Is Horror Actually Back? [Fright-A-Thon]

Horror is BACK! But has it actually ever gone anywhere? After three straight years of horror movies absolutely dominating the box office and putting other films to shame, it’s safe to ask that question. Except it really isn’t because horror never went anywhere. People like to act like Halloween season is the be-all, end-all for horror movies. Now, there might be some exceptions, like Disney stupidly releasing another Haunted Mansion movie in the middle of July; but for the most part, studios know when to put their horror movies out. In recent years, they’ve really learned well with releases coming out in “subpar” parts of the release calendar and leading to box office success.

Take Five Nights At Freddy’s this year. It was released during a prime time for horror movies, and has decimated the box office records. It’s the highest-grossing film to release day-and-date on streaming. It’s the highest Halloween release ever. The accolades go on and on. The thing that separates horror movies from other big-budget films is the budget. We all know that. It’s less costly to throw someone in a killer suit, get some practical effects, and build tension and atmosphere than it is to film Chris Evans kicking ass as Captain America.

The idea that Horror somehow went away for this long stretch of time that’s arbitrarily or not even declared by these film experts on Twitter and at other outlets is horseshit. There’s the armchair experts who only like 80s horror movies and don’t think anything else exists, except when Michael Myers makes a grand return. It’s always about the old days, and “these days, everything is just a remake or a reboot!”

Well news flash, it’s not.

There are plenty of horror movies that come out every year, every month, every day, around the clock, that are absolutely original or not reboots, remakes, or reimaginings. Places like Shudder, Screambox, hell, even the big boys that normally only pay attention to horror in October put out original content. It’s not like people forget about horror movies until October. That’s really just big box stores that start putting Holiday decorations out in the middle of October.

Quite frankly, it’s offensive that people would assume that horror was ever gone. In a moment where box office totals are down across the board for various reasons, horror is not. Even if you’re limiting it to just studio-released, theatrical horror films, they’ve always been around, making piles of cash. They’ve always been around, getting critical acclaim.

Looking for different genres? Don’t worry, movies like Suitable Flesh, Soul Mates, No One Will Save You, Scare Package 1/2, and nearly everything on Shudder or Screambox can provide any horror hound what they’re looking for. It’s all about finding it, and acknowledging the horizons that are out there.

We’re all entitled to a good scare. So this Halloween season, if you see someone Tweeting about how “HORROR IS BACK!” Kindly remind them that it never went anywhere. As long as human beings want to escape the horrors of the outside world; there will always be horror movies to expose our innermost demons, monsters, killers, specters, goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and whatever else goes bump in the night.

For more on Horror, make sure to check out the rest of Fright-A-Thon!

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