Sunday, September 26, 2010

HTI2 Seminar 8 – The current state of Horror

Horror & fear have been present ever since life existed. Everyone one something that he/she/it fears. The horror genre plays with these fears, & uses it against us.

So what exactly is horror? Horror is our primal fear, something that makes us uncomfortable & dread, that makes us cower or scream. Horror comes in many forms, from the simple to the supernatural. Horror in simplistic form can be for example; the fear of heights. One tends to imagine himself/herself falling to their deaths when standing somewhere high, this gets their heart pumping. Something that is ordinary to some may be horror to others.

The human mind is complex & unique. We subconsciously remember things; sometimes it’s a good thing, while sometimes it’s bad. If we witness something horrifying; like someone being killed, we can’t just simple forget. We will keep thinking about it, & that becomes of fear. Many children are afraid of the dark because of the “Boogy Man”. A simple story meant to scare children becomes their primal fear, & why? Because they believe that it is real. Another example is “Santa Claus”. Children believe he is real through the stories told to them by parents.

Horror in real life is most of the time psychological. When someone says he saw a ghost, most likely you may start feeling strange. Horror films deliver a frightening experience to the audience. After watching a horror film, we tend to reminisce about the events that happened in the film. Ask yourself, if you see your friend eat a chocolate bar & exploded, would you dare to eat chocolate ever again?

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