Aesthetics of Horror

The first article I read was by William Scheinman and was called “Toward a Philosophy of Horror”. The article basically was a less in depth version of Carroll’s “Why Horror?”. The article starts off talking about why we enjoy and decide to watch and engage ourselves in horror films and other things that would normally disgust us in real life. Scheinman goes on to suggest that we watch horror films for other reasons then just being shocked and scared, and suggests that we are engaged in the evolution of the monster character. For him, true horror is always about two things: subversion and transformation. His last comment about horror is the beauty that he finds in the story and characters. He doesn’t mean beautiful in the obvious sense, but the sense of beauty from myths and folklore that make these “monsters” more than just creatures. As I mentioned above his idea of horror films is very similar to what Carroll talks about. Carroll talks about the how the narrative form in horror films and how that makes up a big part of the entertainment aspect of horror. Carroll, as well as Scheinman, talks about the monsters roll in the film and the connection the audience should make with that character. Carroll says, “Monsters are natural subjects for curiosity, and they straightforwardly warrant the ratiocinative energies the plot lavishes upon them.” Both of these writers believe the audience wants to find out information about the monster. This idea of unknowing ads to the experience of a horror film, and turns the monster from an “it” into a creature or something real.

The second article I read was an essay called “Why Horror Films are so Popular” by Derek Both. Both talks more about the entertainment factor of horror films as opposed to whether horror should be considered art. He talks about the sensation of being scared and nervous is the reason we see horror films, and how no other money plays upon these types of emotions. Both says, “what other kind of film can make you bury your head under the pillow, jump at the slightest noise or make you suddenly afraid of the dark?”. He also suggests people watch horror films to become completely detached from reality. The idea of horrific and graphic images ads to the adrenaline we experience when watching a horror film. Carroll says, “Thus, we are attracted to, and many of us seek out, horror fictions of this sort despite the fact that they provoke disgust, because that disgust is required for the pleasure involved in engaging out curiosity in the unknown and drawing it into the processes of revelation, ratiocination, etc.” This is the biggest connection between Carroll and Both’s article because they both feel gore and bloodlust are a huge part of the horror film genre. Especially in today’s horror films horrible deaths ad to the shock value and what ads to the scariness is the victims are average people like me and you, and this ads a sense of reality to horror films that didn’t use to be there.

Scheinman, W. “Toward a Philosophy of Horror” Retrieved from http://www.williamscheinman.com/essays_philosophy.htm

Both, D., (2007). “Why Horror Films Are So Popular” Retrieved from Articlesbase at http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/why-horror-films-are-so-popular-208906.html