I’m late this time! But even horror writers stumble onto non-deadly situations that keep them from their duties.
Last week, I wrote about The Types of People That Enjoy Horror, doing a breakdown that grouped them into smaller, yet still big groups, to get a sense of the company we're in with. This week, I want to approach the breakdown in terms of the amount of exposure to horror. But let’s still keep it context!
Among those of us that believe horror is worthwhile, draw a line, and are of the opinion that political correctness has gone too far, what type of people do we have? We have newbies, intermediates, and veterans. We can go by levels.
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| Escape Room (2019) |
• The Newbies
Newbies may move tentatively into the realm of horror, pulled by intrigue for this darker side of things that they have yet to explore, in spite of mixed messages and warnings that they have received against it. They would be especially vulnerable to jumpscares unless they’re the numb, distracted, and/or stoic kind of person that you can barely get any reaction from. Heavily graphic and explicit material may be shocking and/or, alternatively, fascinating to get familiar with. Furthermore, being something new to them, they may be excited to see more and more. This can be concerning both to themselves and to others. They may ask, “Is there something wrong with me? Why am I into this?” Questions whose answers they will have to figure out as they go, paying attention to how and why horror moves them. Particularly, how amused they are by it could tell them much about themselves.
(Hint: Finding horror amusing doesn’t automatically make you heartless, it can be comedic, but you could check if that’s actually the case for your enjoyment.)
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| The Order (2020) |
• The Intermediates
Been there, done that. Not necessarily experts in the area, but may already have a hang on what horror is all about and what to expect from it. They would grasp various tropes and cliques by now and likely get most, if not all, of the references and jokes in Scary Movie and its sequels. Questions about their morality, sensitivity, and compassion would still exist. But at the end of the day, this is just entertainment or documentation and nobody is being gravely harmed for real by the act alone of them consuming media containing horror. This group encompasses a wide range of people in between those that are barely starting to dip their toes into the genre and those that have already swallowed the ocean. You might find yourself at a point in the spectrum. There’s still room to surprise you and show you things you haven’t seen before.
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| The Mortuary Collection (2019) |
• The Veterans
Would be arrogant (and deluded) of me to say that I’m here, for I am still relatively young and am using strict criteria for this categorization, but I’m getting there. These people started early and spent little time away from horror as they reached older age late in life. Maybe their lives were filled with true horror, too, and they have direct experience with it. Perhaps their jobs and careers also revolve around horror. Whether they’re in arts & entertainment, in psychology or psychiatry, in criminal justice, or something else. So they actively and constantly expose themselves to it in various different forms. It’s hard (or even impossible) to faze them anymore. They’ve seen A LOT... and processed it as well. Their conscience might not be completely clear, but they’ve probably accepted their reality by now - that they’re bound to horror and perhaps that was their fate all along. They may be extraordinarily skilled, to a scary degree, at tasks that most would shy away from.
Where are you? Is horror your calling or only a part of your journey?