Narrative Elements Of Horror

The movie industry has been developing fast recent years. Due to the improvement of technology, movies are becoming much more widespread nowadays, and especially for the horror movies. Movie directors are able to pursue as many special effects as they can to create a horror atmosphere, which makes those movie plots more eye-catching for the audiences. Honestly, I am not a fan of horror movies. I am not scared of it, I just feel a little bored about it, and I am also confused why people still want to see those movies if they feel paranoid after watching it. However, after reading two articles in Monsters, I come to realize the meaning of creation of horror movies, which is not only for fun, but also a review of our real life. Those ideas indicated by Chuck Klosterman and Stephen King are kind of similar, yet differently inherent.

What is common between most horror films and texts? They all use similar types of codes and conventions. These codes and conventions differ between genre and can be easily identified. These also reflect the values of the audience they are intended for. The 1993 stop-motion animated film, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, directed by Henry Selick, and the 1845 poem, ‘The Raven’, written by Edgar Allan Poe, are both a part of the horror genre, as they follow the codes and conventions of that genre. They use similar visuals, sounds, characterisation, and themes. Using these and other conventions, audiences can identify a genre, which influences their opinions and feelings about the genre.

This open letter is directed at the directors of Horror films. This letter will discus the over used gimmicks and the lack of creativity on their part. It will be written in a conversational way with the use of pathos of how these movies are faulty with a touch of humor, and rhetorical questions to emphasize certain points of my discussion of this topic. I will also use ethos through my time as a film fanatic who is passionate on all that is film especially horror film which is my favorite film genre, and is the largest genre with so many subgenres within it that have the ability to use so much imagination. I have crafted this conversation to be directed towards the directors of horror films with the use of film lingo that is used for this genre, movie examples they should look at, and a deep analysis of what and how this problem cause movie of today to lack in appeal.

Horror is the genre that keeps the reader on their toes for nights upon end. It keeps them thinking. Thinking about how cruel and disturbing someone, or something, could possibly be. Thinking about what in the world happens to a character after the story drops off in a cliffhanger. Thinking about the probability that the events in the narrative could transpire in real life. Thinking about how likely it is for those things to happen to the reader. Refusing to look out their window in fear of seeing the glimpse of a murderous face, and listening to every sound with acute accuracy, praying that the noise is not one of a stranger creeping up the stairs. Scary accounts make the reader live in fear whenever the

“Why we crave horror movie” is a type of mini review written by Stephen King in playboy 1981 in which he had discussed, various features of the horror movies. Stephen King is an American writer well famous for writing the horror movies and is popular in the world of literature as Richard Bachman. In this mini-review King had used an ethical approach to delineate the differences between the some of the horror movies and to highlight certain psychological factors responsible for people’s craving for the horror movies. In this piece of writing, King had spotted certain emotions that become reason for this psychological drive. Moreover, he by using his straightforward approach

The foundation of horror genre was set by monsters that not only haunted your dreams but also conveyed rich themes found deep beneath the surface. Vampires are considered a symbol of seduction and sophistication while Frankenstein monsters represent misunderstanding, oppression, and rebellion. Some of the strongest symbolism is found in standard films of the horror genre does not come from the frequently updated relics. Utilizing fear and horror as mechanisms for subtext, social commentary, and symbolism, George Romero created a new horror genre, one that scares and shines just as much as great horror classics. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead revolutionized the once stagnant zombie film and made into something unstoppable, still to this day zombie movies rake in millions of ticket sales at the box office while remaining culturally relevant.

If somebody asked me what my favorite type of movie is I would probably say horror. I would say horror because it provides a thrill in me that no other type of movie sparks within me. When reading Stephen King’s article I realized there is more to a horror movie than just thrill, there is anticipation, and even suspense shown. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King uses a mysterious tone and pathos to successfully persuade his audience of kids and adults into watching mysterious horror movies that will let you re-establish your feelings.

Although the violence in both films is quite obvious as the films progress, both film’s psychological horror is present in the early stages of the films, this form of horror is essential to both films in gaining the audiences attention and developing their own horror. This is portrayed effectively by the use of bland, uninteresting isolated settings. This isolation establishes the tense atmosphere of the films, and the everyday settings of a small village and a block of flats gives a sense of reality to the horror. This creates a relationship between the audience and the setting of the horror, and this is developed to create some effective jolts as both films progress. Characterisation can be used to isolate the audience from the horror, or develop a relationship with it, depending on how the characters are established.

Since it’s infancy at the beginning of the eighteenth century, horror has followed certain conventions that results in an awakening of the senses, evoking intense emotions of fear and terror in the audience. Horror feeds off triggering the primal fears embedded within all of humankind, creating a sense of menace that is the very substance of this genre. Furthermore, the central menace of a piece tends to enlighten the human mind to the world of the paranormal and the enigmatic, dark side of the unknown. The movie “Psycho” directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a perfect example. Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre, “Psycho” was filmed with great tact, grace and art in regards to horror conventions.

Wes Craven’s horror movie “Scream”, inspired the gruesome murder of Gina Castillo. Castillo’s sixteen year old son and his fifteen year old cousin killed Gina Castillo. Why would anyone wish to watch the petrifying film, “Scream”? What would trigger a person to take inspiration from the horror movie, “Scream”. Stephen King describes horror as a piece of the human condition. Author of several horror novels, Stephen King wrote an essay titled “Why We Crave Horror.” In this paper he thoroughly explains why the human species craves horror and how it makes humans feel. In this essay, Stephen King precisely claims that humans desire, horror because horror pushes them to face their fears, renew their feelings of normality, and to expose

Horror is the most personal media genre because of how it can uniquely connect an audience to the traumatic aspects of human struggle. As a result, I like to define horror like this: horror is any instance when an audience is given an uncomfortable look at something that disturbs them. This definition is intended to give room for a cultural interpretation to horror; if something would have scared someone in the past because of something unique about their culture, it can still be considered horror. This is the primary vehicle with which I’ll argue that horror has existed as long as the English language has. Looking back at the medieval horror excerpts and Beowulf, there are many elements that would scare the audiences of their times that wouldn’t immediately affect a modern audience without thorough analysis. Because audiences in the Middle Ages were terrified of God, descriptions of hell and punishment were works of horror centered around fear of the divine. Likewise in Beowulf, in addition to containing an explicit, modern-esque monster in Grendel, Grendel’s Dam would have been seen as a horrifying figure because women were mostly used as negotiable objects for marriage in the 700s. In these ways, these works are evidence that horror has been around since before Frankenstein.

In Stephen King’s somewhat subjective essay in the 1984 Playboy magazine, Why We Crave Horror Movies, King describes his reasoning behind why so many people are fond of watching movies residing in the horror genre. The content of his essay, though inserted in an unconventional area for

Moreover they deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares. Some horror films exhibit a substantial

A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? Horror can be defined as an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. (Wilson) The description of horror is not very pleasant, but for some reason horror films are extremely popular. Why is this so? People are addicted to the

In the silent era, most American horror movies were somewhat nervous efforts, more likely than not to have their supernatural elements explained away, and to be leavened still further by the insertion of the most painful kind of “comedy relief.” As far as actual screen horror went, the Germans expressed their films in their way; this would not change the way horror films were created until sound cinema. The year 1931 would prove to be a landmark in the history of screen horror. Horror films during this period reflected the need of the population for entertainment that bore little resemblance to their real-world circumstances. The viewer's favorite movies had highly fantastical creations and featuring supernatural creatures from 19th-century literature. Universal Pictures was undoubtedly the studio that most successfully tapped the audience’s desire for escapist horror during the period. There were successful horror films produced by other studios in the 1930s.