Product Code Database
Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing".J.A. Cuddon (1984). 014006799X, Penguin. 014006799X Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society.
Pliny the Younger (61 to 113) tells the tale of Athenodorus Cananites, who bought a haunted house in Athens. Athenodorus was cautious since the house seemed inexpensive. While writing a book on philosophy, he was visited by a ghostly figure bound in chains. The figure disappeared in the courtyard; the following day, the magistrates dug in the courtyard and found an unmarked grave. Pliny the Younger (1909–14). "LXXXIII. To Sura". In Charles W. Eliot. Letters, by Pliny the Younger; translated by William Melmoth; revised by F. C. T. Bosanquet. The Harvard Classics. 9. New York: P.F. Collier & Son.
Elements of the horror genre also occur in Biblical texts, notably in the Book of Revelation.
Much horror fiction derives from the cruellest personages of the 15th century. Dracula can be traced to the Prince of Wallachia Vlad III, whose alleged war crimes were published in German language pamphlets. A 1499 pamphlet was published by Markus Ayrer, which is most notable for its woodcut imagery.Raymond T. McNally and Radu R. Florescu (1972). "In Search of Dracula." Houghton Milton. Pages 8–9. The alleged serial-killer sprees of Gilles de Rais have been seen as the inspiration for "Bluebeard".Kiernan, Dr. Jas. G. "Sexual Perversion, and the Whitechapel Murders." The Medical Standard: IV.5. G. P. Engelhard and Company: Chicago. The motif of the vampiress is most notably derived from the real-life noblewoman and murderer, Elizabeth Bathory, and helped usher in the emergence of horror fiction in the 18th century, such as through László Turóczi's 1729 book Tragica Historia.in Ungaria suis cum regibus compendia data, Typis Academicis Soc. Jesu per Fridericum Gall. Anno MCCCXXIX. Mense Sepembri Die 8. p 188-193, quoted by Farin
[[File:Horace Walpole.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Horace Walpole]] wrote the first [[Gothic novel]], ''The Castle of Otranto'' (1764), initiating a new literary genre.]]The 18th century saw the gradual development of Romanticism and the Gothic fiction genre. It drew on the written and material heritage of the Late Middle Ages, finding its form with Horace Walpole's seminal and controversial 1764 novel, The Castle of Otranto. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as an actual medieval romance from Italy, discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as modern, many found it anachronism, reactionary, or simply in poor taste, but it proved immediately popular. "The Castle of Otranto: The creepy tale that launched gothic fiction" . BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2017
Otranto inspired Vathek (1786) by William Beckford, A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Italian (1796) by Ann Radcliffe, and The Monk (1797) by Matthew Lewis. A significant amount of horror fiction of this era was written by women and marketed towards a female audience, a typical scenario of the novels being a resourceful female menaced in a gloomy castle.
Influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Particularly, the venerated horror author H. P. Lovecraft, and his enduring Cthulhu Mythos transformed and popularized the genre of cosmic horror, and M. R. James is credited with redefining the ghost story in that era.
The serial murderer became a recurring theme. Yellow journalism and sensationalism of various murderers, such as Jack the Ripper, and lesser so, Carl Panzram, Fritz Haarman, and Albert Fish, all perpetuated this phenomenon. The trend continued in the postwar era, partly renewed after the murders committed by Ed Gein. In 1959, Robert Bloch, inspired by the murders, wrote Psycho. The crimes committed in 1969 by the Manson Family influenced the slasher theme in horror fiction of the 1970s. In 1981, Thomas Harris wrote Red Dragon, introducing Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In 1988, the sequel to that novel, The Silence of the Lambs, was published.
Early cinema was inspired by many aspects of horror literature, and started a strong tradition of and subgenres that continues to this day. Up until the graphic depictions of violence and gore on the screen commonly associated with 1960s and 1970s and , comic books such as those published by EC Comics (most notably Tales From The Crypt) in the 1950s satisfied readers' quests for horror imagery that the silver screen could not provide. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence, they were frequently censored.Collins, Max Allan (28 February 2013). "11 Most Controversial Comic Books" . HuffPost. Retrieved 5 February 2019.Hansen, Kelli (1 October 2012). "Banned Books Week: Comics and Controversy" . University of Missouri. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
The modern zombie tale dealing with the motif of the living dead harks back to works including H. P. Lovecraft's stories "Cool Air" (1925), "In The Vault" (1926), and "The Outsider" (1926), and Dennis Wheatley's "Strange Conflict" (1941). Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend (1954) influenced an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematized by the films of George A. Romero.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the enormous commercial success of three books – Rosemary's Baby (1967) by Ira Levin, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, and The Other by Tom Tryon – encouraged publishers to begin releasing numerous other horror novels, thus creating a "horror boom"."Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby (1967), Thomas Tyron's The Other (1971), and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist (1971) were all released within a few years of one another...and their immense combined sales indicted to many publishers that horror was now a profitable marketing niche." Simmons, David, American Horror Fiction and Class: From Poe to Twilight. London: Palgrave Macmillan 2017 (p.119)David Pringle, "Rosemary's Baby", in Pringle (ed.) Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels. London, Grafton, 1988. (p.103-5)
One of the best-known late-20th century horror writers is Stephen King, known for Carrie, The Shining, It, Misery, and several dozen other novels and about 200 short stories.Barone, Matt (8 November 2011). "The 25 Best Stephen King Stories" . Complex. Retrieved 5 February 2019.Jackson, Dan (18 February 2016). "A Beginner's Guide to Stephen King Books" . Thrillist. Retrieved 5 February 2019.Richard Bleiler, "Stephen King" in: Bleiler, Ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003, . (pp. 525-540). Beginning in the 1970s, King's stories have attracted a large audience, for which he was awarded by the U.S. National Book Foundation in 2003. Other popular horror authors of the period included Anne Rice, Shaun Hutson, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterton, James Herbert, Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon, Clive Barker,K.A. Laity "Clive Barker" in Richard Bleiler, ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003.
(pp. 61–70).
[[Ramsey Campbell]],K.A. Laity, "Ramsey Campbell", in Richard Bleiler, ed. ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror''. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003. (pp. 177–188.) and [[Peter Straub]].
In her essay "Elements of Aversion", Elizabeth Barrette articulates the need by some for horror tales in a modern world:
In a sense similar to the reason a person seeks out the controlled thrill of a roller coaster, readers in the modern era seek out feelings of horror and terror to feel a sense of excitement. However, Barrette adds that horror fiction is one of the few mediums where readers seek out a form of art that forces themselves to confront ideas and images they "might rather ignore to challenge preconceptions of all kinds."
There are many theories as to why people enjoy being scared. For example, "people who like horror films are more likely to score highly for openness to experience, a personality trait linked to intellect and imagination."
It is a now commonly accepted view that the horror elements of Dracula's portrayal of vampire are for sexuality in a repressed Victorian era. But this is merely one of many interpretations of the metaphor of Dracula. Jack Halberstam postulates many of these in his essay Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker's Dracula. He writes:
Halberstram articulates a view of Dracula as manifesting the growing perception of the aristocracy as an evil and outdated notion to be defeated. The depiction of a multinational band of protagonists using the latest technologies (such as a telegraph) to quickly share, collate, and act upon new information is what leads to the destruction of the vampire. This is one of many interpretations of the metaphor of only one central figure of the canon of horror fiction, as over a dozen possible metaphors are referenced in the analysis, from the religious to the antisemitic.
Noël Carroll's Philosophy of Horror postulates that a modern piece of horror fiction's "monster", villain, or a more inclusive menace must exhibit the following two traits:
Modern scholarship on horror fiction draws upon a range of sources. In their historical studies of the gothic novel, both Devendra VarmaDevendra Varma, The Gothic Flame New York: Russell & Russell, 1966. and S. L. VarnadoS. L. Varnado, "The Idea of the Numinous in Gothic Literature," in The Gothic Imagination, ed. G.R. Thompson (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1974). make reference to the theologian Rudolf Otto, whose concept of the "numinous" was originally used to describe religious experience.
A recent survey reports how often horror media is consumed:
To assess frequency of horror consumption, we asked respondents the following question: "In the past year, about how often have you used horror media (for example, horror literature, film, and video games) for entertainment?" 11.3% said "Never," 7.5% "Once," 28.9% "Several times," 14.1% "Once a month," 20.8% "Several times a month," 7.3% "Once a week," and 10.2% "Several times a week." Evidently, then, most respondents (81.3%) claimed to use horror media several times a year or more often. Unsurprisingly, there is a strong correlation between liking and frequency of use (r=.79, p<.0001).
|
|
