In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” Stephen King tells us that some reasons we like a good horror flick are: to prove that we aren’t afraid of things that go bump in the night, to make us feel “normal,” and to have some good old-fashioned fun. Upon reading these assertions, I began to reflect on my own attitudes about the horror film genre. I have never considered myself to be a horror film fan. I tend to shy away from movies with extreme gore, violence, and gratuitous blood shed. They aren’t fun.
In Gothic literature, terror is described as being full of fear, or the fear of what we believe will be bad, whereas horror is described as someone in distress, or watching those bad things happen. Their definitions are what make them differ, but their causes and effects are connected. You need both aspects when reading a horror story or watching a horror
In contrast to the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the movie had background music to each scene that set either an anticipant, nervous, worried, happy, or excited mood for the viewer. For example, before the monster would kill someone, the music in the film would go from pleasant to fast paced and terrifying. This music very adequately portrayed the horror genre of the story Frankenstein. The novel, although I am sure was meant to be terrifying, did not as effectively convey the emotions of terror that the screen play adaption was successful in doing. However, it must be taken into consideration that it was probably a very scary story years ago, but today horror stories are much more terrifying and intense than Frankenstein
She does this by dissecting the humanistic view of a monster and what kind of characteristics a creature needs to posses in order to be defined as a monster. Halberstam begins the chapter with a section entitled “Monster Making,” Halberstam suggests that it’s important to rethink the Gothic genre and look at the making of a human being before analyzing the making of a monster (28). Halberstam picks apart the true meaning of monstrosity and what or who actually scares humans (28). She suggests that Mary Shelley’s novel really implies that people are afraid of people because humans are supposedly the depicters of what is good and what is evil (28). Halberstam infers to keep an open mind to what really is the object of terror (28).
However exploitation films in the 30's and 40's took on a more innocuous role in claiming to be educational in nature. For example films such as Sex Madness (1938) and Reefer Madness (1938) still presented the same suggestible content under the guise of being anti-drug and/or sex. For example the film Sex Madness (1938) displayed wild parties, sex out of wedlock and lesbianism. Films such as these were often shown in theatres known as Grindhouses which exclusively screened these types of movies and reflected the rejection by the mainstream film community. Modern day exploitation films often come with a cult following such as slasher films like the Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies during the 70’s.
‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ Argues without Argument ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ is a complex short story told though the point of view of a sarcastic and insane protagonist, who has rapidly changing ideas about her surroundings, other characters and even her own psychological state. Because of this, readers may come to a variety of conclusions about major plot points and themes. Puzzled, readers will identify the piece as a horror story—a vivid portrayal of insanity with unsettling realism. This is indeed the conscious conclusion that Charlotte Perkins Gilman intends for her readers to form. However, the piece is so much more than a simple horror story; it is a deceptively hidden but powerful essay on female equality and marriage, two topics about which Gilman wrote frequently.
This reason is furthered by the fact that a main character is often the one depicted as transitioning to madness. The descent into madness, while often violent in its repercussions, is useful to illustrate a point that is described throughout the entirety of the story as the character’s mentality shifts. Both Shakespeare and Bronte use the descent into madness as a way to illustrate a certain point: the validity of remaining true and unyielding to one’s human nature. Once what is essentially one’s own person is ignored, that same individual begins to suffer more and more as the situation remains
It is the appearance of their second prophesy "thane of Cawdor" which misleads him and blurs his vision. "this supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success commencing in a truth? I am thane of cawdor “ And it might be very true that it was the words of lady Macbeth, and her challenge of Macbeth's manhood that led him to commit the murder. "The values of christian humanity,acknowledge and understood by Macbeth are pitied against the more primitive code of the cavern."
The tone effects the mood for the reader in a sense. The setting of the story takes place inside a pit or prison cell . At this time it was the sixteenth century and the Spanish Inquisition was taking place. This was when the courts of the Roman Catholic Church were accusing people of being witches and taking members of other religions and torturing them and executing them. The story does not tell the reader what the nameless narrator and central character of the story has done to deserve the torture that they receive.
Drag Me to Hell is a horror movie that came out in 2009. Though at first glance it seems like a typical gory horror movie with an up-front plot, it is actually atypical. This film has a whole other story going on between the lines. The writers of this film use fictional elements like demons and curses that resonate with everyone to evoke horror in their audience and portray the very real, nonfictional horror of eating disorders. This is a genius way to artistically express a feeling and a state of mind that most people are aware of but don’t have enough understanding to be able to empathize with.