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0 What Draws Me to Horror?
I’ve always wondered why people get drawn in by the horror genre. In our daily lives, I, and I assume others, try to avoid horrific events like serial killers and kidnappings. And obviously to make sure I don’t become Netflix’s next best series. So why dive into these mediums?
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Well, I think it’s mainly more for creatures. I can’t get enough of monsters, beasts, aliens (shout out to the Xenomorph) or anything that isn’t a human. I remember being roughly eight years old, walking into the living room late at night, and seeing Stephen King’s IT. The one starring Tim Curry, and when I saw the part where this clown becomes a giant spider, I was struck with fear, yet I loved that it made me think how a two-legged man could hide such a form.
Growing up with horror
As I got older, horror games were my preferred medium for the genre. Games like Dead Space, Evil Within, Silent Hill, and Ghost Hunter were some of the best games to show creatures. Now you might be thinking, well, you can find creatures in nearly any genre. Why focus on horror? but the thing is where you might say, oh Star Wars has loads of varieties of aliens and creatures. They don’t fully show the actual threat of the beast in my opinion compared to when horror does it. I love watching/playing and seeing a monster that I or the characters in the medium don’t know anything about.
Look at the Evil Within, the monsters you face off against are from Ruvik’s mind, so when you fight them he could conjure anything. Tie that with gross dirty environments where they have made it their hunting ground. Then bam, I’m pulled in. The horror genre is also a great way to see/enjoy the more scary side of things more comfortably. I’m not an avid thrill seeker, so you catch me at a place like McKamey Manor. Nah, I’ll stick to my preferred medium which is games.
Horror as a genre just fits so well in many areas
Another thing I admire is that anything can fit the horror genre. It can be as simple as or we are at the playground having fun, to instantly a flesh-eating bacteria because a kid shouldn’t have touched a specific grass patch. Or some cute little animals are actually monsters from god knows where. It feels good to just see that no matter what happens or is created, there will always be a way to make it horrifying. Look at the recent Blood & Honey films we had. I never thought I’d see an evil slasher based on Winnie The Pooh, but here it is.
Horror, although it is known to be scary, it’s nice to see it can also be used for fun things in a tamer way for kids. Such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, ParaNorman, and Over The Garden Wall. These take just minor aspects of horror and allow kids to enjoy the genre in smaller does so that everyone can enjoy. I confess I’m not one for the button eyes in Coraline, especially the Other Wybie.
Some thoughts from the Thumb Culture team
“What draws me to the horror genre I think horror brings something that no other genre can match. That anticipation of what is going to happen, and what’s round the corner. Horror gets my heart beating and I am sat on the edge of me seat fully immersed, the build up an anticipation followed by the jump scare as the sudden rush of adrenaline kicks in. I love it, On occasions It terrifies me, but when it does it just means it has been done well.”
“Horror, for me, seems to be both a thrill ride and a mirror, a blend of escapism and introspection that, paradoxically, both unnerves and comforts. Take television horror, for example. Its ridiculousness is part of the allure. There’s a campy delight in embracing the over-the-top narratives, the improbable plot twists, and the sheer audacity of it all. Shows like Slasher embodies this beautifully, each episode unfurling a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. There’s a kind of joy in that puzzle-solving, isn’t there? It’s a mental challenge wrapped in gore and suspense where you put your wits against the writers, all while revelling in the familiar tropes that make horror so engaging.
Then there are video games like The Quarry, Until Dawn, and The Dark Anthology series. They take the classic horror tropes: the helpless teenagers, the ominous settings, the looming threats, and put you in the driver’s seat. It’s like a macabre telltale experience, where every decision can mean the difference between survival and a gruesome end. You’re not just a passive observer; you’re responsible for these characters’ fates. It heightens the tension and makes the stakes feel real. Every choice you make adds a layer of personal investment. It’s horror with a heartbeat, a narrative you shape. Horror, in all its forms, becomes a reflection of our fears, our flaws, and sometimes, our follies. In embracing that, I find not just fear, but fascination.”
“For years I’ve been scared to play horror games, but for years I’ve put my big boy pants on and just gone for it. Why, you might ask? Well, I actually really enjoy the immersion of walking through a scary house while it creaks and groans. The first game that ever game me the icy skin feeling was Call of Duty Zombies. Yes, I know, not the traditional game you might add. But the Zombie Moon map with the crawling enemies just did it for me.
Since then, I’ve put myself through multiple scary games, Alien Isolation, Phasmophobia, Demonologists, Monstrum, Devour and more. Just to get that feeling because whilst it is horrible, it also helps me feel connected to the characters. It makes me excited about all the scary games that we haven’t played yet.”
“Horror is a genre where anything can happen in stories we tell and there is a thrill in not knowing how a story ends or the twists we experience along the way. We all know in rom-coms the characters will find love in the end or in fantasy, good will prevail. But in horror, the lead may die halfway through, like in Psycho, Bruce Willis was a ghost the whole time or with ambiguous endings like The Thing (1982). Horror can range from shaking you to your core or having you doubled over in laughter, perhaps both. It does this while also easily blending with other genres from sci-fi to fantasy to period pieces and more.
Also, and this may be controversial, but I‘ve found horror fans are the nicest people out there. One of my favourite experiences was doing Fright Fest 2019 in Glasgow. There has always been a connection between experiencing a scary or unsettling story together, from being huddled around a campfire all the way to packed cinema screens. Clearly there‘s a reason horror stands the test of time with franchises like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween spanning decades. Video games series like Resident Evil and Silent Hill keep surviving and thriving, to name just a few. We all enjoy being scared, at least a little I feel like. Spooky stories are nothing new and aren‘t going away anytime soon.
“One of the main reasons I love horror so much is because its a genre that is constantly pushing boundaries and trying something. Even if the basic premise is the same, there are so many different ways you can approach the overall point of a game. For instance, Phasmophobia is a massive player in the ghost hunting game world but there are games like Ghost Exile where the whole point is to identify the ghost but add things such as exorcisms and different objects that you can use to find the ghost. With horror ranging from ghosts to gore, there are more opportunities for amazing games to be created, especially when the dev has a good understanding of the genre as a whole.It also always feels like I’ve accomplished more when I finish a horror game in comparison to a standard RPG because I’ve had to get over myself and my fears to progress. I play a lot of Outlast Trials with my friends and being able to go ‘damn we’re so good at games’ after getting past the simplest section and only being scared twice is a big victory for me in comparison to beating a boss in an RPG – something that is still super rewarding but doesn’t feel as impressive as being brave enough to push past on the scary demons waiting at the top of ladders.”
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