Horror Fans: Visual Adrenaline Junkies

By Sean Hinchey, Oct 07, 2011 in Offbeat, Pop Culture

Even though you’re huddled safely under your own blankets, every rustle outside your window has you holding your breath. Even though you are in familiar surroundings, something seems to have changed in the room around you, something sinister. What’s going on? Why are you on edge? You are suffering through the after-effects of watching a horror movie – the lingering effects of fear-induced adrenaline.

The horror genre, as it relates to film, dates back to Dracula and Frankenstein, two movies from 1931 which were branded “horror” by critics and commentators – recognizing the films’ power to showcase a viewer’s nightmares and worst fears. But the genre has evolved since then, and horror icons like The Mummy, Dracula, and Frankenstein are viewed as cartoonish in comparison to today’s images of horror, which tend to focus on gore and a heightened sense of morbidity.  This is exactly the plot of the series Ghouls where The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein and The Phantom of the Opera address their decline as horror figures and attempt to reclaim their legacies.

Ghouls – Episode 1

Why do we enjoy a good scare? We all crave the excitement. It’s not the actual scare that we seek out but the subsequent rush of adrenaline. Think about the tension that builds up just before something terrible happens in a horror film. Think about how you instinctually hold your breath and tighten your muscles as Jack Torrance heads towards the bathroom door in The Shining (1980). The anticipation of that moment simultaneously repels you and draws you close.

Aside from the rush, horror movies deliver us out of our safe zones, safely. In a world where we buckle up when get into a car, don a helmet before going on a bike ride, and back up our computer data on a daily basis, we seek moments of recklessness to break up the monotomy. To get away from our bubble-wrapped cocoons, we cast aside any remnants of safety and join our compatriots on the big screen as they carelessly visit an abandoned summer camp or open a door to a complete stranger without a second thought. It’s as if we were vicariously running with scissors on a slippery pool deck. We devour every minute of their demise. We relish in their irresponsibility.

In an effort to constantly raise the stakes, modern horror films feature people and events bordering on the surreal. This complete break in reality allows the audience to truly lose themselves in the moment, accepting the escapism. There is no other genre of filmmaking that has such an “anything goes” attitude.

Good scares always stick with us. Who doesn’t remember the little girl in Poltergeist (1982) sitting wide-eyed in front of the TV?  How about the figure seen facing the wall in The Blair Witch Project (1999)?

Anyone who has ever experienced a great horror movie has never looked at the world the same way again. A dense thicket of trees next to the road conjures up the Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow (1999). A dive-bombing owl brings back images of The Mothman Prophecies (2002). Still, despite all the hopelessness and death that horror films throw at us, it’s effects are fleeting. Once that shock to the system subsides, and we catch our breath, we end up feeling one thing: alive!

Ghouls – Episode 2

Ghouls – Episode 3

Watch more episodes of the comedic horror series GHOULS

Sean Hinchey is the writer/creator of the series Dirty Bomb Diaries. Hinchey’s recent book Write it to Win It: 39 Secrets from a Screenplay Contest Judge is based on his experiences in the story-editor department at International Creative Management (ICM) and his work as a screenplay contest judge.