BLOODSCAPE

There are many people who are unable to understand the appeal of the horror genre, in spite of the fact that horror has a substantial fan base all over the world. To clarify, I define horror as any type of story (movie, novel, song, etc) written to induce fear and discomfort in the audience for the sake of their entertainment. These critics tend to perceive horror as an excuse to portray senseless acts of violence with excessive amounts of blood and gore. Furthermore, many are of the belief that horror has no artistic or literary value, so any fan of the genre must be a sociopath who's hiding homicidal tendencies.
It's easy to see why one may feel that way, especially when many of these critics don't make it a habit to watch horror films to try and understand the appeal. On the one hand, I agree that horror can and does appeal to the darkest desires hidden deep inside of some individuals, but on the other hand, there are many fans of the horror genre, and with good reason. Horror has the potential to provide value to anyone who embraces it; it doesn't exist simply to profit off the psychopaths among us.

There are a great deal of horror films which focus on the fear that there are highly intelligent and reputable people in our own lives who are capable and willing to do terrible things (and this is one of my favorite concepts in horror), but horror films can be about any subject matter that makes the audience frightened or uneasy. Like any story, every horror story must have been inspired by a concept or idea; most horror exists to make a point, even if there is no clear or strong stance on what that point is. These stories exist to encourage us to face our greatest fears, and evolve. Like any good piece of literature, horror is meant to provoke thought.

Of course, individual fans of horror consume horror differently from one another; they differ in their personal tastes as well as the benefit they gain from reading a horror story or watching a horror film. To give an example of how tastes may differ, let's talk about porn. My understanding is that men and women consume pornography in different ways: women appreciate the sex & nudity, but what really gets them off is the storyline (who are these people and why are they boning in the back of a minivan). I can say from personal experience that men just fast-forward through all the context and dialogue to get to the sex & nudity.
I find that I watch horror films similarly to the way that women watch porn: I enjoy seeing all the gore, but what really gets me off is the story (who are these evil people and why are they terrorizing these victims).

Again, not all fans of horror share my perspective: some people like horror films just because of the scenes that make the audience jump. If many fans of horror share this sentiment-- and I theorize that many fans, in fact, do not view horror the same way I do-- then the appeal of horror could be explained much more simply: it's fun, like a roller coaster. Fear of the unexpected triggers spontaneous emotional responses. This is a valid perspective, as many people (myself included) enjoy watching action or comedy movies as a fun distraction. Nothing wrong that, but I'm of the belief that horror can and should be analyzed.

Saw (2004)

In opposition to the genre, some critics point the finger at horror films such as the "Saw" series and claim it is tasteless gore with no value. In addition to the fears it portrayed, the first "Saw" had a clear point: the Jigsaw killer believes that those who are incapable of appreciating their lives do not deserve to live. However, I am personally unable to defend the other 72 "Saw" movies as having a point, because those were just pandering to the audience. Personally, I am not a fan of the "Saw" series, though I have nothing against the films and I understand their attraction. Gore and violence-- which are most everyone's greatest fears, really-- are part of what makes a horror film a moving and emotional experience. However, gore alone does not always make a movie worth watching, even for hardcore fans like myself.
The "Saw" films are the perfect example of "torture porn," which is a sub-genre of horror. Torture porn, also referred to as "splatter," simultaneously caters to the viewer's fears and primordial desires, and therefore entices a different audience than "general" horror (think of the way people of history have gawked as fellow humans were beaten, beheaded, stoned, crucified, or burnt at the stake). The reason I bring up "Saw" and torture porn is because it's not accurate to assess the entire horror genre from just this sub-genre; that's like someone making the assumption that Black Sabbath is aggressive and heavy-handed after hearing music from two bands in the death metal sub-genre. It's like forming an opinion on the TV show "Friends" after watching a few episodes of "Joey."

To conclude, the general appeal of horror is that it encourages the audience to face their greatest fears directly, in the safety of a controlled, fictional environment. The viewer has the benefit of witnessing their greatest fear, seeing how the protagonist overcomes (or attempts to overcome) that entity/ situation/ event, and walk away thinking about how they may react under similar circumstances. Ultimately, the viewer grows as a human being when they watch a quality horror movie. Horror is meant to be an active movie-going experience, not a passive one.

"The bad guy." On the playground at my elementary school, no kid ever wanted to play "the bad guy." If the game was cops and robbers, nobody ever volunteered to be a robber. When "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" first came out, all the kids would want to be Rangers (sometimes settling for Alpha or Zordon), but no one would ever want to play Bulk, Skull, or Rita. There was an unspoken dread that anyone who plays the bad guy is actually a bad guy.

Aladdin (1992)

In first grade, after seeing Disney's "Aladdin" at the movies, my 6-year-old brain wrestled with strange thoughts that made me feel frightened and confused. The protagonist, Aladdin, didn't mean shit to me. He was, after all, a goddamn street rat. The Genie was amusing, but even he wasn't my favorite character. The one who commanded my attention, above all others, was Jafar. "The bad guy." He wore a cool black robe, he had a golden staff that hypnotized people, he was taller than everybody else, and his pet spoke English. Jafar is a badass. During the climax, when he takes possession of the magic lamp and wishes to become an all-powerful genie, my body became covered in goosebumps and my heart pounded in anticipation. All over my skin, transparent peach fuzz stood on end. My knuckles turned white as they gripped the armrests beneath them. Despite feeling Aladdin's fear as he was being smothered by a 400-foot cobra, I wanted to see Jafar prevail. I realized then that I had been rooting for the bad guy all along... which must mean that I am also a bad guy. If the other kids find out that Jafar is my favorite character, nobody would like me or trust me anymore. They can never find out. Even when we played "Aladdin" during recess, even if they asked me to be Jafar, they could never know my secret. So many movies and shows tried to teach me otherwise, but it seemed clear to me that the villains in stories have the most fun.

Horror speaks to me. It's a genre which allows [and often encourages] a story to focus on the villain/ antagonist with as much detail as desired. Whereas antagonists in action films, for example, are often one-dimensional characters, a horror film reveals enough of the antagonist's character so that the audience not only understands why the antagonist is a threat, they feel threatened themselves. Some people like to see movies because it makes them comfortable, but my kind of films are ones that cause me discomfort. That moment where you're sitting in a dark theater and panicking along with a character on screen, when all your body hair sticks up. When you feel like ice cold water is running down your back, where your only comfort in the world is knowing that it's only a movie: that's horror. That's what I live for.

Having been wanting to write about seriously sadistic shit for years now, my insecurities from childhood resurfaced in a new way and prevented me from writing horror. In adulthood, my worry is that that the subject matter of my writings would merely be viewed as a cry for help. It would fucking suck if I spent my time and energy writing horror stories, then some friends and family come across my little writing project and view it as cause to have me confined. Under section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, they could hold me involuntarily for 72 hours to perform psychiatric evaluations. Or worse still, maybe a prospective employer will read my words and dismiss me from consideration on the merits that I'm a creep.

Other writers in the horror genre are able to convince their colleagues that they're generally sane people who are not a danger to themselves or others, but how they manage to do that is beyond me. Rest assured, my intention is simply to tell stories; perhaps even to entertain. Horror stories, in my view, are much more than cheap attempts to shock and scare an audience with as much gore as possible; they should provoke thought. They should remove the audience from their comfort zone and stir up raw emotions of fear, anxiety, and survival. The horror genre will be further discussed in the next blog article, titled "The Appeal of Horror."

A good portion of horror stories (mainly films) end with a sense of release and closure; often a sole survivor conquering the villain. Even in horror, the "good guy" usually wins. Now here's my problem: I don't care for happy endings. Being someone who aspires to be a good writer, my aversion to happy endings could be a problem because some people will not like my stories for that reason alone. Many feel a sense of relief when a story ends on a positive note, but having everything wrap up nice and clean doesn't always do it for me. I'm still not sure why, but it could be due to any one of these reasons:

• Maybe I'm evil. 
• Maybe I'm just a cynical asshole. 
• Maybe I like unhappy endings and unlikable protagonists because they sort of rebel against good story structure. It's possible that I'm the only person who likes stories to end in favor of "the bad guy," or on a note of hopelessness and futility. In that case, this blog is merely a learning experience for me. 
• Maybe I'm an optimist who just wants to make everyone happy. Stay with me. My stories might make some readers uncomfortable, upset, or even depressed, but when they finish reading, their real lives will seem like fairy tales by comparison. 

Bloodscape is my first public blog established for the purpose of sharing my stories and essays with the world, let alone for fans and critics of the horror genre. Your feedback is always appreciated.

Enjoy. You've been warned.