THE HISTORY OF HORROR
‘[Our]… interest in fearsome fantasies cannot be completely explained as the result of desire to understand the unknown. Still, the legends of the past provided many of the monsters that haunt literature of the present, and part of the modern enthusiasm for the macabre may be attributed to ancestral memories of the days when demons were almost expected to put in an occasional appearance.’
‘[Our]… interest in fearsome fantasies cannot be completely explained as the result of desire to understand the unknown. Still, the legends of the past provided many of the monsters that haunt literature of the present, and part of the modern enthusiasm for the macabre may be attributed to ancestral memories of the days when demons were almost expected to put in an occasional appearance.’
(L.DANIELS,FEAR: A HISTORY OF HORROR IN
THE MASS MEDIA,PALADIN,1977,P.8)
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| HOW HORROR GENRE HAS DEVELOPED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS |
The horror genre has this unique element
about itself, it has the recognisable pattern again and again (zombies ). A film will come along and terrify
an audience capturing their imaginations the success which eventually leads to
sequels and imitators – sometimes better than the original. But eventually the
sequels run out of steam and the subgenre created by the original smash hit
fades into memory prowling in the corners of history waiting to be rediscovered
and reborn. The unique appeal of horror from its low
budget requirements to broad multinational appeal.
So who did the first horror films borrow
from? Monsters, murderers, demons and beasts have been around since antiquity,
ghost stories told round camp fires since we learned how to talk. But the roots
of filmed horror were an extension of a genre of literature that got it’s start
in the late 1700s: Gothic Horror. Developed by writers in both Great Britain
and the United States the Gothic part of the name refers to pseudo medieval
buildings that these stories took place such as old castle on a dark and stormy
night – gloomy forests, dungeons and secret passage ways.
The Fog (Directed by John
Carpenter,1979). The film demonstrates well worn cliché of a group of people
sitting around camp- fire and telling ghost stories and is which possibly rooted in ancient practices. This is
probably the cause of many opening scenes of many films or television series
which looks at someone starting tell a story often at night or whilst sitting
around the camp fire.
FAMOUS GOTHIC WRITERS
