The title of this short blog is the question I asked myself after listening to a well regarded horror fan and podcaster sharing opinion on the movie adaptation of Jack Ketchum's 'The Girl Next Door'. It's a film I have personally not seen, even though I borrowed the DVD from a friend after he had recommended it. In all honesty, it sat on my bookshelf for weeks. Not to go deeply into the finer points . . .
I just couldn't bring myself to sit and watch it.
And it made me wonder somewhat why I might even want to in the first place. What is it about body horror that draws us in like moths to the proverbial flame? I am like most people, shocked and disturbed by the real inhumanity man can show to his brother/sister - or worse . . . to a child. Every now and then a news report will come up of some mass atrocity in some far distant land, or an unthinkable murder in a usually peaceful place much closer to home. And then we'll think once again about the things we are apt watch in the name of entertainment . . .
Or is it something else?
Is it something beyond our capacity to reason; a strange catharsis perhaps, or some primal need buried in deep - from when we were supposedly little more than animals ourselves? True indeed that the lower members of the animal kingdom would seldom, if ever, have the mind to contemplate the consequences of a violent action against one of it's fellow creatures. If driven by pure instinct they might always have a reason for killing, be it for food or to show dominance within the hierarchy of species concerned. We possess no such excuse - not in a civilized society. And yet we, like the animals we share this planet with, cannot escape the drive to do harm to our neighbour - and then to recreate the experience to be revisited in the gossamer guise of art.
Don't get me wrong, some of my closest friends are horror geeks and very nice people to boot, but their taste in horror fare is not one I could possibly share. Then again, I am convinced that none of them will experience an urge to commit an appalling atrocity anytime soon. Of course, some people may say we humans are drawn to the dark, as if it were our natural tendency. Now, that's a very curious question in itself and maybe deserves deeper discussion. As far as I see it, horror can never merely be a 'hobby'. I am tempted to think most fans worth their salt see something in it that most of us fail to see - and I speak for myself in some respect to this.
Take Clive Barker for example. Now here is a man who sees beauty in the macabre, deep poetry in the complexities of a disassembled human body; so much so that, for a time, he elevated himself above most others in the genre - not by shameless self promotion, but by the quality and gut wrenching power of his work. His 'Books of Blood' can be recommended to leave one breathless and fearful . . . yet brimming with admiration.
In conclusion, I tend to think that horror entertainment in it's broadest sense, provides a strange yet deep catharsis that can barely be explained. I've never heard a true fan admit they just 'get off on it' and I doubt I ever will. I don't believe the true fan would dare be so crass. The real reason for our fascination with the dark side seems to me to be just slightly out of reach, not easily explained, yet silently providing it's healing touch to make us return again and again for more. And I suspect, going forward, there will always be plenty of material to select from.
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