The following blog post is an adapted version of an original academic piece that I wrote for my freshman College Writing class in the fall of 2009. It explores the evolution of the horror industry, focusing specifically on the development of extremities in horror cinema and rock music. For aesthetic purposes, I have broken the original piece into several sub-sections ranging from shock rock music to amusement park thrill rides. Although I claim all rights to the writing, I will make references to any works cited and I do not claim ownership rights to any visual or sound media, which I have included to enhance the reader's experience. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you!
An Introduction to Horror:
Have you ever watched a movie before that was so grotesque and horrifying that you tried to look away but couldn’t take your eyes off the screen? Maybe you’ve gotten on a rollercoaster that made your knees wobble and your stomach tingle, or maybe you’ve even heard a song that both shocked and enthralled you with its dark lyrics and screeching instrumentals. While these three instances may appear to have no connection to one another, they are in fact connected in that they are the collective products of the American horror industry. While the horror industry has deep, far-reaching roots in American culture, only in the past few years has a far more extreme side of terror begun to emerge and garner popularity. This “extreme” side of the horror industry can best be viewed as a collective sub-genre of the larger horror industry, comprised of three seemingly separate industries: music, movies, and thrill rides. These new offshoots of the horror industry contain elements more shocking, outrageous, brutal, and horrifying than any before them; it is thus curious how such over-the-top films, music, and rides could garner such immense popularity in only a few years. The answer is simple: people like to be scared and they enjoy the intense sensation of fear. These extremities are merely the result of the horror industry’s evolution. Film producers, musicians, and ride engineers are merely responding to and exploiting the human thirst for terror and thrills. With the capabilities of new technology and mass media, these people have been able to exploit the appeal of fear and horror like never before.
