Why Horror?

[Make Them Die Slowly]

A few threads at the moment are discussing why people like horror,I thought it would be good to gather all peoples' thoughts together in one place.

So why do you like horror?

[trench]

When I was a kid me and my da would watch whatever horror was on telly. The first birthday present I truly remember getting was a book on horror films. Always loved horror films. And then growing up during the whole video nasty furore, reading about them in the papers and seeing those fantastic covers in the local video shop, well, what can I say?

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by trench

When I was a kid me and my da would watch whatever horror was on telly. The first birthday present I truly remember getting was a book on horror films. Always loved horror films. And then growing up during the whole video nasty furore, reading about them in the papers and seeing those fantastic covers in the local video shop, well, what can I say?

What was the book,Trench?

[kathyacker]

Originally Posted by trench

And then growing up during the whole video nasty furore, reading about them in the papers and seeing those fantastic covers in the local video shop, well, what can I say?

yes, thats a huge part of it for me too... growing up in the 80s and seeing them in the local 'ritz' video rental. the insane covers, and the fact they were considered to be so dangerous back then just made the mind boggle!

again, its psychological i think - childhood memories are really important in these things.

and its ridiculous, but even now, in my 20s, i get a slight kinda rebellious, transgressive thrill from buying/watching them because they were forbidden when i was subject to my parent's control! and at the same time a guilt-shifting thing, because i watch them and see that there is nothing at all 'wrong' about watching (most of) them.

[Peter Neal]

Horror as a genre offers the widest range of emotions and allows you to face and deal with both, primal fears and those dark, irrational corners in the human mind. Acknowledging them gives you a much better idea about yourself as a human being....and I don't care if that sounds pathetic as that's simply my take on the genre, both as a (struggling) writer and a regular horror movie viewer.

kathyacker wrote: "and its ridiculous, but even now, in my 20s, i get a slight kinda rebellious, transgressive thrill from buying/watching them because they were forbidden when i was subject to my parent's control! and at the same time a guilt-shifting thing, because i watch them and see that there is nothing at all 'wrong' about watching (most of) them."


That is SOOOOO true, particularly for me as a German horror fan, as the very active censorship over there still turns the simple act of watching the likes of "Dawn of the Dead", "Phantsam" or "Halloween 2" into rebellious behaviour, as those flicks still can't be legally sold in Germany...and yes, the year is 2009!

[trench]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

What was the book,Trench?

I have no idea, I was really young when I got it, maybe 6 or 7 and it seems to have disappeared unfortunately. I thought it might have been this one :



but I was about 11 when I got this. Some great stills in this one.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

I had that one too,and ones by Dennis Gifford,David Pirie and Alan Frank.Sadly they all have disappeared over the years.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

I was destined to like horror,my parents first date was the 1958 Hammer "Dracula".Like Trench,I was into horror from a young age and growing up in the '70s,horror was everywhere.Loads of books as mentioned in my last post could be found in WH Smiths,BBC2 had the horror double bills and newsagents stocked "Dracula Lives" and "Hammer's House of Horror"

I even had horror toys,Dracula,Frankenstein and Wolf Man dolls.The first two had glow in the dark eyes and hands

Then video came along and changed my concept of what a horror film could be.I was blown away by all the sex and violence and felt like I'd come home.

As to why I like horror,I don't really know.Sure there is the transgressive element to watching extreme films and I kinda like the outsider status of being a fan of horror but mainly the films are pure fantasy and escapism.

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I even had horror toys,Dracula,Frankenstein and Wolf Man dolls.The first two had glow in the dark eyes and hands

I used the have the full set of these (made by Aurora). Salem Witch, King Kong, Forgotten Prisoner etc. Even had the Guillotine model - plus a skeleton (which never seem to balance properly on the wire stand) and the model of The Visible Man (anyone remember that one?).

Great stuff.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by vincenzo

I used the have the full set of these (made by Aurora). Salem Witch, King Kong, Forgotten Prisoner etc. Even had the Guillotine model - plus a skeleton (which never seem to balance properly on the wire stand).

Great stuff.

I had them as well, but the ones I'm talking about where proper dolls about the size of Little Big Man(remember him?)that I got on holiday in Spain.They were great cos they moved just like Action Man and you could play with them.