Oh, the horror: the forgotten genre

As we inch closer to Halloween, more and more people are watching horror movies, and the industry is pumping out significantly more movies than any other time of the year. But why is horror so confined to this season?
Sure, horror movies are released year-round, but they never receive as much attention as they do in the fall.
Last week, Christopher Marsh, instructor in communication and also my course instructor, asked me and my classmates what our favorite genres of movies were. As people began yelling out every genre you could think of, I thought we had named them all. We had missed one, however: horror.
Marsh told us that he found our responses interesting because, at first, none of us said our favorite genre was horror.
“Do any of you enjoy going to horror movies?” Marsh said.
Many of us said yes, realizing we had forgotten about this genre. How could I have forgotten such a large genre of movies I sincerely enjoy? Marsh provided a possible explanation for that.
“You could probably find a romantic comedy opening every week, it doesn’t have a season per se,” Marsh said. “Horror films are not feel-good movies, so, if I say ‘favorite,’ everyone has a favorite. [Horror movies] are just not on top of mind. Then you say ‘what about horror?’ [and you’ll get a response like] ‘oh yeah I’m down to watch ‘The Exorcist!’ Absolutely!’”
Marsh also noted that we as a society make watching horror movies a social concept.
“When you watch something with someone else, it intensifies that experience,” Marsh said. “Now you’re just ramping up that horror experience a few extra degrees.”
This feeling we get as we watch horror films is mainly enjoyed by younger audiences, according to Marsh, which makes sense. We not only watch horror films with groups of people, but we even make these films a “date” experience – either way, enjoying the excitement that they bring us all together.
“Young people liked the excitement of it. I read an article [about] why we like horror movies, [and] one of the reasons is [because] it does kind of get our heart pumping and rev us up,” Marsh said. “We also like the fact that it is cool to be scared because then most of the horror films we see have a resolution. Yes, it was very scary, and, yes, this happened, but it is okay now.”