The Horror Genre of the Past and Present

The horror genre has come a long way from the past, and for the people who like the old versions, the modern versions may not be that great. We must first understand the background and history of the horror genre and what it is about to fully understand it.

The horror genre was made to install fear into people's minds. It is a classic form of entertainment and many people in the past have become famous for their contributions. In the past, horror masters use subtlety and psychology to bring fear in the people's minds, but today they rely on technology and visual effects to scare people.

Horror classics like Bram Stoker's Dracula rely more on the understanding of human nature and psychology to scare people. Dracula was terrifying because of the threat of his bite. People got scared just by thinking that Dracula could turn anyone into a monster just like him. It was not terrifying because of the visual effects of the vampire. They did not use the modern visual effects that technology can provide but still they were able to come up with something as frightening as Dracula. Horror classics only relied on fear and anxiety through psychology to being fear into the people's minds.

However, as the years went by we find ourselves no longer scared at classical horror characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and Mister Hyde. Society changed as more and more people became desensitize to violence. It became harder to rely on psychology to scare people as we all realize what other people are capable of. Horror classics have become less terrifying as Jack the Ripper became popular.

Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, two of the many masters of horror, relied on the fear of the unknown. Poe is the more subtle master and he is known as the master of American horror. He was known for his style of using consequences of falling victim to things that are outside one's control. He also expertly used the threat of death to add more fear into his works. On the other hand, Lovecraft used the consequences of humanity seeking knowledge and information that he should not know. She is known for a subgenre called "Love -Crafton" horror which shows the futility of human endeavors. It relies heavily on excessive knowledge to instill fear. Poe's technique relied on reminding people that they knew too little while Lovecraft scared by reminding people that they knew too much.

As technology changed our lives, it also changed the way horror movies scared people. Modern movies relied more on gore and blood to scare people. Today, modern horror genre or Hollywood genre has gone in two directions--the literary scene and the movie industry.

For modern literature, horror novels tend to focus more on personal horrors as depicted in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. It attempts to call upon the reader's fear of becoming a monster. On the other hand, movies use gore and blood to add more visual effects. Unfortunately, this is hardly a substitute for true horror.

Today Asian horror has become quite popular especially in movies. Unlike American horror Asian horror is more psychological. It relies on using the supernatural with the fear of the unknown as depicted in "Tomie" and the "Ring" novels.

Fear is an emotion that is internationally understood. When it comes to literature and movies of the horror genre, Asian horror has mixed past horror styles with a better modern technique with their very own cultural twists.