Fred Botting's article "Future Horror (The Redundancy of Gothic)" explores the ways in which the definition of "horror" has changed in literature (and film) over the past 2 centuries. His argument is that contemporary horror is about the void that lurks beneath the surfaces that define our reality, whereas Gothic horror dealt with the absence of the paternal figure and the resultant chaos of this absence. Based on your previous encounters with the horror genre (in literature, film, television, video games, etc.), what do you think is the reason for society's fascination with the terrifying and monstrous? How would you define the horror genre? What makes something "horror"?
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“Horror” is defined as the feeling of revulsion after something frightening is seen, heard, or felt. “Horror” is caused by something that evokes fear or terror in a person. I think that society’s fascination with horror arises because of a person’s desire to feel something exciting and new. Horror films and literature allow people to escape from reality and into a world that is different, and often thrilling. I think people like the fact that the unknown can bring out a sense of fear as they do not know what to expect as the film continues or as they flip the pages of a horror novel. By watching or reading horror, it makes your own problems in life look minimal compared to the characters in the movie or story. Also, society is drawn to attractions, like movies, that allow for an adrenaline rush. Fantastical creatures like monsters, ghosts and vampires can allow for that fear and rush of adrenaline that many people want to experience. Today’s horror genre focuses more on real life instances and people such as serial killers and technology like surgery thereby allowing a person to acknowledge their own fears about these issues. More than any other genre, horror causes the reader or viewer to totally focus on the storyline instead of their real life and allows the person to freely experience a range of emotion.
Kelli Covington
“Horror”, although defined by Webster as an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting, it truly depends on each individual’s perspective to actually define horror. Horror can be found in a scary movie, a gothic novel, or in day to day life by witnessing a horrible car accident or viewing the top 6 o’clock news story titled, “Family of 5 Murdered by their Son”! When it comes to literature and movies, the horror genre has recently come to entail real life occurrences including murder, torture, and medical errors. Although many of us are terrified of such things happening to our family or ourselves, we find thrill in reading “horror” novels and witnessing such things on the big screen. I specifically remember dreading watching the movie “the Hills have eyes”, yet I went because I just had to see it. I think I was one of the only people in the theater who actually cried while the family was being murdered because I imagined how that would feel if it was me and my family! You would think I would avoid the sequel to the movie since I really didn’t enjoy the first, yet I went again! Why does society enjoy the feeling that “horror” films and novels provide for us? I believe that we seek the feeling provided by horror because the majority of us don’t experience such fear on a regular basis or ever at all. For me personally, if someone close to me was murdered or tortured to death while visiting England I would not enjoy watching such a movie because it would bring back true pain. However, since I have not experienced such fear, pain, and terror I seek it through novels and movies. I think society seeks the feelings associated with horror to experience it and understand what others feel who have experienced TRUE horror in life.
-lpkinley
Anything horror scares me, even the word. It creates this unsettling anxiety that slivers down the spine, and then uncomfortably arches the back. Yet, no matter what the media, I still indulge in it; despite knowing I’m going to jump into bed as soon as the lights go out that night. In general, people are fascinated by “odd” occurrences. I believe people flock towards these experiences because there is a craving for something fantastic that turns common sense on its head. Fiction, in general, adheres to this principle; however for horror, the goal is to scare and frighten the audience. Most people do not read or watch horror for a laugh; instead I think people are waiting for that unsettling anxiety. It’s like playing Resident Evil. The music darkens, the demonic voices get closer, and then behind you two people jump out from nowhere with chainsaws and pitch forks. There is an expectation when indulging in this genre for the adrenaline pumping, body stiffing scare. In the horror genre, the horror itself is something that people are secretly curious about, but then it turns into a darker tone. For instance, people are curious about monsters, what if scenarios, ghosts, and madmen with no sense of humanity because common sense tells us these instances are unrealistic. All of these items listed are breaking some sort of unwritten law that defines our reality and can have or already has a bad or evil connotation. The horror genre is the grouping of these unnatural events that stimulate enjoyment because people are curious and desire to be frightened.
Horror, terror, fear: each of these evokes a sense of anticipation and anxiety in us. The genre of horror, be it in any form of media, is centered on the unknown. In film, the villain usually pops out from behind a door or out of the shadows. In literature, the story is often times told from a third-person omniscient perspective in which the reader knows something the main character does not, e.i. “Little did Sally know that the beast was lurking just around the corner.” The build of anticipation is key in any good horror story. It is for this reason that people are drawn to horror. Anxiety, anticipation, fear, and uncertainty are feelings that one can never truly get used to. No matter how many times one has seen or read stories about the serial killer next door, it never gets old. How did the first victim die? Who does the villain target next? All of these questions can be asked time and again. In essence, each horror story, though similar in many aspects, is always different. This is what makes the genre of horror so appealing. Stories can be told and retold yet they still make people jump with fright. Horror is unique among other genres of literature and film in that it is concerned with something nobody knows anything about, namely the unknown. In this way it is also incredibly malleable. Horror can mix easily with fantasy and reality. In today’s society, the more realistic a horror story is, the more terrifying it is. The element of reality in a horror story allows the audience to imagine themselves in a similar situation. We are drawn to the monstrous because we thrive on anticipation. In today’s fast-paced society, anxiety can be found everywhere from finding the right clothes to wear in the morning to eating the right foods for dinner. Horror is an outlet for this anxiety. We are allowed to vent through the events of the characters, or victims. Horror is a fascinating genre because it delves into the many possibilities of the unknown. Anything could be lurking in the shadows, horror allows us to see what could be there.
Sara Hashem
Horror is something that has been around for centuries. The question is what really is horror? As defined by Webster’s dictionary, horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. However, for me horror is a feeling that arises from something that is unknown, for what is unknown can become a reality making one’s life be a horror novel. People might have different opinions as to what is and isn’t horror; yet something becomes horror when there is an equal balance between reality and fiction. When movies, books, television, and video games have too much fiction it makes the story non believable, causing no freight in its audience. Society now a days pay money to get a good scare. The reason for this is probably to experience something out of the norm. When watching a scary movie one gets adrenaline running through their body; the more real a horror film is the more scare the audience gets. Society will always enjoy watching horror movies no matter how old the plot is or how repetitive it has become. The pleasure of seeing other people suffer, gives people a wide span for their mind to wonder off into. The scariest horror films are those that the audience can see themselves in. Horror may be one of the oldest genres yet it will never get old, for people always tend to enjoy a good scare.
Karen Esquives
After reading Fred Botting’s “Future Horror”, I began to view the horror genre in a new light, or in this case, dark. I will admit that my knowledge of horror literature and films are very limited, and therefore I am curious as to why society is so incredibly fascinated with the horrifying and gruesome characters and story lines included in this genre. From the few horror films I have seen with friends, I realized that the sheer pleasure that comes from watching or reading horror is the rush of excitement as we watch the characters being chased, or we listen to the eerie voice on the phone beckoning for the victim to look under the bed. We love the feeling of anticipation and fright as we wait for the main character to come into contact with the horror element of the story. Viewers become consumed in the dark setting and supernatural environment and they anticipate all rationality and structure dissolving from existence, causing chaos to erupt, thereby bringing forth the horror and fantasy. To me, horror is more than simply a genre or category of literature and film. It is also a feeling. We are fascinated with the horror genre because of the feeling of trepidation and anxiety caused by the plot. We are captivated by the plot line and the characters that cause our hearts to both beat rapidly and stop at the same time. As Botting stated, “Unless the horror is spectacular no interest will be excited: human feeling is extinguished or anaesthetized or boredom sets in”. I believe that the horror genre will forever captivate society’s attention by enabling reality and fantasy to intertwine, thereby intriguing us by introducing the unknown (fantasy) into the known (reality).
I would define “horror” as any event or person or thing that invokes fear or feelings of extreme anxiety and paranoia in a person. Horror is different to every person. After all, dealing with spiders may be a horror to someone, and yet another person could be just fine and dandy interacting with spiders or the thought of them. I think the best definition of “horror” would be: something frightful that could occure in day to day life.” Usually, it is the possibility that whatever is scaring a person could become real that is the real horror. One can see this in dreams. If someone watches a Zombie movie, it may creep them out a bit, but they watch for entertainment. What makes that movie a horror is the nightmare they have later that night about their family and friends turning into zombies. We all know what this is like. The real thing that scares us in the horror film/book is the possibility that we could become involved.
Society is fascinated with horror because of this possibility. Scaring yourself with a movie or book or whatnot reminds you that you are alive, and that it has not happened to you yet. With some of the more gruesome or violent monster media, it reminds us that we live in a world that those creatures or things don’t happen in. We submit to the horror to give us a clearer view of the world we live in and it makes us appreciate life more.
Humans, collectively, seek to lie inside their comfort zone. Going outside of ones comfort zone and coming face to face with the unknown causes us to feel horror and terror. The tensing of the stomach, hair raising, chill you experience when something makes a noise in your empty apartment releases a rush of chemicals in our body, heightening our senses and raising our awareness levels. The natural flight or fight response is a natural response programmed into humans for eons. But as far as we can document in organized human society we find stories that elicit these feelings of fear and terror, a prime example being Beowulf. While not being a “horror” story there are instances where terror could be felt in the story, two horrible monsters, death, darkness, and blood. All these elements are in a story thousands of years old. So it is obvious we as humans seek to arouse these feelings in us. I feel that each individual seeks to find bring that primal feeling of sheer terror in them, the release of all those chemicals in an environment we can control is addicting. Many individuals are interested in seeing what it is that causes these feelings of “terror”. In my experience with terror and horror it is the darkness and sadism in people that causes me to experience a horrific feeling in movies or literature. Horror could also come from elements of the supernatural, the psychotic, or also from gore. Anything that causes us to feel fear or uneasiness, in my opinion, starts to delve into the horror genre.
I find horror to be more importantly an experienced feeling, as well as a genre of film and literature. Because the underlying elements in these medias have changed so much over time without the emotion of horror changing, those images and situations which caused horror in the past are unlikely to evoke the same degree of emotion in people today.
From my little experience with the horror genre, I have gleaned that the main elements in horror are suspense, anticipation, and fear of the unknown. The character creeping through the haunted house late at night is always afraid that something unknown lurking around the corner may jump out at any minute. Of course this setting was more commonly used in the past and today horror revolves more around modern advances in technology and fear of the unknown. No longer do horror films need to be set in a dark haunted house, they can be set in the brightness of daylight. In this way, the unknown can be seen. We are afraid of what new technology may bring and reveal to us that we were not familiar with before. We want to see what is beneath the surface and what lies beneath, but usually once we do we are revolted and horrified. This is because there may be nothing beneath but an empty void. The common thread in horror has been a fear of the unknown and an emptiness or lacking of something important or something we think should be there. In the past this emptiness has been the absence of a paternal figure and today it is a lack of self or a lack of something beneath the surface. This emptiness is what horrifies us the most.
Erin Berg
I believe that “Horror, ” although defined and categorized many different ways, has always dealt with unfamiliar situations. This belief comes from the different ways that different people perceive the films and how society has changed through the years. Old style (Gothic) horror had very much to do with ghosts, vampires, and monsters of what today is an extremely fictional nature. The relative lack of scientific knowledge 200 or even 100 years ago may have allowed those ‘villans’ to become very lifelike and even plausible to people who didn’t have a whole lot else to do besides use their imaginations. I think that more modern horror (especially in film) must be marketed and geared toward much more specific audiences depending on the nature of the story. Modern horror films of a gothic nature are sometimes not even considered horror films by many audiences. More specifically, the film “Van Helsing” was considered more of a display of bar-raising special effects than a horror story by many people, as was “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (a fairly sorry excuse for a story anyways in my opinion). Likewise war stories appeal to and evoke different emotions based on the demographic of viewers who watch them. War veterans many times perceive the war movies as an interesting attempt to portray something that most people are not familiar with. They are seldom ‘scary’ to the veterans, unless the movie so closely resembles war that it brings back emotions felt on the battlefield, as was the case with “Saving Private Ryan.” Also movies that contain excessive gore, exposure of internal organs, or contain a surgical theme have relatively little effect on those in the medical profession while scaring the heck out of or grossing out the rest of us. In conclusion, I believe that over time the relative level of complexity of life, and each individual, has grown significantly. With that, the average amount of knowledge each book-reader or movie-watcher contains has grown. Because it is more difficult to find things which are unfamiliar to a more educated audience, I believe that horror as we know it is a continuously adapting quest to find those things that subconsciously fascinate us just long enough to forget about the rules and constraints of reality.
Why do you read horror books, or go to see a horror movie? You go to be thrilled and scared out of your mind in relative safety, of course. Horror is something so out of the ordinary, strange and unknown that it can completely unnerve a person to the point of being in fear of that thing or event. Being that most people live their lives without something heart-racing just around the corner, watching that happen on a screen, rooting for that protagonist gives us that element in our lives. Many people enjoy a good mystery or something fantastical to jump start the imagination and take you place you cannot go in real life. I’m not saying everyone enjoys horror movies, but that many people like sensation of fear that such books or movies may incur on the body. Adrenaline pumping, accelerated breathing, and the knowledge that this is not real. Because if it were real, it would be a different kind of horror; a real and personal horror and something you would not enjoy because it was happening to you. Knowing what is right and wrong also affects one’s view of horror. Horror usually involves something very wrong as set by society or anything immoral that shakes the soul. The horror genre is very vast because it can involve a range of horror from old gothic horror to that of the contemporary. But horror is also changing as society changes. New technologies and new ideals in society can change how horror is viewed and because of this, horror will always exist and many people will always be interested in it.
I think society is fascinated with the terrifying and monstrous in literature and film because it distracts us from our own personal horrors. In general, kids do not like to be scared. However, adults enjoy “horror” movies. The difference in each groups appeal to horror is because as children we do not have much to fear. The things that trouble us are generally things we seen in horror films and on television. On the other hand, as adults we are scared and worried about dozens of things, including bills, jobs, school, relationships, etc. When we watch horror movies, we are removed from our own troubles and have the brief pleasure of watching another’s pain. I guess the jouissance idea would apply here.
I agree with Botting’s assessment of contemporary horror. I feel it is about uncertainty and the void beneath surfaces. Horror is no longer limited to dead spirits and creepy houses but now anything that has to do with pain has become horror. Physical pain inflicted upon humans is the most common theme I see reflected in contemporary horror. Today, this pain and the removal of certainty make works of art horror. Film directors have mastered taking everyday events and turning them into horror films. Everything from riding a plane to going on vacation or missing a phone call can spook people these days, because someone has brought the worst horrors of those situations to light through horror scenes.
One aspect I’ve noticed is how there’s a general consensus accepting Botting’s argument of emptiness. I can’t say I agree 100% with it. There is no doubt that people are afraid of the unknown, especially a void. However, I think a lot of contemporary horror comes from a new expanded definition of the word “monster.” This would also go against the notation that Gothic style writing is fading. Monsters don’t necessary have to have fangs or crave human brains. Monsters can be those surgeons invading a human body or that psychopath. They can be the technology people unwillingly created. It could also be that humans are afraid of going under the skin to only find a monster underneath. Perhaps the void is a monster! I think that the word monster has been upgraded to something that is more relevant with this generation and not something completely different from Gothic traditions.
If idea of leaving a movie theater so scared that you do not want to drive home by yourself because you’re scared that someone might be in your backseat excites you, then you probably are like most of contemporary society who enjoy horrific and terror-filled depictions. The reason I believe this to be true is that society likes things that are unpredictable, and random. You never know what is going to happen next and that excites and draws you in. That sense of not knowing what is going to happen when you see the lone actress walking to her car at 3am makes people sit on the edge of their seats, bite their fingernails, and grab the stranger closest to them. And after the scene is over, everyone laughs to get the butterflies out of their stomach, the lumps out of their throats, and their heart rate back to normal. To me, that is what the horror genre describes. Horror doesn’t have to be fictional either. We often hear news reporters describe events like the shootings at Columbine or Virginia Tech as horrific. Although these events were true, they were horrific in the sense of the scene they left behind and feelings and thoughts that they provoked from society.
nsimmons
Horror has more meanings than one, with an undercurrent of many other genres which include those of macabre melodramas, slasher and psychological horror. Each one not only presents horror in a different form, but does so—in my opinion—with a different intent in mind. All of these definitions here on this forum are encompassing and many touch on the various aspects of the genre: the fear of the unknown, reality, obscurity, nightmarish, sudden shocks, paranoia, technophobia, distortion, and what I agree with the most, anticipation. The latter I feel borders many of the subcategories of horror. Whether it is in regards to Gothic horror where the unknown is slowly revealed or with the slasher genre where the anticipation lies in the manipulator’s procrastination to mutilate the body, the anticipation is what builds up the fear, the anxiety, which is finally released in the disclosure of the secret or when the body is actually severed. This release, I believe, is the pleasure that the viewer/reader receives. Of course, this then leads to many theories on sadism/masochism, which I think is another element of horror. Or to be broader, I think that gender and sex are underlying themes in the horror genre. Just as men hold the phallic power, the women in horror become victims because of their ability to castrate. This division of sex roles is most prevalent in the slasher genre where women are almost always the victims of brutality. Because viewers adjust to the levels of gore, there is a constant change in the genre to retain the ability to horrify; thus, we see a myriad of ways in which to describe horror, as it is constantly being redefined through intensity, through other forms such as psychology, or through the re-exploration of antiquated forms of horror.
In response to Caroline: The feeling of horror and the genre of horror are naturally intertwined. But one can feel horrified by experiencing various things such as a heavy dose of reality, something fantastically absurd, or something that is meant to instill fear in people. What the horror genre does is narrow down what strikes fear in people and magnifies it. In my experience, most horror stories take place in the span of a few days or so with a historical explanation strategically placed in the very beginning. This effect allows for a very fast-paced set of events while still leaving the unknown only partially exposed. It is also the case in most horror stories to leave the horrifying aspect of the story intact after the plot has been resolved; the haunted mansion remains, the monster runs off into the woods, or ghost was never seen again. This what’s-left-behind feature allows for a cycle of horrifying events, hence adding to the feeling of horror.
Along with the increase of crime and violence in society have come some uneasy feelings about security. This discomfort can lead to certain individuals’ pleasure or misery. The fact that many of the occurrences in horror can actually take place stimulates the excitement of the majority of the audience. It seems that society has chosen to embrace the concept of horror rather than reject it. The shock and thrill characteristics spark emotions that would not normally be touched on in every-day life. Film and literature that contain fierce elements tend to have great success in the mainstream market and evoke a sense of desire from the audience. The horror genre could be simply defined as any type of literature, film, etc… that frightens the people that choose to embark upon the psychological journey that goes along with the piece. The main purpose of horror is to traumatize the audience, horror is not about touching upon the sensitive side, rather it is about attacking weaknesses. Something is horror when it contains terrifying elements such as a monster or a serial killer that disturbs the peace of a conventional living. People are so terrified by horror because it is very difficult to delineate between the real and unreal threats. Even though a monster such as Godzilla or the monster in Frankenstein have not actually been sighted in real life, people are still inclined to believe that somehow, someway, something similar could appear. That is of course, during the presentation, when all rational thoughts are thrown out the window.
Carlos Rodriguez
Horror, loosely defined, is a usually fiction work that invokes intense feelings of fear, revulsion or hatred. In the modern horror genre, the film has become the primary means of delivery and stereotypically contains suspense elements and gratuitous violence. The advent of computer generated images has enabled the ‘slasher’ film to gain popularity. This is in contrast to the classic sense of horror as seen through the gothic tradition. Gothic horror relies on an upheaval of social order and secretiveness leading to a descent into chaos unsettling the observer’s sense of morals and structure. The average viewer of horror movies is interested in seeing the mayhem and carnage involved in violent acts. The reason why people want to see the physical evidence behind the saying that the body is 60% water is beyond me, but studies have been conducted in this field. In a study presented at a recent meeting of the American Economic Association found that violent movies seem to actually decrease crime rates, likely due to the fact that the contributors to violent crimes are satiated by viewing the spectacle rather than participating in it.
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