The Nature of Horror

I find that whenever I discuss the topic of horror with others, I am faced with backlash and controversy: ‘Why do you want to talk about horror? It’s just a lot of meaningless gore. It’s not always nice to try and scare people’. The apprehension and annoyance associated with horror fiction has always seemed strange to me, as well as associating horror (especially body horror) with simplicity and meaninglessness. Ciabattari does this by asking of Stephen King, ‘should [we] take King seriously?’ (2014) and by claiming that he is a ‘guru of gore’ (2014).

Similarly, in an interview, Balshaw claims that, ‘the body has [always] been a constant theme in stories of horror and the supernatural’ (2012) and is all that horror can offer. The utilisation of body horror dates back to the Greeks, whereupon the ‘demonised spirit… [of] Phrike’ existed who was said to possess a blade and torment people with it. As Atsma outlines, ‘Phrike was [said to be]… the personified spirit (daimona) of horror and trembling fear. She was a mere severe form of Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror)’ (2016). However, if we think only about how the genre depicts ‘the latest gory slice of body horror… [only to make] shockwaves’ (Balshaw, 2012), doesn’t this stop us from acknowledging how horror can educate the mind by conveying psychoanalytical messages that will prove intriguing to the human subconscious?

I believe it is problematic to associate horror writers with the surface layer of ‘meaningless’ gore, especially because it is primarily through displays of physical horror itself that these psychoanalytical messages about ourselves and our fears are conveyed. (click here)

For example, in King’s ‘The Cat from Hell’, (click here) it is only after Halston is overpowered by the cat that we truly acknowledge the uninformed nature of our position as human beings. As humans, we undeniably consider ourselves the most superior race. However, the inclusion of a cat crawling down a throat and poking its face out of flesh forces us to face the realisation that, in reality, anything has the potential to come and overpower us. This does not have to be a generic and ‘characterless killer [from a]… slasher movie’ (Jones, 2002: 101).

As well as forcing us to question our placement, positioning and superiority, body horror encourages reconsideration of our sense of judgement and certainty regarding the uncontrollable. This is proved whereupon Halston considers Drogan’s assertion for killing as a joke, ‘I ought to kill you for that, old man. I don’t take a joke’ (King, 2009). King even later claims that Halston ‘was surprised to find that he was taking it seriously as a hit’ (2009), showing us the flawed nature of what it means to be human and that this flawed nature could lead to drastic circumstances. In this sense, King’s narrative stands as a warning.

Due to such narratives conveying messages about what it really means to be human, is it reasonable to argue that, due to body horror seeping under its surface layer, horror is much more meaningful than is usually assumed? Body horror does not just exist to frighten. Instead, it exists to educate people about the nature of their own fear through the way it is depicted. What we can see – and what is above or on the surface – is assumed to be the reality.

However, to find the nature of our own fear, we must look beyond the surface layer of gore in the narrative and consider how the piece frightens us in relation to how exactly the gore is utilised. We must consider how such utilisation operates around our own fears, and why it is effective in exploiting us within them. Arguably, there are many messages behind seemingly ‘meaningless’ and gory horror that teach us about our own nature of fear and what it means to be human. Even though they may appear harder to find or understand in the piece, it does not mean they do not exist and it does not mean they are not really there.

Sources

Atsma, A J. (2016) ‘Phrike’. Available at: http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Phrike.html

Balshaw, S. (2012) ‘The Flesh is Evil and Must Be Punished! Your Guide to Body Horror from Page to Screen’. Available at: http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/28095667-flesh-evil-and-must-be-punished-your-guide-body-horror-page-screen [accessed 17 November 2016].

Ciabattari, J. (2014) ‘Is Stephen King a Great Writer?’ Available at: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141031-is-stephen-king-a-great-writer [accessed 15 November 2016].

Jones, D. (2002) Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film, London: Hodder.

King, S. (2008) ‘The Cat from Hell’ in Just After Sunset, London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Lavery, K. (2016) ‘Horror: It’s More Than Frights and Gore’. Available at: http://www.scifiandscary.com/horror-frights-gore/ [accessed 24 November 2016].

Moore, D. (2013) ‘The Cat from Hell (1990)’. Available at: http://www.cdennismoore.com/news-events/cat-from-hell-1990/ [accessed 24 November 2016].