What's scary these days anyway?

By Joe Yang

A few years ago, when "torture porn" schlock such as the Saw and Hostel movies arrived in cinemas, people really started getting scared that the nation's youth was (yet again) headed down the path of destruction.

For a brief moment, people wondered if the initial popularity of such films was going to become a major trend. Parents to pundits, including Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, voiced concern over what these torture movies said about modern society. These movies, after all, were brutal. And they made millions.

But years later, the Hostel sequel and the Saw franchise haven't enjoyed the same kind of box office successes that they had when first released. Although still somewhat popular, they don't seem to pose any kind of major cultural threat.

In other words, the world didn't come to an end because of a few sick movies.

So what scares people these days? As a horror writer, who's undoubtedly also fascinated with horror movies, I wonder if there are any ideas out there that can grab people the way Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hitchcock's Psycho did.

When director Wes Craven methodically deconstructed the modern horror movie with the Scream series, he exposed every laughable flaw and formulaic plot turn of most scary movies. This was fun for a while, but seems to have had unintended consequences for later horror movies.

Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees have practically become caricatures of themselves. Aliens and Predators have made more of a mess out of their reputations than Democrats and Republicans. Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead took the scariness out of zombies (albeit brilliantly), and now it seems that all we're left with are remakes. Sure, an original killer is created every now and then, but when's the last time a slasher's name carried the same weight as Freddy or Jason?

And with the rise of ultra-realistic video games on advanced game consoles, it looks like the horror film industry only has more to compete with.

However, I remain optimistic. Horror is an element of popular culture that will always be in demand. The basic instinct to purge our deepest psychological fears is as necessary as breathing. So what will they think of next? I have no idea.

But believe me, it's coming...

New Short Stories

I've posted 2 new short horror stories at my website. You can find them here.

They'll give you a good idea of what my writing style is like, so please have a look (unless you're too scared).

More stories will be posted as soon as I finish writing them. Enjoy!

I like horror, not extreme violence

By: Joe Yang

Every time I tell someone that I write horror stories, very often they assume that I must like watching horror movies too. The reasoning seems logical. I write "scary" stuff, therefore I must always be the first one in line whenever a new Saw movie comes out, right?

Wrong.

I'm not sure how it is with other horror writers, but for me, horror isn't actually my favorite cinematic genre (comedy is). That isn't to say that I avoid horror flicks altogether. For instance, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is one of my all-time favorite scary movies. Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original, not the terrible remake) was a brilliantly made psychological horror movie, in that there was very little (if any) gore but plenty of frightful stuff left to the imagination. Night of the Living Dead captured the nihilism and emotional despair of the Cold War 60s, and the recent Spanish film, The Orphanage (El Orfanato), is not only a great ghost story, but a moving drama as well.

Whenever I find myself talking about horror, I inevitably get into a discussion about movies containing extreme violence. Or "torture porn," as it is better known (what an overused term). I have not, and absolutely have no interest in seeing movies such as Wolf Creek, Saw, Hostel, or Barney vs. The Teletubbies.

But at the same time, I'm not going to rant about how depraved society is becoming, and that the movies mentioned above will breed a generation of desensitized Columbine copycats. The films of Eli Roth and his oft-criticized compatriots simply aren't my cup of tea, and I'll leave it at that. And for one, I don't think movies like Saw or Hostel will bring about the end of civilization as we know it.

After all, people thought that Elvis' swinging hips, the Beatles, and shows like The Simpsons were going to spell doom for the children of tomorrow. But did they? Hmmm. Let's see. Today, Elvis' songs are innocent, the Beatles were actually pretty well-dressed (in their early days, at least), and The Simpsons is now arguably one of the cleaner shows on TV.

So no. I don't think the fleeting popularity of "torture porn" movies is evidence that the world is going to hell in a Happy Meal. In my opinion, it's pointless shock value (but I can't say for sure since I haven't actually seen those movies). The controversy and hype will draw a lot of curious viewers. But like pinball machines, the new Volkswagen Beetle, and MC Hammer, it's probably just a fad until the next big thing comes around. And I'm almost certain that civilization, and all the iPods included therein, will still be intact when it does.

So just what kind of horror do I like, if you must know?

First off, I like the kind of horror story (a book and/or movie) that actually has a coherent storyline. Secondly, I like a horror movie that has some sort of purpose beyond the story being told. This can include, but is not limited to, social/political commentary, satire, the exploration of personal or collective fears, and why we shouldn't build giant robots that can't be controlled.

To me, a horror story that scares the piss out of you without being in-your-face graphic is always a winner.