Tertiary Research - The Horror Genre

I looked around on the internet and came across this case study, which proved useful to me as it is all about how the horror genre has developed, and why audiences love it so.

History

The horror genre started in literature, with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). However, from the 1930s to the 1970s horror films and novels were extremely unpopular due to them often being cheaply made. This changed in the 1960s with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho- a movie to actually get a review and one of the first horror films to be taken seriously. A little later two other horror films were released that were also accepted by mainstream audiences. These were Jaws (Directed by Steven Spielberg, 1975), and The Exorcist (Directed by William Friedkin, 1973).

As well as film, horror literature has also proved to be a big hit. Novelists such as Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Stephen King are among the most popular horror writers of today.

Codes & Conventions
The codes and conventions of horror are used in two ways. Firstly, as a way for an audience to recognise the genre. This is often what spurs the audience to buy the book/watch the film in the first place.

Secondly, for media producers to know what their audience is looking for, and to then supply them with that and make their piece a hit. An example of this is the Star-Wars/Space genre, which was quickly used by producers to combine with the horror genre and revive it.

Some examples of codes and conventions in horror are:

• A secluded location - The woods, a summer camp, a house in the middle of nowhere- a place where the characters have no one around to help them.
• Characters who forget about threat - If there is a curse or threat, the characters often seem to conveniently forget about it.
• Power cuts - At the height of tension the power goes out! No lights, no phones, no internet.
• Victim hides in front of a window or door - A very common and easy scare. The victim cowers against a door or window, only to have the killer break through and grab them a moment later.
• A stormy night - Very effective in terms of setting an atmosphere. This technique has been used since the days of Victorian horror.

Representation
Early horror films were a male-dominated genre. Women played the part of the victim and/or the object of desire. Many critics believe the horror genre is extremely misogynistic because even today there are still many horror films that follow this stereotype. As well as this, it is often found that sexually active "bad girls" are the ones to get murdered, while the pure "good girls" are the ones who are spared or rescued.

There has been some progress, however. Films such as Alien feature female leads, but it's interesting to note that these characters are masculinised- one of the most common lines a female lead says to a male is to "Man up".