Why Horror?

Why do we read horror? What kind of person does it take to write it?

What is it about being frightened that so compels us?

I think we read horror because for some of us, we NEED to be scared. It's our way of confronting our fears. Our fear and uncertainty of death, of the unknown, and of nightmares. By confronting these things, which often concern things we have yet to understand, we can find a certain kind of peace, or at least convince ourselves that we have some sort of control over the uncontrollable. I think it is much the same for those of us who write it. While there are many different motivations for writing, I think horror carries with it a certain allure, attractive to only a small percentage of writers. Those of us who write horror not only feel the need to understand those things ourselves, but also feel the need to carry that feeling and understanding to others.

Perhaps it's more than that. Perhaps it is a carryover from a much earlier time in our genetic history, when the night was filled with creatures and dangers we cannot imagine today. After all, fear is one of man's strongest emotions, and from both a scientific and evolutionary standpoint, one of the most useful, for it is fear that kept early man alive, and that helps us to survive even today. Perhaps that need for fear is also a need to control that fear, to provide us with some sort of comfort against the fear we all possess, deep on our hearts, of death. Perhaps the ability to face those fears through writing, gives us the same sort of comfort as those that defy death by thrill-seeking. By facing those things we are afraid of, we give ourselves strength to face the greater darkness.

I think, for me, it is all of these things and more. I grew up in an unusual environment, one where I experienced things that neither I, nor logic, could explain, things that I often refer to as ones that would make Stephen King shit himself in fear. Why? Because while they were unexplainable, they were also REAL. As real as any other experience, such as eating or breathing or taking a piss. I began to study those experiences, those phenomena, and through those studies, learned a great deal about what we perceive as 'reality'. So, writing about them is both a form of therapy, a coping mechanism of sorts, as well as a means of expression.

An essay written and posted in various personal blogs, after musing about the horror genre. - the Author

© Michael Vain. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced in any way without express written permission from the author.