Horror is fine to watch, actually

Horror is generally considered to be a rather controversial and divisive genre. Many people who don’t consume horror media have criticised its often violent, dark, and disturbing scenes. This can cause people to feel like they should be ashamed or embarrassed to enjoy this genre. However, I want to discuss why I disagree with this sentiment.

While it is true that horror media often includes topics and themes which are often disturbing or dark, this is not exclusive to the genre, nor is it constant throughout. I am going to go over the hypocrisy of horror criticisms, as well as list examples of outliers which prove that this generalisation is pointless and untrue.

To start with the hypocrisy, I’d like to point out the fact that millions, if not billions of people worldwide watch the news, and use social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter (X), and Facebook. The point? Well, the news, and social media include reporting’s and videos of real life horrors. Horror films are fake. They contain fake characters in fake scenarios who often suffer fake fates. However, the news reports on real wars, and real deaths of real people. Take reporting’s on the Israel/Gaza war, think how many images and videos you’ve seen of bombings, missiles, bodies of children, animals, adults. These are real and yet are people shocked when you say you watch the news?

To continue with these hypocrisies, think of saving private ryan, the boy in the striped pyjamas, jaws, silence of the lambs. These are all extremely popular films which are sometimes more violent, dark or disturbing than many horror films. Now, the argument can be made that films such as the boy in the striped pyjamas and saving private ryan are at least somewhat based on real events, in some ways that makes my point more accurate. These films are based on real genocides, real war crimes, real massacres with real victims, and yet, as I’ve said, it is seen as worse or more shocking to enjoy slashers, with fake killers, fake victims and fake violence.

Let’s move on to the outliers. This section will be helpful to anyone who wants to consume horror media, but struggle to deal with violence, gore, jumpscares, or controversial themes. These are some examples of horror media which I have consumed, which either do not include these themes, or contain these themes, but in a subtle or minimal way. These are examples of media which treat horror as a secondary or lesser theme:

• Melancholia (2011) – A horror/science fiction film focused on emotional connections, philosophy, and deep thought.
• The Babadook (2014) – A pretty scary film, which relies on atmosphere, and a feeling of lack of control.
• The Black Phone (2021) – While this film is very dark and occasionally violent, it relies much more on a sense of threat and paranoia to create a heavy atmosphere which has you on edge from start to finish. Not a great recommendation for people who are particularly sensitive, however still an amazing film which doesn’t rely too heavily on violence or scares.
• Saw (2004) – Maybe a surprising choice, given the reputation of the saw franchise, but the original saw is a rather bleak, depressing film which, surprisingly, doesn’t rely on gore, violence, or scares (although be warned, it is still rated an 18 and still has some shocking scenes).
• Shutter Island (2010) – A brilliant psychological film which relies on subversion of expectations and an amazingly structured atmosphere.
• Alice by Christina Henry (2015) – An amazing book, inspired/influenced by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This book does include dark and somewhat controversial topics, however , it is primarily focused on making an emotional, gut-wrenching story. Be aware that this book does have references to sexual abuse, however this is never taken lightly, nor is it overly explicit.

I will be writing more in-depth reviews and views on various films later. I will also be writing about music and my personal favourite game ‘fear and hunger’. I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe even got some good recommendations.