Horror, as a genre of fiction, plays a very important part in the human experience. Through horror stories, mankind is allowed to experience fear in a safe environment. For us, fear is thrilling; the rush of endorphins that one feels when they are scared, and the relief that pours over us when the danger is gone, is something that many people chase over and over again. Horror is also important to allow us to face existing fears, and figure out why we are so frightened of them. In this way, horror helps us learn more about ourselves and how we work, and provides a thrilling escape from the everyday. In this essay, three recent horror works will be examined; the Richard Matheson book I Am Legend, the Stephen King novel The Mist, and the 2010 horror film Let Me In. In these works, normal fears (whether rational or irrational) are used and exploited to great effect in order to elicit a fearful reaction from an audience; the relief that comes after experiencing this work of horror allows these fears to be confronted.
In the Richard Matheson novel I am Legend, scientist Robert Neville is the last man left on Earth after a devastating plague kills or vampirizes everyone else on the planet. Stranded by himself in a decrepit Los Angeles, Neville navigates the derelict city during the day, gathering supplies and attempting to research the disease that has afflicted everyone else. The novel describes how he goes about his life, all by himself, and attempts to understand the insane world that has formed around him.
There are several different kinds of scares in I Am Legend, the most obvious of which the fear of death. Monsters are a typical source of fear, as we have been hardwired by instinct to fear creatures larger and more dangerous than us. The vampires present in I Am Legend exemplify this idea of the bogeyman, the horrific nightmare that comes in the night to kill you. This combines a fear of monsters with a fear of the dark; we cannot see what is around us in the dark, whether good or bad, and so we fear the possibility of danger. This fear is revisited as Neville attempts to survive nights in this abandoned city.
There are underlying fears in I Am Legend as well; we fear being alone, something that Neville wrestles with on a daily basis. We also fear the end of our civilization, the kind of apocalyptic scenario that this book represents. These things and more strike at the very core of our most ardent fears; we do not want all of humanity to end, much less our own. At the same time, we want to be the last people standing.
Stephen King's The Mist conveys a similar set of fears, but the fear of an apocalypse happens during the events of the story, instead of Matheson's view of the aftermath. In this story, a small town in Maine is attacked by creatures hidden in a mist that covers the entire town. Throughout the book, the townspeople do their best to survive and avoid their fate. This type of story plays mainly on fear of the unknown - the mist is clearly indicative of that. Much like the dark, some people can let their imagination run wild with what they cannot see; since you cannot see in the mist, your mind conjures up all sorts of things that could be contained within. King's book makes them manifest, and the characters in the book have to face the reality that they will die because of what we fantasize about. In addition to that, the characters deal with the same fears of creatures and monsters.
The biggest fear, and something that King plays on frequently, is the idea of a small town - a home - housing such a horrendous evil. With I Am Legend, the whole world is afflicted by this plague, but The Mist just focuses in on a small town. With the type of familiarity present in those who live in small towns, it can become harder to imagine your hometown as a battleground, or the site for a fight for survival. King, in this book, brings the horror home, showing that nowhere is safe. This allows the reader to indulge in the idea of even their little hamlet becoming overrun with fantastical creatures.
Finally, Matt Reeves' 2010 film Let Me In, a remake of a 2007 Swedish film, is a much more intimate and almost touching story. While it has its horrific elements, the most frightening thing the film does is make a creature relatable. In this film, a lonely boy in New Mexico befriends a mysterious neighbor girl named Abby; what he soon figures out, however, is that Abby is a blood-thirsty vampire who must feed on human blood to survive.
The real horror in this film is a tragic one; the hellish creature is the subject of the boy's adoration and affection. They are both outcasts, attempting to find something to belong to. The film plays on ideas of isolation, childhood innocence, and latent rage in bullied victims. Owen, the boy, is constantly bullied by a group of children who are more villainous than Abby. In fact, Abby is trapped in this situation as much as anyone else; she feeds out of necessity, but does not want to. She is genuinely interested in forming a friendship with Owen, but her animal instincts are sometimes too strong to ignore.
Owen and Abby's friendship is often the cause of great horror because of the lack of malice in Abby's attacks. Abby does not want to hurt anyone, and so it makes it that much harder to want to kill her. However, the debate rages as to whether or not she should be killed for the good of everyone. Abby just wants to live; Owen just wants a friend. In this way, they both become disturbed, blood-soaked partners by the end of the film.
These three stories help to exemplify what is so perfect about horror films. Both of these tales depict regular fears that people have (the unknown, creatures, the dark side of human nature) and exaggerates them to a truly terrifying degree. By emphasizing the very things that we are afraid of, we can expose ourselves to them in a safe way, letting ourselves know that it's going to be okay. Horror, more than most genres, allows us to vicariously face our fears, and come out the other side with a better understanding of ourselves.
