The Horror Genre
John Ink2Quill
www.ink2quill.com

The horror genre is one of the most popular and well liked in all of entertainment and storytelling. Whether you love it or not, having a movie give you goosebumps or make you squirm in your seat, is an interesting thing these stories can do. Movies like “Silence Of The Lambs”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Babadook”, “The Watchers”, “The Mist” or “Jeepers Creepers” are so disturbing. The idea of having a villain, who is preternatural or even supernatural chasing down people and that person could be you is terrifying. Those villains give goosebumps. they can fly, they can be super strong and fast and always one step ahead. The people in horror movies are often like animals caught in a trap, scrambling around in panic and terror.

So what are some of the elements of a great horror story? The single most obvious is the preternatural/supernatural foe that hunts them. That villain can be human like Hannibal Lecter or supernatural like the creature in the film “Babadook”. These villains invade the lives of people in so many ways, usually when the person is most vulnerable like in the middle of the night. These villains can also keep the people trapped in a house like in the film “Silence Of The Lambs”, or town even supermarket like in the film “The Mist”. They are stuck and must figure a way out or get help from the outside. In short, the villain is terrifying and coming for you.

Another good element is the person or people on a type of scarry quest like in the films “The Watchers” where they must figure out what is going on, what the threats are and how to get out. I’m thinking of the film “Escape Room 2: Tournament Of Champions” as a good example where the people are literally stuck in a room and must figure out puzzles to escape from room to room and eventually exit the deadly maze. In this example the villain is the maze itself and the people running it. How clever?

What about the monster? Yes the terrifying beast. You can legitimately argue that Hannibal Lecter is a monster, because he is, but I mean the non-human type. Even Vampires and Werewolves are in this category of beast. The transformed person, from human to monster is in this category. A good, terrifying beast can make a good horror film. No doubt. Ghosts and galactic aliens can be included in this group too.

These are some of the elements that make the horror genre will never disappear from storytelling. So, go out and enjoy it.

John Ink2Quill

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