What do you think the country needs now in terms of Horror stories?

Obviously, a large part of the country is...disconcerted (that's the mild word I'm going with ) after the recent election results. Even more so than we have been in the wake of other elections, it seems to me.

So I was thinking, what kinds of stories will the country (world?) need during this time? To empower us. To heal us. To...provide an escape.

Obviously diversity and "own voices" and stories from marginalized communities have had a big push forward recently (even before the election). Which is great. Maybe the playing field in publishing will finally be leveled. And I think, for sure, this is something we REALLY need now.

But what else will readers want now? In terms of plot. In terms of themes etc. I'm particularly interested in what we will be hungry for in the horror genre, because that's the forum I'm in. But I'm certainly open to answers of the non-horror variety too.

Over the years you see the rise and fall of things like: alien invasions, superheroes, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, dystopian etc. And they seem to reflect/fill/satisfy a void that the country/world is feeling.

So what do you think we'll cling to now? One of those things I mention above? Or something different?

So, sounds like you guys are thinking along the lines of B movie escapism with a side order of diversity?

I just looked up the Green Room and it looks awesome, Rhoda. Takes place in a town I actually vacation at often. So I'm interested on many levels there. And it sounds like it's thematically a strike back against racism sort of message, if I understand the plot correctly.

Well, I'm still stuck on what else we'll NEED from horror now. But I've been thinking... about what we might SEE in horror now.

After chatting more with family and friends, it seems to me that a lot of people were surprised more than anything by the election results, regardless if they were disappointed or not. And also surprised that people they thought would vote one way, actually voted another way. More so than previous elections. It's created a great amount of disillusionment.

If that's the same across the country, this feeling of disillusionment, (you know, outside just my bubble of people ) then I'm wondering if we'll see more of the "neighbor next door is not who you thought they were" kind of thing. (Fill in the blank on what evil thing you discover they are.)

Also, I think a lot of people are afraid of vigilante abuse. Again, regardless of who they supported, it appears to be a concern on BOTH sides. And already we've had some people here locally that have decided they have some sort of carte blanche to behave badly. So it makes me wonder if we'll see plots along the lines of the movie The Purge come into fashion.

sohalt said:

I've been reading quite a bit of Shirley Jackson lately. Lots of stuff about the very thin veneer of civility, escalation of everday petty maliciousness into stupefying violence and a very common, profoundly ordinary sort of evil just as devastating as the more excentric sort. Seems rather topical right now. Not terribly escapist, but maybe healing anyway as an antidote against a certain type of gaslighting ("let's wait and see", "those leftists with their cries of fascism, always so hysterical", "couldn't happen in America").

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Interesting you mention Jackson in this discussion on horror we will see/need now. Did you know they are making a film out of They Have Always Lived in the Castle? Supposed to come out in 2017. And the main theme there "persecution of people who exhibit "otherness" in small-town" (from Wikipedia).

Escapism, as much as I long for it, might be a luxury we shouldn't afford right now.

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I think there's room for both escapist horror and maybe more...insightful(?) horror. I think we need to take the time for the more escapism kind because it gives us that short-term relationship with something frightful, lets it play out and END at the credits. That beginning, middle, end structure of a horror story/movie, I think, gives our brains a chance to feel a little relief, at a time when maybe we feel we aren't getting any in the real world. Does that make sense? It's a bit of trick to the brain, but I think it works. Releases some chemicals. Actually, this is true for both the escapist kind and the more insightful kind. The difference is, I think, that the insightful kind can get us kind of riled up about our real world problems, perhaps leaving us with less of a closure feeling and more of a...dammit, this sucks! feeling.

It's interesting because I've read so much recently that suggests the market is saturated with dystopian stories. Some agents say they don't want them right now. But we may see a swing back to that for sure.

I know that a couple days after the election results came, I submitted my one and only dystopian short story to, like, ten magazines. As a reprint. Because it seemed particularly relevant now.

TedTheewen said:

I know it's popular, but I'm really sick and tired of seeing white nationalists and skinheads as the boogeyman de jour. It's like blonde jokes or how almost every freakin' bad guy in films has blonde hair and blue eyes. Go ahead and count how many times you've seen that. James Bond, Harry Potter, etc, etc,. And I'll tell you, it does have meaning. When I was in Korea, I was told by several people they are afraid of folks with blue eyes, because often the person with blue eyes is the bad guy, and that's why many were intimidated by me.

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True story: I first heard about Hitler and concentration camps when I was a kid and I saw a tattooed number on an old man's wrist. My best friend at the time was Jewish (still Jewish, just not my best friend anymore, because we were like 10) and I was at her house and her grandfather (old man with tattoo) was visiting. She explained to me all about Hitler and the Aryan race.

I have blue eyes and blonde hair. I was a mix of feelings when she downloaded all of the details to me! Part of me was thinking, "uh oh! Does her family see me as a threat! Do they think I want to kill them?!?!" You know, as 10 year-olds do. And another part of me felt this incredible guilt...for HAVING blonde hair and blue eyes. I wanted to rip out my hair and wear colored contacts so my friend wouldn't think I was evil.

Anyway, her family came to be a second family to me over the years. I can't tell you how much time I spent in temple or tagging along for Hebrew school, or celebrating Passover etc. They really made me feel included in their culture. And not at all like a Nazi.

Horror is more complex than pure escapist or being social commentary.

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True.

But Soapy is right

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Even more true!

that people are really afraid of abuse by a powerful person or group. I think power, in general, is scary for a lot of Americans right now.

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Yeah, abuse of power is kind of an evergreen theme too. But maybe we'll see more of it.

This week, an anthology of politically-themed horror is supposed to be released. I'm very curious how it goes over and how it will be received. I'm in it, yeah, but I'm dying to know how sales go.

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That's right! Don't we know someone who is in that antho?

TedTheewen said:

Me!

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Of course, a whole bunch of Koreans thought I was a professional wrestler, too.

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It was the spandex, wasn't it?

tommyb said:

I hate to say it...but I think violence toward women horror will rise soon.

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Really? Huh. To me this is kind of an ongoing theme anyway, I guess. Though certainly there are times where it seems there is a rise in it.

But I kinda think (hope?) that it will decline now...or maybe take a different angle?? I think it's on everyone's minds, for sure, I'm just not sure how the new political landscape will shape it. It could be a resurgence of revenge stories, women seeking revenge for violence against them. Or, it could be more like...women rising up to prevent it before it even happens. Something more proactively positive, I guess. Like: monster (of whatever horror variety) is about to hurt a woman, but woman turns tables. Rather than gratuitous abuse/rape scenes for the sake of driving home the horror of THAT. But I don't know.

jennontheisland said:

Much of the horror I've seen trailers for includes gaslighting as a central theme, typically done by those in power. "A Cure for Wellness" for example.

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Yes! Isn't that huge again? I agree this will probably be zoomed in on. And not just with regard to manipulating women, as it is often used to refer to, but to anyone and everyone. This is a theme close to my heart. And I hope we see it opened, exposed, and explored more.

I wonder if the tone of such fiction will be downbeat/hopeless/humanity is so screwed up. Or more upbeat/we can triumph/expose/beat it.

TedTheewen said:

That becomes the real question, doesn't it? How do we perceive humanity? How do we see ourselves?

Is all of humanity bad or is there hope for redemption?

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And this will probably shift a lot in the next 4 years. As we fight. Get tired. Pick ourselves up again and dust ourselves off to fight again. Get tired, gather strength. Fight again. I watch the media right now and it all makes me so...exhausted. I think this might be reflected in the horror that becomes popular/is wanted during this time. There will be an influx of "fight the power" and then maybe a disheartening resignation phase. Normally I think we see this shift back and forth BETWEEN administrations. But this time, I think it'll be moving back and forth constantly during the present one.

At some level, we have a responsibility. We have to show humanity in a realistic light, but then again, we have to inspire. I really do think that's part of our job as artists. We have to inspire humans to be more than what they are.

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This is the toughest thing. At least for me. I'll be curious to see who rises in the horror genre to nail this now.

How we do this is beyond me. All I can say is I'm trying. Not with the low-hanging fruit I've been sending out lately, but with the stuff I've got more heart into. My novella is about redemption.

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Nice.

Noizchild said:

No more cliches and jump scares.

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Ok, but why NOW? What about cliches and jump scares reflects a shift in horror as it relates to the present political shenanigans? I guess that's what I'm trying to get at in this thread.

realityfix said:

I believe if you want to use the negative feelings surrounding the most contentious election since Lincoln, one must abandon gore and special effects in favor of horror that flexes our brains a bit and makes us reexamine what words like honor, nationalism, or patriotism really means in the big picture.

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I think there's room for both the gore and the brain flexing. And sometimes in the same work of fiction. For example, this is why I love The Walking Dead so much. It does both (at least for me). I agree that reexamining honor, nationalism, patriotism etc. is needed. I am curious/excited to see how it will be reexamined, you know. I'd hate to see the examination be too heavy-handed or didactic. Then it loses its audience, I think. I'd love to see a real subtle exploration that resonates with viewers/readers long after. That creates a stirring that they may not understand or can't decipher at first, but almost insidiously calls them to action or changes beliefs and feelings. That's my favorite kind of horror!

A cooler ending with a nice twist would be that the human settlers come down with an illness that only the local inhabitants know how to cure but that knowledge dies out when the settlers kill every one of the locals. Something along these lines.

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I have this idea of something similar rolling around my head. Haven't written it yet. It's actually served as the unwritten backstory to a monster I created in a novel I wrote a few years ago. I'm beginning to think that his backstory is actually a better novel now! haha.