When I got my Master's degree I wrote my thesis on the decline of horror in popular culture. I read and watched several books and movies with monsters, evil people, ghosts, and death. I was disappointed in the vampire genre and the werewolf genre and right now I have a little bit of a problem with the zombie genre. See the TWILIGHT books didn't start the problem with the horror genre by making vampires all emo and sexy, but they didn't help. Vampires have been a little sexy since Nosferatu, a little hypnotic juice to make the girls bare their lovely necks has always been a draw for the ladies. It isn't just the vampires, werewolves are sexy too. I don't know how anyone would find a very muscular man who become a fur beast sexy, but then again I don't like kissing a man and getting a mouthful of fur.
Back to the point at hand. Zombies. I am working on a zombie series, the first three books have been written and I am currently working on the last. Lately when I tell people I write zombie books I get this question, "Have you seen that one movie, the one where the zombie isn't a zombie at the end?" My answer, "Do you mean WARM BODIES?" Yes, yes they usually mean the movie WARM BODIES. Now not only are vampires and werewolves romantic ideas that women cling to, but zombies can be cute, cuddly and romantic as well?! I want to scream NO!
It's hard enough to scare people when they scream out to be bitten and used by a sexy, blond, pale, cold monster. It's harder to scare people when they want to crawl into bed with a warm-blooded, furry, beast that will keep them warm on a cold night and cover them with a blanket of fur. When you take the zombie, the one monster who's sole purpose is to eat your brain or your flesh, and turn that monster into a man who falls in love and regains his humanity, you take all the monsters away.
Mummy's are now waiting to show you their sarcophagus and have a lifetime bound to you in their beige wraps. Frankenstein's monster is a tortured man made from the body parts of murderers and rapists, and he only wants to save the rest of humanity from his creator. King Kong is a genetically altered fuzz face who only wants to know what love is by searching for his match on eharmony. The blob is using its gelatinous mass to search the ocean and save the whales. Serial killers are just sadists looking for their perfect masochist a la Christian Grey.
I feel like the horror genre is losing itself. Parts of it are sliding over to paranormal romance, parts of it are headed to general fiction just to feel like it is still on the scene, and parts of it have disappeared. When was the last time you read a really scary ghost story? It's been a while for me.
So, what is the meaning of horror? Horror is fear, shock, disgust at the disturbing. I can't tell you about the last time I was afraid, or disgusted by something not related to animal cruelty, or shocked by something I heard, saw, or read. Everyday like seems more scary than the horror genre lately. Horror authors, filmmakers, and lovers, let's get back on the wagon and scare the crap out of people again! I miss being scared.
Back to the point at hand. Zombies. I am working on a zombie series, the first three books have been written and I am currently working on the last. Lately when I tell people I write zombie books I get this question, "Have you seen that one movie, the one where the zombie isn't a zombie at the end?" My answer, "Do you mean WARM BODIES?" Yes, yes they usually mean the movie WARM BODIES. Now not only are vampires and werewolves romantic ideas that women cling to, but zombies can be cute, cuddly and romantic as well?! I want to scream NO!
It's hard enough to scare people when they scream out to be bitten and used by a sexy, blond, pale, cold monster. It's harder to scare people when they want to crawl into bed with a warm-blooded, furry, beast that will keep them warm on a cold night and cover them with a blanket of fur. When you take the zombie, the one monster who's sole purpose is to eat your brain or your flesh, and turn that monster into a man who falls in love and regains his humanity, you take all the monsters away.
Mummy's are now waiting to show you their sarcophagus and have a lifetime bound to you in their beige wraps. Frankenstein's monster is a tortured man made from the body parts of murderers and rapists, and he only wants to save the rest of humanity from his creator. King Kong is a genetically altered fuzz face who only wants to know what love is by searching for his match on eharmony. The blob is using its gelatinous mass to search the ocean and save the whales. Serial killers are just sadists looking for their perfect masochist a la Christian Grey.
I feel like the horror genre is losing itself. Parts of it are sliding over to paranormal romance, parts of it are headed to general fiction just to feel like it is still on the scene, and parts of it have disappeared. When was the last time you read a really scary ghost story? It's been a while for me.
So, what is the meaning of horror? Horror is fear, shock, disgust at the disturbing. I can't tell you about the last time I was afraid, or disgusted by something not related to animal cruelty, or shocked by something I heard, saw, or read. Everyday like seems more scary than the horror genre lately. Horror authors, filmmakers, and lovers, let's get back on the wagon and scare the crap out of people again! I miss being scared.
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