“Before there was time, before there was anything, there was nothing, and before there was nothing… there were monsters.”
The Lich, Adventure Time
What was said in a fantastical cartoon during a moment meant to scare some not-so-moral characters, is one of the most profound statements ever made about the world — horror is ever present. Everlasting. It oozes out of every creative crevice our brains produce, from campfire stories to religion, manufacturing, and our Saturday morning cartoons. The Lich, Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time antagonist is an oxymoron; he is the living embodiment of Death, said to have existed before time itself. Per the Lich’s speech, monsters have always been here — both in our minds as well as the world around us. It seems that no matter how terrible our monsters are, we cannot escape them. We are meant to be.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines horror as “a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay,” and follows that description up with words like “repulsive” and “dismal.” Every word is the opposite of “enjoyable,” which is weird, considering horror grosses billions of dollars each year through the likes of entertainment and merchandise. So how is is possible that a topic so unpleasant could keep itself relevant since the beginning of time? Probably because we need it.
Fear is a survival tactic, always has been and always will be. Proto humans used fear to teach lessons to their young to keep them alive (Don’t eat this plant, or stay away from the animal with big teeth). Ancient civilizations used fear as a way to explain phenomena (The Gods’ anger caused this flood). Centuries old traditions of morality are the basis of religions where fear of divine repercussions keeps people on track to live a good life (think Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy or the Salem Witch Trials). And even though today is a time of relative safety and secularism, we use still fear as a method of controlling our emotions. Fear is a tool.
I’ve seen many articles explaining how watching horror movies can be a coping mechanism for the anxieties people face every day. A scary scenario in a controlled environment not only keeps your worries contained to that setting, but gives you the power to stop outright by turning the movie off or closing your book. Horror is helpful in that regard, yes, but what about those who purposefully seek it out? Those who partake regularly? Those who crave it? While it is a welcome release for unwanted feelings, to put it simply, fear is in our blood. It’s attractive and grotesque, beautiful and awful, enticing and repulsive, all at the same time.
Fear is looking down a dimly lit hallway and imagining whispers through the walls. It’s not being able to look away from a deadly highway accident. It’s imagining what would happen if you jumped off of that bridge, right now. Fear is the feeling of something watching you, seeing you. Fear is an entity trapped down in the deep recesses of our beings, one that can never escape — not that we want it to, anyway. It’s an addiction that everyone has; how can we create such morbid realities without a shred of evil already inside us? Horror is willing to show us what life can be — the good and the bad. It’s there to douse our fears, teach us lessons, and quench our thirst for urges we cannot (in good conscious) commit. Horror is entertaining and fascinating in all forms, be it book, movie, game, t-shirt, or national holiday. People love horror because there is an ever-present, unnatural calling towards it. And naturally, humans oblige that calling. Horror shows a reflection of our world in terms we can grasp more easily, and just like our ancestors and those before them, it guides us.
A lot of people may have surface level opinions of the genre going no deeper than “I like the blood” or “Jumpscares are cool.” But when it comes down to it, horror is the one unchanged element in the history of everything. The past few years have been excellent times for horror’s renaissance and regained position in higher culture. It was popular in a time of action flicks. It was there with the westerns. It was there before computers, and during the early days of silent films. Horror graced the pages of penny dreadfuls and Dracula’s alike. Horror gave the ancients morals and reasons to survive. Horror was there, feeding our souls with dread. That fear has always been there. It was there when there was nothing, and before there was nothing, there were monsters.
Great article!