Welcome to The Attic. Time for some uneducated psychology by the Princess herself…

One thing that has always fascinated me is how people have such varying views on what’s scary. What one laughs at, another finds chilling, and vice versa. It’s very interesting to look into possible explanations for the discrepancies. I’m no Doctor, and I don’t claim to have this all figured out, but I started to think about the more common “scariest” movies that you hear about, and what categories they fall into within human fears and beliefs. These are just some of the most explored categories, and are in no particular order.

Religion
The Exorcist. The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The Conjuring. The Stand.

This is one that hits me the hardest when I’m watching a horror movie. I was raised going to church, and being told that angels, demons, God and the Devil all exist. I know many religious people that refuse to even watch possession movies because they believe that films themselves can carry an “evil” along with them. I think when you have any belief in, or consideration of, good vs. evil in the spirit world, than movies like the above are going to strike a nerve. When I was about 10 I had my first run-in with the Exorcist. I was being bold and because nothing scared me that often I thought I could handle it. I was dead wrong. After my mother went to see it in the theaters when it was released, her friend spent the night reading the Bible. The other movies I listed are just some of the scarier “demonic possession” films I have seen, and The Stand… well that miniseries gets under my skin. When they talk about “him” coming. Ahem, moving on…

Absence of Innocence
The Omen. Village of the Damned. The Ring. The Good Son.

I think another scenario that resonates with many people is the idea of a child being born evil, or being treated so poorly that their impressionable selves learn only pain, therefore create it. When we picture children we imagine innocence, a clean slate, and a goodness that no adult can possess. However, there are films that have presented the idea that a youngster can do every bit of evil as any adult can. Whether by being born with the sole purpose of carrying out sinister, biblical tasks, or by being so destroyed by adults in their few short years that they become heartless and murder without hesitation. The idea that such a young soul can kill without remorse is highly unnerving. Honorable mention: Pet Sematary. That little kid with the knife? Scary as hell.

Childhood Fears
IT. Halloween. Chucky. Poltergeist.

Everyone has fears as a child. Clowns have ruined many birthday parties across the country, and countless young kids have hidden their dolls in the closet for fear of them coming alive. I know that I hit my American Doll in my closet, buried under many heavy things, for years. I remember trying to be strong, and watching her sit upright on my desk as she stared off into space with that ever so slight upturn of her lips. I would only last about 20 minutes until I could swear I would see her tiny chest rising and falling as she breathed life into her plastic shell. I would then flip on the light and toss her back in the closet. There is something about a small, lifelike doll that can be so terrifying to a young kid, and movies like Chucky and Poltergeist definitely capitalized on that. Halloween took the classic fear of the boogeyman and threw him right in your face. Not to mention the fact that he can’t be killed or stopped. Up next: Clowns. Between their forced happiness and the lack of seeing a real face beneath that giant red smile can only add up to trouble.. And IT, well that story takes what is supposed to be a beloved childhood party guest and reveals what a clown really means to most kids. Terror.

Realism.
Psycho. Them. Saw. Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

When you read the above titles, I bet some of you don’t think “realistic,” but what you may not realize is that most of those movies are based on real stories. And whether you know that or not, it can resonate deeply with those that realize what we have to fear most is each other. As I’ve written about before, the story of Ed Gein inspired both Texas Chain Saw and Psycho. The author of the latter was inspired to create Norman Bates after reading only small bits and pieces (no pun intended) of the horrors that Gein had committed. Sure, Leatherface is fake, but most of what he did was first carried out in 1957 by an unassuming recluse in Wisconsin. Saw? No, there is no Jigsaw in real life, but ever since the beginning of time people have been tortured, and put in horrific situations. Them is a lesser known foreign film that is based on a true story. It is also the movie that inspired the American remake The Strangers. These films all strike a chord with so many because in many ways, they can happen, and do.

Exploitation of Phobias.
Arachnophobia. The Descent. Buried. Open Water.

There are quite a few films that take the most common human phobias and either blow them out of proportion or throw them in your face and crank up the intensity to get under your skin. I have a very real fear of both spiders and not being able to breathe. So basically I can’t watch any of the above without getting heart palpitations. I’ve had severe anxiety in a small “mine” tour in southern Arizona… Tombstone to be exact. So anything that can compromise my space and oxygen is on my “NOPE” list. Now… about spiders. Yeah… I somehow still love that movie, but after many viewings it still makes me cringe and feel chills down my back. It is difficult to understand why some phobias appear in some humans but not others, but it is easy to see why these films succeed in exploiting them.

Fear of the Unknown
The Sixth Sense. Fire In The Sky. The Haunting. Signs.

There is one last realm of the horror genre, and that houses the two most debated subjects in the paranormal world. Do ghosts exist? Do aliens? If you bring either of these up around the watercooler you may be met with a look of caution, followed by a rushed exit from the conversation. But whether they’re willing to share or not, almost everyone has their own opinions on these topics, and the vast majority are feverish in their beliefs and why. Everywhere you go there are people that, once prompted in the right setting, may break down and tell you about that time they saw a UFO in New Mexico. Or about their Grandmother’s haunted house in the midwest. There have been thousands upon thousands of sightings of both “entities” in different forms and varying levels of intensities. While neither has been proven to be fact or fiction, you can’t deny that they make for fantastic movies because of the lack of knowledge we have. They could exist, and that is horrifying.

So those are my very lengthy thoughts on different horror movies and why they all affect so many people differently.. The next time you hear someone swear that a movie is the “scariest” they’ve ever seen and you want to laugh, keep in mind that we’re all different. We have different childhood fears, life experiences, and beliefs. There is room for all, Atticdwellers. Now tell me, what scares you?

Stay scared,
Dark Princess