We looked at a few sources from graduate students who are attending/have attended esteemed institutions such as Kateryna Barnes from the University of Alberta (UoA) and Eric Swain from Boston University (BU).

Kateryna’s article, Monsters in Modern Horror Culture Reflect Social Anxieties, explains that horror movies aren’t about the scare tactics used to invoke fear in people, but rather tapping into the unconscious fears that we collectively share. Jason Wallin, an education professor at UoA and a media and culture expert took part in her interview, stating that, “Horror is a speculation on a potential future and it tries to elevate those anxieties to conscious thought” (Barnes 2017). Barnes provides the common themes in horror movies Wallin lists in the interview as well as what societal fears they represent. Zombies represent being overworked and epidemics, whereas mutants show the natural mutations the world already goes through and the corruption happening from the inside out; technology reveals the dark secrets in our lives and how we’re forced to “play the game” of those in power via the Internet and other forms of social media. These monsters, as they’ve evolved throughout the horror genre, draw on these societal fears in a more potent way older horror movies couldn’t; since people don’t have a framework to look back on, requiring them to think for themselves (Barnes 2017).

On the contrary, Eric’s article, A Cultural History of Horror, gives the historical context of horror movies:

• From the 1930’s up to the 20th century, Swain argues similarly to Barnes that horror movies reflect the darkness and inner fears in ourselves, and current times (Swain 2013).
• 1930’s-1940’s- simple monsters such as the Wolfman and Dracula portrayed the fear of foreigners due to the turmoil of WWI; America practiced isolationism and turned inward, serving as the primal focus on these monsters.
• 50’s- most monsters became comical, but new monsters during the atomic age rose up, such as Godzilla and Bodysnatchers, reflecting once again the invasion of foreigners with a foreign power taking over America and the ever-pressing threat of nuclear war.
• 60’s-mid 70’s- played around with conquering known beasts and baddies, but the unknown (supernatural and paranormal) couldn’t be conquered.
• Late 70’s- focused on monsters that originated on home soil rather than from the outside world, like the shark in Jaws and Carrie from Carrie, breaking the idea that America is pure and good.
• 80’s- it featured the time of rebellious teenagers going against the status quo, worrying the older generations but also punishing the younger, such as the several teenagers that are killed off in Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.
• 90’s- kept a cool attitude, but honed in on serial killers and how they blend in with society; Scream is a great example of this.
• The 2000’s- was a basket of everything, featuring iconic films such as the Saw series and Final Destination; this was also the decade where remakes became a new trend, desensitizing the fears that society once had as they play over and over.

*Viewer Discretion is Advised ~ Blood, Gore, Scary Images, and Suggestive Content are Present Within the Video*

With the description of these decades and how horror films evolved over time, he counters Barnes’s claim by stating that, “As a culture, Americans act like we are already at the end of history…; if [we] believe it is all going to end, what is left to fear” (Swain 2013). He believes horror films aren’t as influential as they once were, since they rely on past philosophies and the mechanics of the genre to reveal the audience’s fears that were not outlined at the time.