Horror: Noun. A strong feeling of fear, shock, or disgust, or a category of art and fiction meant to cause those feelings. [Cambridge Dictionary]

Good day, gentle readers. My name is Jack, and I’m the admin of this oh-so-lovely website. As a former writer who’s been blocked for the better part of a decade, I thought I might entertain you with some philosophical discussions of our chosen genre.

Let me be clear about one thing: When I was embarking on what has become a four-year venture thus far, I never intended for it to become a pure horror site. But that is where our authors have taken it, and our readers seem to like it, so who am I to argue? Here’s a wee fact from the National Research Group: Horror is one of the fastest-rising and most profitable genres in modern entertainment, moving from a niche market into a widespread global obsession. That seems somehow important, and worth looking into. How does that work, what’s driving it, and who is the consumer?

Unlike other film genres where original live-action ideas have largely vanished from the top box office slots, horror remains a space where original concepts and breakout directors can achieve massive success without relying on established cinematic universes. Much of the gains made by the genre seem to be fueled by Gen Z, a 14 to 29-year-old demographic at the time of this writing. And most interesting of all, horror seems to gain the most popularity when the world around us becomes more horrible.

Right now, as I write this, we have undeclared wars raging in the old world, supported by big players in the new. Canada and the U.S. are at loggerheads for the first time in, well, ever. We’re witnessing the systematic deconstruction of American democracy in real time, all issues that we can’t give our full attention to because people who were in the middle class a year ago now have to choose between food, medicine, or living indoors on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, those suffering the most are young people just trying to get their lives started only to discover that they’ve been hamstrung at the starting line. There’s enough real-life horror in the daily news to satisfy anyone’s need, and yet more and more, fictional horror is being sought out by millions world-wide. Let’s look into that.

Fictional horror takes many forms. The agent of horror can be a human being, albeit a sad excuse for one. A murderer, a deranged scientist, an escaped sociopath all move the horror meter. An unreasoning boss or spouse can be enough. Ghosts and other undead are classic staples. It can be a mindless creature from a rabid dog to something entirely alien, from outer space or another dimension. Or it can be intelligent aliens come to earth for nefarious purposes. Natural disasters can deliver their own form of horror, but the question in front of us is why?

What happens in a horror book or movie? Generally, some horrible, evil thing terrorizes a community, a family, a group of friends, or the crew of a space mission. A fair percentage of the cast often die, but there is one common thread found in all horror books and movies, even those rare offerings where all of the characters die. You remain alive. You have faced the creature, the madman, the murderous spouse, and despite the demise of those who faced it with you, you came through it alive. In the process, you’ve experienced the same adrenaline rushes, elevated heart rates, and mental terror that you would have had you actually been inside the plot. Granted, books and movies hit differently, but you survived the unsurvivable.

Maybe that’s the appeal, the fact that you’ve taken on something worse than the actual world around you, and you’re still okay. Perhaps it gives you hope for your chances in the world outside your door. Or maybe you just enjoy that adrenaline rush. I’d like to think it’s more complex than that.

Everyone has their drug of preference. Personally, I don’t care for splatter or body-horror. I think it’s a good look when people keep their insides on the inside. Being a child of the fifties, I favor the giant bugs and the space monsters, and am always kind of disappointed when the action moves to where there are a bunch of people around. People are the worst monsters of all, and they don’t have the common decency to announce their intentions with scaly faces and foot-long claws.

So, what kind of horror scares the b’jesus out of you? Want to talk about it? Just lie back on the couch while I fetch my instruments…