Codes and Conventions of a Horror

Subgenre research – Supernatural Horror

Horror definition

Horror fiction is a genre of literature, which is

intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its

readers, inducing feelings of horror and

terror

Traditional Horror scene

History of Supernatural

HorrorsSupernatural horror has its roots in folklore and religious traditions

on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and the principle of evil

embodied in The Devil.

These were manifested in stories of witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demonic pacts such as that

of Faust.Traditional devil as a

cartoon interpretation

Eighteenth century Gothic horror drew on these sources in such works

as Vathek (1786) by William Beckford, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The

Italian (1797) by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis.

A lot of horror fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a

female audience, a typical scenario being a resourceful female protagonist menaced

by fiends in a gloomy castle.

History of Supernatural

Horrors continued…

Gothic Horror

Supernatural in FilmSupernatural Films tend to

have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts,

apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas or

depictions of extraordinary phenomena.

Traditional image of a ghost

Design of horrorHorror films are designed too:

• Frighten and panic its audience• Cause alarm and dread

• Invoke its audiences hidden most/worst fears

• Captivate and entertain its audience in a liberating manor

• Often concludes in a shocking yet terrifying finale

General reactions of audience watching horror films

Horrors create fearsDepending on the audience

watching, horrors can create different types of fear:

• Vulnerability• Terror of the unknown

• Nightmares• Alienation• Revulsions

Propp’s spheres of action – within

a horrorLead character – can either be the victim or the villain

Victim – often results as the survivor in the film

Villain – Tends to have a trademark characteristic as to how they kill e.g.

weapons used, who they killBinary opposition – good vs. bad (conflict)

Sticks to ‘Propp’s spheres of action’ by usually starting of with an equilibrium, followed by a disequilibrium then finishing

with a new equilibrium (but can change due to certain circumstances)

SoundSound used within supernatural

horrors tend to base around:• Fast pace music for tense scenes

or action scenes• Common use of choir singing

• Common use of a beat in the time of a drum/heart

• Piano/Organ music – whether it be fast or slow it has a spooky feel

LocationLocation used within supernatural horrors tend to be based in places

such as:• Churches – huge relation to

supernatural and Christ (main base for supernatural genre)

• Barns/farms – deserted, dark, old (very traditional horror theme)

• Fields, country roads – deserted, associated with creepy looking

surrounds e.g. trees, animals and birds etc.

Other…• Credits – credits follow horror

theme - font, title movement, images etc

• Shots – many handheld camera shots; quick zoom ins and outs; birds eye for establishing shots;

dirty shots