Shuddering Through October

With Halloween fast approaching, the signs are everywhere. From the creepy yard displays of tombstones and skeletons to the marathon airings of Halloween and Friday the 13th movies.

What’s the fascination with all the macabre decor and terrifying stories this time of year? It’s certainly nothing new. The horror genre traces its origins back to a host of ancient folklore and legends.

Malicious, unpredictable gods, for instance, tortured their unsuspecting victims throughout ancient Greek myths. Medusa comes to mind, with writhing snakes in place of her hair turning anyone in sight to stone. The sirens provide another chilling example, with enchanting songs to lure sailors to shipwreck and death. Or take Persephone, abducted and forced to marry the King of the Underworld. These enduring myths spin fears of death, moral failings, and forbidden desires into compelling psychological tales of horror. (source)

Folklore surfaces many similar themes, their oral traditions passed down through millennia to help make sense of the inexplicable in ordinary life. British tales include one called Old Shock about a “hideous, shaggy-maned black dog with glowing red eyes which terrorizes lonely travelers and portends doom.” (source) In Slavic legend, Baba Yaga is “an ogress who steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children.” (source) Vampires emerged in medieval Balkan and Slavic lore, “embodying the fears of death, disease, and the unknown.” (source)

It’s not hard to make the direct link between these stories and the modern horror genre. Bram Stoker based Dracula on Irish folklore and Vlad “The Impaler” Dracula, a 15th century Romanian prince known for gruesome torture of his enemies. (source) Inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came, in part, from German ghost stories and vampire tales. (source) Stephen King, one of the most prolific horror authors of all time, actually found his muse for Salem’s Lotfrom Dracula. (source)

Horror and suspense have vast audience appeal due to the thrill of fight-or-flight responses that release “a rush of adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine” as well as the catharsis of purging pent up fear and tension. (source)

For those writers and readers craving that kind of excitement, enjoy this spooky time of year. For the more timid crowd, be still that incessant beating of the tell-tale heart — Thanksgiving will not come soon enough.

“It [horror genre] never dies. It just keeps getting re­invented and it always will. Horror is a universal language; we’re all afraid. We’re born afraid, we’re all afraid of things: death, disfigurement, loss of a loved one. Everything that I’m afraid of, you’re afraid of and vice versa. So everybody feels fear and suspense.” ~ John Carpenter