One of the most interesting qualities that I love about horror is its ability to alter reality as we see it.
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In horror stories, movies, and in the odd paranormal experience, we have experiences that can change the very way in which we view the world around us. We are forced to reevaluate what we consider real.
Now not all horror stories do this, some are more closely related to science fiction and fantasy and use horror elements to tell the authors story, examples of this would be Ridley Scott’s Alien or Peter Yate’s Krull. However I feel the stories that leave us the most frightened are the ones that take reality and twist it just a little bit; the ones that leave you wondering if it was really made up at all. There are some non-horror authors who are great at this, Michael Crichton is a master of this kind of reality altering story telling, where science meets science fiction in an almost seamless way. In horror we have a myriad of examples and authors, Stephen King, Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, and many more. Dark Tower junkies, like me, can probably all tell you when they had a Tower moment; when reality and the Tower blur in mind-bending and sometimes frightening ways.
It is this blend of our reality with the imaginary that make a horror story come to life. Freud, in his one venture into the realm of horror fiction, The Uncanny, talks about what makes something uncanny or horrifiying. He suggests that when we feel something as being horrifying it is because it is something we repressed that is being brought to life in front of us. It is both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The thing titillates our minds, because we think we recognize it, but part of our mind knows that we don’t want to recognize it, because it could be dangerous to our mental well being if we do, hence the repression. According to Freud, these repressed ideas or thoughts are usually primal fears of death, physical mutilation and castration. In essence the way we view the world around us is altered, that which was repressed is brought forward to be dealt with in a dramatic way. In many ways this is exactly what psychotherapy was designed to do. This theory certainly does not describe everything about horror, and many have poked some holes in this theory with some well thought out arguments, however I feel that it does describe some horror events that leave us with an altered reality.
Over the next few weeks I will discuss some of the horror struck moments that I have had with various works of horror that have left me feeling like my reality was altered in some way.
Questions for you:
Have you ever had a moment when a horror story has shifted the way you view the world around you? What was it?
Do you agree or disagree with Freud’s explanation of horror and the Uncanny? Why?
Horror Struck 
A particular scene from the film “The Orphanage” comes to mind: The main heroine stands against a wall and knocks three times, inviting the spirits of the children to play with her. I felt that this scene altered my reality because in some way it seemed too plausible, and the knocking represented opening oneself to the unknown (Like a symbolic willingness to court the dead). I could never do what she did, even though in reality the spirits of children wouldn’t really come….would they?
In Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady,” the instant that Billy Weaver realizes the dog is a piece of taxidermy. While the real moment of horror doesn’t occur until the story’s end, it is this initial, simple mistake that terrifies me. I have always placed a lot of stock in my first impressions about people or places, and the idea that I could be so wholly wrong is chilling.
This notion of the sinister wearing a veneer of kindness and hospitality is not a new one. If anything, it is a bit over-used. I guess what makes this so horrifying to me is the simple fact that I might not recognize the truth.
Stewart O’Nan’s book “A Prayer for the Dying” is a horror novel that most people don’t know about. It is a descent into madness, written in 2nd person, so you are the one going crazy. It still gets me every time I read it. And personally, I think Freud was a little too obsessed with genitals himself.
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