An outsider's view on the Horror genre and Jump Scares

     I am not a fan of horror movies. At all. In case it was hard to tell, me favorite movies are Animated, which tend to be adventure, fantasy, or comedy based, never horror. I don't even particularly like blood, so I am not one to nitpick when an animated film lacks realistic battle-damage. But horror... To me it is just a get rich quick scam; film a movie in low lighting with bad editing and almost no story line, where all the budget was placed in gore, and loud noises.
     When I ask fans of horror films why they like it, the more eloquent among them will explain that it is the adrenaline, akin to a roller coaster... (coincidentally, I hate roller coasters.)
     But, not being a fan of the horror genre doesn't mean I can't understand them. I know how they work. Granted, most of my knowledge comes second hand, but there is more than one conclusion I can draw from seeing people's reactions.
     So, I'd like to give an outsider's view on the Horror genre, and the plague that is Jump Scares.


     To discuss this topic, I'll be focusing on one series in particular: Slenderman.
     Slenderman is a creation of the image boards of the internet, and is known as a "Creepy Pasta." (Origin of the phrase ranges from "Copy Pastea" where something is copied and then pasted repeatedly, to just being a silly name.) It is about a tall, faceless man in a suit with tentacles. Generally he can't be seen, and can only be caught on Camera. When he is on Camera, he causes distortions, and makes editing go awry. He tends to drive those who see him insane, and is followed by other horrors (which I will not cover because I do not know enough about them.) He's basically Cthulhu, but without the wings or maelstrom.
     Now, there are two versions of Slenderman: The one from Marble Hornets and Everyman Hybrid, and the one from the video game Slender. These two are distinct for a reason.
     First, we'll cover the Slender version of Slenderman. In the game, you have a narrow field of vision, and are going around an enclosed park looking for papers with cryptic phrases about Slenderman. Creepy, and in line with the story... until Slenderman actually appears. Slenderman appears with a scare chord and screen static, in the form of a jump scare. If you continue looking at him, you lose. If he catches up to you and you see him, you lose. He's a bit like the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, or the Boo's in Mario, but with the reverse (looking at him is bad, looking away is good).
     Next, there is the Slenderman from Marble Hornets and Everyman Hybrid, two video series built around the stories. In both video series, a guy or group of guys are creating a movie/tv series, often with stylistic suck. Slenderman in those sometimes appears in the background; not doing anything. There are a couple distortions, but sometimes he just stands there and nothing happens. Sometimes it's even humorous, with one theory being that Slenderman just wants to be in the movie/on TV, especially so in the comedy video "Concrete Giraffes" by the creator of Yugioh the Abridged Series, where Slenderman even speaks and went to college with one of the main characters. But, it's the interpretation that is more interesting here. Is he evil? Or is he Benevolent? We never know, we just have him standing in the background, causing audio and visual errors, doing nothing...
     Can you guess which one I have more respect for? The jump scares which are guaranteed to make people scream, or the guy in a suit doing nothing in the background and is sometimes funny?
     The Latter. Why? Because you aren't afraid of Slenderman in Slender; you're afraid of the noise, the distortions, and the game over that comes with seeing him. It isn't him you're afraid of. In Marble Hornets and Everyman Hybrid however, while there are jump scares (can't avoid them...) they aren't the reason to fear Slenderman. Nothing is scarier. With nothing  you don't know what he's going to do, when he's going to do it, or if he will at all... It is anticipation, foreboding, and the unknown that drives the fear of Slenderman.

     I could make the same argument with pretty much any film, tv, or game series, I just chose to do Slenderman because of this fact:
     Slenderman is no longer a cult phenomena. He is now mainstream, because of Slender the game. The reason for this, is because of "Let's Players" (people who play video games and commentate on them for entertainment) promoting it, since watching people scream is apparently hilarious. But, because Slenderman is now mainstream, everyone connects it to the game, and not the series... I realize I sound like a complete hipster while saying this, but Slenderman was something that, though I didn't really like, I respected on an intellectual level, and when he became mainstream, I lost that respect. It was no longer a psychological horror akin to the Cthulhu Mythos, it was the jack-in-a-boxes from Elf.

     And that brings me to the Horror genre today... It isn't about actual fear, it is about having loud noises and a lot of gore.

     "How would you make a horror film then?" a staunch 'horror' enthusiast may ask...
     Simple. In the previous post, I mentioned a possible plot for James Bond, where no one was able to open the doors... That is exactly the kind of horror plot that could be done. Take away some aspect of life that we take completely for granted, and there is horror and fear to be found in there. Like what would happen if all the power in the world went out? What if Gravity was reversed? What if all the computers and electronics in the world came to life? It is perfectly possible to make a horror film that doesn't revolve around jump scares and gore; it just takes half a brain and the willingness to make something of quality, rather than feeding the mindless machine that is Horror fans.



This has been Fixer Sue, reminding you that my name means "One who fixes perceived problems."