death. Even Hellraiser takes what looks like an ordinary puzzle box and makes it the key to opening a portal to eternal punishment and pain at the hands of the sadistic cenobites.
A technique that has also been effective is to use the power of suggestion to allow the audience to do the creator’s work for them. The audience, forced to fill in the blanks, creates something more horrifying in their imagination than can be capture on the screen or page. It’s what made movies like Jaws and The Blair Witch Project so effective.
Finding Common Ground
One thing that is common to almost all cases: successful horror works require an innovative creator with a deep understanding of human emotion and the human experience, who can take common tropes and present them in a new way that scares us just as much as ever before.
Really, that’s one of the best things about horror: it’ll force you to confront things you fear- fears we all share on some level. In that way, horror can connect us- bringing us together in fear to learn something about ourselves and, by extension, each other.
Stay Shocked,
-Z
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