Enjoying Horror

Source 1

In his journal entry, Prohászková dives into the genre of horror and its great history and numerous purposes. He begins with a statement, similar to that of H.P. Lovecraft in the Horror History Presentation, and writes, “The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear. It is embedded in people since time began. It was fear that initiated the establishment of faith and religion” (2012). Over and over again, Prohászková makes the point that humans tend to create other characters or “high powers” when they are in need of an explanation for something that creates fear. He attributes this delegation to the human imagination, which “knows no limits,” and along with fear, come three separate genres: science fiction, fantasy, and horrow.

In the Aesthetics of Horror Presentation, a few questions are proposed including one calling for an answer to the purpose of the genre of horror; “Why do we want to ‘escape’ with a genre that stimulates fear and anxiety as it considers horrible events?” What is it about horror that specifically magnetizes viewers’ attention? Prohászková suggests four different “motivational groups”of horror-viewers and readers. He includes the gore watchers, the thrill watchers, the independent watchers, and the problem watchers. He describes the gore watchers as those who are interested in violence and revenge. They are people that may be driven by desires for revenge. The thrill watchers are more driven by emotions, especially tension and excitement, and these viewers are often driven by a sense of adventure. The independent watchers differ from the first two in that their interest in horror resides in the act of testing themselves. They wish to test their own bravery and maturity levels and may exhibit low levels of “dispositional empathy.” The problem watchers are similar to the independent watchers in this “testing” of one’s self, but they enjoy testing their problem solving skills when reading or viewing horror. These viewers may relate to the victim in the horror scenario.

It was certainly interesting reading about these intrinsic motivations for viewing or reading horror because I had always just assumed the motivation to be emotions-driven, like the thrill watchers in Prohászková’s account. In her writing, Carroll also realizes that emotions, and specifically pleasure, play a large role in people’s preference for horror. She writes, “the horror genre gives every evidence of being pleasurable to its audience, but it does so by means of trafficking in the very sorts of things that cause disquiet, distress, and displeasure.” When something horrific is “housed in an aesthetic context,” like a book, movie, or show, it attracts this feeling of pleasure, which acts as an invitation for the viewer’s attention and curiosities.

Why horror? Because it creates yet another medium for the bridging of aestheticism and the human experience. Although somewhat hard to accept, horrific events, certainly negative in characteristic, have the ability to provoke positive feelings in an aesthetic context.

Source 2

In his edition of The Horror Film, Stephen Prince also writes on the purpose of the genre of horror. He claims that this specific genre “resonates with social and cultural meanings,” rather than emotions (2004). Prince claims that these social and cultural interests are addressed in horror films, including exorcism, like that in The Exorcist, and are resolved subliminally via the viewer. Prince claims that these social and cultural ideas may be specific to the time period, or they may be universal over all time periods.

When it all boils down, what is left is the nature of all humanity, and this is what drives our curiosity in horror. Prince justifies this by saying, “the state of being human is fundamentally uncertain,” which justifies the theories of humans becoming “undead” and returning as zombies, ghosts, or other monsters. More intrinsic, however, is another self-motive, which is the anxiety that accompanies the integrity of the self and of the group.

In the History of Horror Presentation, many appeals to the horror genre are suggested, and one states “To discover the possibility of something creepy within myself” (2009). Prince’s writing seems to go hand-in-hand with this suggested appeal because of the self-reflective aspect that horror may provide. Prince proposes another similar question, and that is What must be done to remain human? He suggests that the exposure to horrific characters and creatures cause the viewer to want to be more human, or perhaps more mortal is a better phrase. Returning to the appeal from the presentation, perhaps it is rather not finding something creepy within the self that is more appealing.

Rather than toying with emotions, Prince suggests that the senses are employed while watching a horror film. He claims that “horror goes straight to the deepest unease at the core of human existence… the genre corresponds more profoundly with our contemporary sense of the world than do the others.” He believes this sense to be one of hope, and suggests that the fact that horror films are separate from actual life with their “sense of faraway places and things” is reassuring, and this provides a deeper meaning to the audience than any that can be achieved with other genres. Prince describes that there exist everyday fears, including the true intentions of airplane passengers, that may not have answers to them and may continue to cultivate fear in the human experience. But, horror films do not go unanswered, and within that, viewers find hope and reassurance.

In comparison, Carroll writes that horror films deviate from the “general narrative motivation” by creating something that is “unknowable,” but that these unfamiliar themes – perhaps a horrific monster – are answered to when they are physically revealed in films. Their true characteristics, whether physical, emotional, or mental, are announced, and this confirmation is what draws viewers in so consistently.

Although Prince advises that horror pulls at the human senses, ultimately these senses affect emotions. Within these emotions are the true motivations for human interest in the genre of horror. Regardless, humans are always searching for answers, especially to their existence and to their well-being, making the attraction of the “unknown” difficult to escape from.

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

Huette, S. (2009). Aesthetics of Horror Presentation. University of Oregon.

Huette, S. (2009). History of Horror Presentation. University of Oregon.

Prince, Stephen (2004). The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press.

Prohászková, V. (2012). The Genre of Horror. American International Journal of Contemporary Research (Vol 2; No 4)