Horror Fiction is a genre which is intended to frighten its audience, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It tends to lean towards supernatural however it doesn't always have to involve this. Ancient origins date it back to the early eighteenth century when Horace Walpole wrote a book called 'Castle of Otranto' in 1764, it was the first Gothic Horror.
Traits of this genre include
- Provokes response, emotionally, psychological, physical (a reaction to fear)
- Unreal figures : Phantoms, mummies, witches, vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts etc.
- Real figures : Murderers, Serial Killers, Cannibals etc.
Acclimation to me seems to be a significant part of the anticipation, things need to progress to keep the audience both on edge and interested. If you continuously repeat the same mechanics and same level of shock the audience will sooner or later become accustom to it. In short it is repeated exposure to similar situations which leads to familiarity and greatly reduces the feeling of fear and resulting elation and thrill.
There is a definitive difference between terror and horror. Terror is the feeling of dread (Anticipation) where as Horror is the feeling of revulsion or disgust (Gore/Blood). I have found that you can create something much more scary in the mind of the person, because the imagination of someone has no bounds where as a physical appearance of something scary can be measured and understood, where as something invisible is intangible and immeasurable.
There are also two kinds of fear, biochemical and emotional.
Biochemical fear involves naturally high adrenaline levels, an automatic response (instinctive, something crucial to our survival so far in this world!) and the "fight or flight" response.
Emotional fear is something that is highly personalised from birth, throughout your life you develop certain tolerances to things such as phobias of spiders, so where someone may be petrified by them someone else may keep them as pets.
Fear is often related to the behaviors of escape and avoidance. Anxiety is the result of a threat that is perceived to be either uncontrollable or unavoidable.
Its important to note that people actually enjoy the experience of being scared (fear) aslong as the environment they are in is safe. Although there are people who seak fear inducing thrill situations such as sky diving or tombstoning (which has a high risk).
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Invisible Power
Intangible (psychological fear)
Immeasurable
In-Between state - Communicates is translated through physical space (Audio, visual, physical etc.)
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Visible Power
Measurable
Political Association
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Communication
Communication within the horror genre is generally conceived through a variety of different mediums. Examples of this would be interference, repetition, noise, x-ray image or through television static.
In The Ring, television static is one of the mediums used though which ghosts are transmitted, the ghosts crawl out of the static nearing the end of the film (It progressively gets more intense, acclimation is taking place). I quite like the idea of there being some form of substance which has a one way effect, the antagonists may venture through it but the protagonist is stuck in the existing world.
Its also important to note that the ghost in The Ring arrives in the family by unknown means and then proceeds to have a malign effect on the whole island. I also see the need for mystery within the story and that not everything needs to be explained to the audience, allowing there own imagination to fill in the blanks.
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Freud's essay on "the Uncanny"
It explains the Uncanny links both repressed childhood memories and primitive human experience to the cause of supernatural events. It seems to be a recurring aspect in horror films to link in repressed memories with the later actions of people/events within the film.
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Devaluation of Mysticism
The concept of disenchantment (or repression of magic). Max Webber described modern secular society (scientific understanding is more valued than belief) as disenchanted. This is many horrors, lead to reason/rationality coming under specific attack by paranormal forces. Linking back to Freud's essay, the return of repressed childhood memories often refers to the experience of disenchantment (loss of innocence or buried memories).
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Abjection
To be abject is to be cast off. In critical theory the term is used to describe the state of marginalized groups (those excluded from the mainstream). One who does not "Respect borders, positions, [and] rules." This quote is taken from Julia Kristera's essay on Abjection.
In horror we often encounter the object, usually in the form of body horror. It's often what makes us look away from the screen. Things don't appear to be right, whether its a precocious child or something that looks wrong in the way it moves. For example in The Ring, the girl climbing out of the well...
Many horrors also categories people/creatures immediately, but from what I've been reading it appears by far the scariest things are those which cannot be categorized as if they share qualities of two things for example alive/dead.
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Summary
Focuses mainly on a victims/survivors
Intangible forces play a large part (Supernatural)
Suspense and Acclimation
Communication through a variety of mediums
Repressed memories
Demonic figures are effective
Body horror (shock)
Biochemical fear has mass appeal
Physical horror is measurable, a combination is more effective
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