The Season of Fear
Events / 10/7/2008 4:23:56 PM
Our esteemed Chicago guest writer, Jude Mire, waxes poetic about fear and haunting and why we are drawn to it for entertainment. Halloween has overtaken Christmas in the United States for retail sales and focus, and you know it's big business when Universal joins in (see our last week's article on Halloween Horror Nights.) I'm sure it's only time before Canada joins suit!
The season of fear is finally upon us! October has arrived, and with it,
hundreds of haunted houses have opened their dank doors across North America.
From park districts to theme parks, churches to libraries, and farms to
graveyards, these temporary temples of terror rise up for one creepy month.
What is it about haunted houses that get our nerves tingling? There's usually a
long line where you're harassed by a college student in a hockey mask or killer
clown suit. Teenage girls shriek in over-dramatized displays and guys do their
best to look bored. The insides are often cliche, smell like smoke machines, and
have walls made out of plywood. But still, they manage to get your blood
pumping.
There are different avenues to terror and we like to discuss them all here at
Killer-works. It may not seem like your local haunted house is of the same
caliber as a Hollywood budget horror flick or the latest dark bestseller, but
consider the following before you dismiss it outright.
Fear, and being frightened, rely on empathy. Novels often disturb on an
intellectual level. You can enjoy a horror movie without being afraid. To
actually be scared, book or movie, you have to feel a connection to it. You have
to loose yourself in the material and respond to it without the filter of logic
that reminds you; it's not real. It's a difficult endeavor and for some people,
no amount of cinematic imagery or literary skill can get them to connect to
something unreal and still be frightened.
Plays on stage are one step closer. There is a reason theater has remained
popular year after year. Live actors connect with an audience in a more personal
manner. And in my experience, when those actors let out horrified blood curdling
screams of terror, it is vastly more impacting than a recording.
Games, the fledgling vessel for disturbing material, are a bit better at
creating a connection with the recipient because players control and take over
the role of the character. When I talk to younger horror fans and ask them about
their most frightening moments, I often hear "When the zombie hands jumped out
at me in Resident Evil 2." or a similar scene. They don't say, "...jumped out at
Leon...". It didn't happen to a character, it happened to them.
And this brings us to it; haunted houses happen to us. They're one of the purest
forms of "in your face" fright possible. Darkness disorients, things jump out of
the shadows, loud noises startle, images of gore abound, and you get to
experience it! Not watch it. Walk through it! Sure, it's an illusion like the
others. You're not really being chased by a guy with a chainsaw. But it's the
hardest illusion to crack. They've come a long way in the last decade. The
recent Halloween boom has created a sort of "haunted house cold war" and there
are some spectacular effects that you may not have seen; black-light zones,
vertigo hallways, I've even been in one that buries you alive in total darkness.
If you're feeling calloused, jaded, and want something to get your blood
rushing, find a cowardly friend and head for a haunted house!
Jude W. Mire
Jill's p.s. Don't know where to find a good haunted house in your neighborhood? It's as easy as www.hauntedhouse.com The site is crisp, easy to navigate, and has Canada listings too!
p.p.s. Looking for your arm chair haunted house experience? Check out the Books Made Box Office section of our Killer-store for three classics: Shirley Jackson's (1959) "The Haunting of Hill House" and the two movie adaptations (both called "The Haunting"); Jon Anson's 1970's "The Amityville Horror" and of course...Stephen King's "The Shining". You'll be sleeping with the lights on after all those!!
