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The first article I find online is called “Why our brains love horror movies”. The author Sharon Begley discussed about several reasons for why people love horror movies and mentioned about different aspect of the art of horror. In the article, the first reason discussed is people go to horror movies to be scared. People know that the movie should be scary, but it is fine because they will not have any hurt after watching the horror movies. And another reason is the horror movies are one of the best ways to be excited for people who love it. Therefore, this is also why horror movies are popular through the younger generation. The article also discussed about the catharsis theory as one of the reasons for people to watch the horror movies. People could express their negative emotions when they watch the scary movies. However, it is not good for young people to catharsis while watching the horror movies, they rather to learn how to manage their fears by the horror movies.  The reason that older adults are not interested in horror movies is that they do not want to experience the fears in the movies, and the normal life they live with is scary enough.

Another article I find online is called “The critique of pure horror”. The author, Jason Zinoman discussed about the question why we love to be scared and the reason why people are doing the research on the art of horror. The author mentioned that scary movies are the windows for us to express our society represses or oppresses. Some scholars think that horror will hurt the positive emotions, however, others believe that the horror movies are the safe and cathartic way to express the negative feelings. There are several books which relate to horror was mentioned in this article, and the theories of horror were discussed in different aspects. The reason for introducing those theories is ask the question why people love horror experience, and there should not have a single theory that can explain why horror art is beautiful.

In my opinion, the reason why we love to watch horror movies is that basically as the human nature. People will explore what is unknown for us, and it is always an interesting topic for everyone to discover. In the course reading, the author Carroll mentioned about the horror movies that “It engages its audience by being involved in processes of disclosure, discovery, proof, explanation, hypothesis, and confirmation” (Page 279). This means that the process of how people view the horror movies are similar as the process of science or other human findings. This point of view also being discussed in the article “The critique of pure horror”. The author, Jason mentioned that “The horror is rooted in the unknown, but this strangeness also sparks curiosity and fascination” (Jason 2011). By stating the nature of horror, we could find that it has a close relation with the unknown as well as curiosity.

Another issue being discussed in those articles is that horror movies will make people exciting and catharsis their negative emotions. For me, I will feel better after I watch the horror movies, because I will see something scary but I am not in the situation as it shows in the movies. People will experience the aesthetic of horror, and they will catharsis the bad feelings they have. According to the course reading, Carroll mentioned that “The disclosure of the existence of the horrific being and of its properties is the central source of pleasure in the genre” (Page 282). This proof that horror movies can help people feeling pleasure. In the article “Why our brains love horror movies”, we can also find the evidence for how horror movies influence human emotions. The author Sharon mentioned that “There are people who have a tremendous need for stimulation and excitement, and horror movies are one of the better ways to get really excited” (Sharon 2011). This is why the art of horror is an important part of human culture.

Reference:

Begley, S. (11, October 11). Why Our Brains Love Horror Movies. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/25/why-our-brains-love-horror-movies-fear-catharsis-a-sense-of-doom.html

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (Eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., pp. 275-294). New York, NY: Routledge.

Zinoman, J. (2011, July 16). The Critique of Pure Horror. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/17gray.html

One example of a diegetic sound is in the beginning of the film when the little girl was singing the song with a box in her hands. We know that the sound was coming from the girl which means this is a diegetic sound. This diegetic sound contributes to the aesthetic of horror for the movie because it makes me afraid when I heard the song from the girl. I guess there must be something horror after the sound, and I am right because the man becomes the ghost then.

One example of a non-diegetic sound is when the building where the ghost living shows up, the background music is horrify and scare me. This happened in about the 22 minutes of the movie. This also contributes to the aesthetic of horror for the movie, because the sound means that ghost will come out and catch people.

The example for mise-en-scene is when the ghosts and zombies come out to catch people. There were several ghosts who are floating on the road, and those zombies are followed with them. It was in the night, and only little lights around them. This was scared because those ghosts were nauseating, and the zombies were horrified. I think this mise-en-scene contributes to the aesthetic of horror for the video as it wondering what will happen after.