*adds "no, horror does not have to be scary; if horror had to be scary, the genre would cease to exist, as nothing is actually universally frightening, surprising, or even startling" to the essay pile*
Like, seriously. I have gotten a...not startling, but somewhat disappointing amount of pushback on the idea that Scooby-Doo and the Addams Family can be considered "Gothic horror."
And I'd be okay with that, since any literary analysis is based at least partially on opinion, no matter how well-supported--it's not like we have Literary Quantum Physics to prove that I Am Right and You Are Wrong--except for the repeated reasoning.
"Horror has to be scary" is one. "Horror can't contain humor" is two. "It's for kids" is three.
Kids are simultaneously incredibly brave and incredibly timid. It's part of the nature of childhood. When I was a kid, I used to sleep better at night by imagining that the Blob was stuck to the ceiling above my bed. The actual, literal Blob.
Why was the Blob above my bed? Because robbers could break into the house at ANY MOMENT and HURT me and KIDNAP me and TAKE ME AWAY, and if they tried, the Blob would drop down and EAT them.
"Mindless alien hunger-monster" was less frightening to me than the idea of unknown humans entering my home to do me a hurt.
And how did I know about the Blob? Well, because I had seen THE BLOB on public access television. THE BLOB, a horror movie, that genuinely scared people when it was first release, was comfort viewing for a five-year-old.
Now, to be fair, I am a daughter of Midian, I am scared by weird things and comforted by weird things. But was not unique among the kids I knew. One little boy, terrified of moths, had Jason Vorhees for an imaginary friend.
(His mother was not thrilled about this, and his brother, who had shown us all FRIDAY THE 13TH, was grounded for like, three weeks once she figured out why "Jason" needed to keep his machete at the dinner table.)
So the idea that horror must be scary...it doesn't hold up to exposure to actual human psyches. Horror can be scary, or creepy, or moody, or startling. Horror is a mood and an attempt, not a guaranteed result.
And as to "horror can't contain humor"...horror contains humans. "Whistling past the graveyard" is a time-honored human tradition. Some of the most effective horror moments are moments which bundle humor and fear.
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can, is in many ways a body horror superhero. He gets bitten by a spider (common phobia focus). His body changes in unpredictable ways. Yes, he gains great power...but the people he loves begin to die.
As a child, Spider-Man terrified and enthralled me, right up until the death of Gwen Stacy, which BROKE me, because I had always focused more on the humor, the quips and the banter and the fun.
You can absolutely argue that the entire Spider-Man canon, up to the point where Peter is cradling Gwen in his arms and telling her that he saved her, she has to wake up, he saved her, is structured as a modern, heartbreaking Gothic horror story.
And Spider-Man, more than anything else in the Marvel canon at the time, was defined by his humor.
As to "horror isn't for kids"...have you ever READ a fairy tale?
Horror is ABSOLUTELY for kids. It just needs to be structured and moralistic, because that's what kids want. They don't hate horror because it's gross, they hate horror when the bad guy doesn't get boiled in oil or eaten by rats.
And sometimes a pie to the face, or an unmasking, or Morticia's withering disappointment, can be just as effective, because for kids, long-term consequences are still something in the "okay, sounds fake, but okay" pile.
As long as the good guys win and the bad guys lose (and remember that for some kids, the Blob will be the good guy), kids have a massive, massive appetite for horror, and why shouldn't they?
Remember what the world was like when you were a third the size you are now, with very little freedom or autonomy, when everything was still confusing and strange. That shit's terrifying.
Horror isn't just FOR kids, horror IS kids. When we forget that, we lose some of the underpinnings of the genre, and it's very easy to devolve from there into pure shock and gore. Which I, at least, find a lot less fun.
Remember Midian. That's all I ask. Remember Midian.
Anyway, this is one for the essay pile.
