What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again?A moment of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.
-The Devil’s Backbone (2001) dir. Guillermo del Toro
thinking about the time i had a dream i was trapped in an indie horror game set in an old church being hunted by creatures made of stained glass and bloody feathers and tormented by the half-alive statues of suffering saints and also the building itself which was alive and wanted to eat me and in the end i failed to escape and became a lure to draw other people in. the game was called ‘host’ and i think about it constantly.
probably also relevant: dream me had done something to upset people and was sheltering in the church making use of the tradition of sanctuary. i never found out if i was innocent or guilty though, in the end i was just a prey animal caught in a web. and then i became part of the monster and preyed on the people who drove me there in the first place.
thinking about the time i had a dream i was trapped in an indie horror game set in an old church being hunted by creatures made of stained glass and bloody feathers and tormented by the half-alive statues of suffering saints and also the building itself which was alive and wanted to eat me and in the end i failed to escape and became a lure to draw other people in. the game was called ‘host’ and i think about it constantly.
One of my favourite pop culture useless pieces of information that I know is the fact that trends in horror movies can tell you about the general fears of the world at any given time in cinematic history.
Sorta!
1940s - You have people still alive that remember Jack the Ripper, you have the Axeman of New Orleans and two world wars. The classics are being made for shock escapism and dark stalkers are also popular (usually trusting people turning out to be the enemy).
1950s - post-nuclear bomb. Giant monsters, or unknown blobs are the trend.
1970s/1980s - modern era begins, and serial killers are becoming known and prominent. Slasher films are the trend. The Cold War also drives the fear of invasion, so a few alien films come out in this time.
1990s - a horror movie lull, and lull in wars and disturbances.
2000s - fear of invasions and biological warfare. Zombie movies become the trend.
Here you go! Itβs just a random article, but itβs a fun starting point. It outlines the ideas better than what I did above. Fears, politics etc all play a role.
i think that carrion birds are underused and underrated in decay based horror. like a shambling rotting corpse full of insects is pretty creepy but a shambling rotting corpse with wings poking out of it that rustles and shivers as it walks… eurgh. so cool.
I honestly find the backrooms as a concept kind of interesting in a paranormal sense and hate when people try to add monsters or whatever the fuck into the mix because the idea of something that resembles manmade halls that extend infinitely and at times non-euclideanly really feels like its own quasi-sentient character/creature by itself.
