Let's Talk About Something[By Hex]

Let's Talk About Horror

Can you see it?

You Will.

~ ~ ~

I use to hate horror, but yet I could never outright avoid them.
I think everyone can agree with me when I say that once you're exposed to a horror story/film, it becomes difficult to quit consuming it. The sole job of an author is to pull you into its mysteries and make you care for the characters, you don't wanna see them die, you don't want to be scared, but your curiosity gets the better of you and you keep watching or reading even though you are scared. 

Why? 

This happened to me countless times as a child, my older siblings, and cousins would be watching a scary film such as The Grudge or Saw and I want to get out of the room and not be scared but I keep watching with them, knowing that I will be getting nightmares when I sleep that night. 

I think for the longest time in my life, I've been a pathetic scaredy-cat. Most of it was due to the childhood trauma of 'accidentally' watching scary films or getting pranked by my cousins by playing that one "Scary Maze Game" on the internet. At some nights, I wouldn't be able to sleep at all and would have to sleep at my parents' bed and this went on until I was 14 years old (Yeah, I was a wuss back then).

So how did I suddenly change from being absolutely terrified and avoiding the Horror genre to it becoming one of my favorite genres of entertainment?

There were a lot of factors in play that brought me out of my hatred and fear of horror and I think it all started with watching "Horror Let's Plays" on Youtube. I think Pewdiepie summed it up best and I'll paraphrase what he once said when asked the question of why he started recording himself playing horror games: 

"I was afraid to play these games alone, and I figured that if I recorded myself and shared it, then it would feel like I'm not really alone when playing the game but with other people who can watch me and get scared alongside me." 

I think this ringed true because watching these lets plays slowly made me immune to being fully scared of the genre, and I could laugh at seeing people get scared. But at the same time, I could see the beauty behind the horror. 

When you look past the scary monsters, the blood, the gore, what you see is a really good and intriguing story that could have a symbolic message behind it.

I'm not going to deny that there are some horror stories that are only written to scare you and nothing more but even then, I learned that horror stories are essentially just another means of entertainment. From then on, I started consuming a few horror movies like Insidious and The Conjuring and after that, I became a full-fledged horror fan. 

It's strange how we're able to find enjoyment and pleasure from experiencing horror stories, to the point where there is something known as the Paradox of Horror which describes how we can find happiness in experiencing Horror. They describe that the thrill and adrenaline felt from watching or reading horror helps us 'feel alive', similar to riding a roller coaster or going skydiving and I think that summarizes how I feel about horror. 

Sometimes, in a sick and twisted way, you want to be afraid so that you can feel alive and excited. I feel that excitement particularly when it comes to Monster movies. Monsters can be hideous, terrifying and gruesome yet there's a particular beauty to their hideousness and H.P. Lovecraft nails that balance of terror and beauty with the monsters that the characters face.

I think I wanna end it here, for now, this is just a general take on the horror genre but I am interested in going deeper into specific subgenres or movies later on. 

I'll end this with a small list of horror films and games that I personally love and would recommend for anyone to try out:

FIlms: 

- Lights out 

- The Grudge

- The Thing

- Alien and Aliens

- The Shining

- Insidious

Games: 

- Dead Space 1 and 2

- The Evil Within 1 & 2

- Resident Evil 7

- Resident Evil 2: Remake

- Amnesia: The Dark Descent

- PT (demo)

Books: 

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

(I have barely read any horror books, any recommendations?)

Anyways, as usual, I end this off with some questions for ya all: 

1. Do you like horror? If so, what do you like about it?

2. What is one of your favorite horror films/games/books?

With that, I take my leave. Have a nice day!