The genre of Horror films is a longstanding genre with roots in gothic literature and mythology. Tales such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) served to set the scene for the film genre (Wilson). Taking on similar traits to horror literature, horror films place a great emphasis on darkness. This darkness can be interpreted in more than one way. The first is in the literal sense of darkness with scenes being dark or at night, obscuring the viewer’s sight to create suspense and anxiety. Along with this, darkness can be used in a more metaphorical sense such as death, gore, monsters, and the supernatural. In addition, horror films include suspenseful music, sudden cuts and jump scares. Ultimately, all of the aspects mentioned before form the main elements used in horror films. …show more content…
Along with this, many people enjoy being scared as it serves to relieve anxiety and stress. This can be evidenced by, “people may actually enjoy being scared” (Andrade and Cohen). Viewers like to feel like they are ini danger when in reality they know they are not. All of this is especially true for the genres main demographic, teenagers. Seeing an R-rated movie with a lot of blood and gore has become a rite of passage to signal moving from being a child to an adult. Horror films both scare and entertain their audience creating a mix of emotions that in the end work in the genre’s