Horror. It’s a genre that many people love, but also a genre that many people hate. For me, horror has always been a passion and my favorite genre of film.
I watched my first horror movie at the age of only 6 years old. It was “Halloween,” the original film from 1978. While my mother was helping my grandparents clean out their garage, 6-year-old me found the VHS tape buried beneath dozens of other tapes. Just seeing the word Halloween sparked my interest.
When I asked my mom if I could watch it, she and my grandparents debated whether or not it would be appropriate for me. After some hesitation, my mother finally let me watch, under the condition that she would obviously watch it with me.
That day, sitting on the carpeted floor of my mom’s room with the shades drawn, I must have watched the film at least five times. Each re-watch was better than the last. Each time, even though I knew what was going to happen, I still felt the fright well up in me whenever Michael Myers was on screen.
As a kid, I always loved being scared. Even typical playground games such as hide-and-seek and tag would awaken a fun kind of fear in me. I think that’s why I was able to watch so many horror films. That’s what started my connection with horror at such a young age, the thrill of being scared and enjoying every minute of it.
Watching horror films for me is like being taken on a long roller coaster, with each drop, turn and loop of differing emotions. I like to pop in a good horror flick, and just sit back and enjoy the ride- even when there are horrifying drops that I don’t anticipate. Believe it or not, actual studies have been done to analyze why people like horror movies.
After I took “Halloween” so well, my mother thought that I might be able to handle other horror movies, and she was right. A good chunk of my childhood was spent watching horror classics late into the night. Movies I fondly remember watching such were “C.H.U.D,” “Poltergeist,” “Gremlins,” “The Thing,” the entire “Friday the 13th” franchise and even campy horror comedies like “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.”
Over the years, I grew attached to horror across various mediums. In middle school, every Friday night, my mother and I would order take-out and watch episodes of the late 90s mystery television series “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.”
Though some of the stories were kind of cheesy, I still got a lot of enjoyment out of this show. The “Kid in the Closet” is probably one of the creepiest stories in the series that I never got over. During my freshman year of high school, my grandfather got me obsessed with the original 1960s “Twilight Zone” series and by the end of high school, I developed a new obsession with the interactive world of ARG games and horror web-series.
Though I have more than a plethora of favorite horror films, there are some that I still hold close to me.
- Poltergeist (1982)
- Get Out/Us
- Midsommar
- Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- Halloween (1978)
- Tales from the Hood
- Carrie (1976)
- The Shining
- The Exorcist
- Rosemary’s Baby
I love all different types of horror. Whether it’s grotesque body horror, psychological horror, Black, gothic fiction, horror comedies, scary logo compilations, you name it. I have always had an attachment especially to slasher classics, “elevated horrors” with social commentary, and obscure, underground horror films that most with a sensitive stomach couldn’t handle.
No matter what kind of horror content, what they all have in common is that they have strangely offered me comfort during some of the toughest times in my life.
Being a young black girl obsessed with zombies, vampires and masked murderers wasn’t exactly the best thing to be in middle school. It wasn’t the only thing I got bullied for but it was a pretty big reason. Besides my family, horror was what offered me comfort and a use of escape from the bullying at school.
When I was no longer being bullied in elementary school, I was instead just ignored or seen as weird because I didn’t talk much. Again, horror still offered me comfort during those times. I remember when I would read Stephen King novels or write my own short horror stories during break times in school.
By high school, my tastes had “evolved” from typical slasher films to obscure, underground flicks that only those with strong stomachs could handle. Even the grossest, goriest and most violent horror flicks offered me comfort during my lonely high school years.
By the end of high school, I developed a deep obsession and adoration for Adult Swim and their perfect blend of horror and comedy, particularly their weird infomercials like “Unedited Footage of a Bear” and virtually anything made by Alan Resnick.
Fast forward to now in 2020, a nightmare in itself, I still to this day use horror stories, whether I’m watching it or writing it myself, as a way to escape from the harsh reality of the world.
During the Presidential 2020 Election, I consumed as much horror content as I could to pull myself away from “doomscrolling” on Twitter. There’s just something about taking a break from everything and immersing myself in a fictional world full of ghosts, evil spirits and masked killers. Doing this has always made me feel better and has served as a helpful distraction from the world.
For me, horror hasn’t just been that weird friend that comforted me during different times, or a useful adrenaline rush whenever I felt stressed. My connection to horror is also what sparked my passion to be a filmmaker, particularly screenwriter. From a young age, watching horror flicks and the behind-the-scenes footage of how filmmakers brought monsters to life inspired me to want to bring that same awe to not just kids, but people of all ages.
