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Compendium of Horror, Fear, and the Grotesque

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Lovecraft on Fear

[Excerpt from Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1973), p. 12]

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. These facts few psychologists will dispute, and their admitted truth must establish for all time the genuineness and dignity of the weirdly horrible tales as a literary form."

The Mechanics of Fear in Screenplay Development

[Online article cited: Ryan Williams, "The Mechanics of Fear: Constructing Horror," The Script Journal  (http://www.scriptshark.com/), Copyright 1999-2007 ScriptShark.]

In an online featured article in "The Script Journal" Ryan Williams writes that

"Good screenwriters know that fear generates a core emotional response that actually changes the body’s chemical response for a small period in time. This shift inside an audience, in turn, creates thrilling moments in which their participation actually engages them physically with the stories on the screen. This is because horror films are emotion-based experiences."

Williams explains that because horror movies rely specifically on eliciting fearful emotions, the most successful horror movies are constructed using tested and proven techniques that elicit this desired fear response in their audiences. He lists 3 techniques employed in this classic screenplay formula:

  • "Set-up and Payoff"-the character is set up for the inevitable fear surprise

  • "Sense of Predation"-the innate fear of being devoured kicks in our resistance to becoming prey

  • "The Antagonist"-the main villain who we know is reputed to be the primary fear agent and who we have paid to view

Williams then discusses "types of horror films" and breaks them into 4 distinct categories:

  • "Creature Feature"

  • "Slasher Flicks"

  • "Supernatural Horror"

  • "Psychological Horror"

He carefully defines each of these 4 categories and lists key features and sample films for each.

Fear Research in Neuroscience

[Online abstract cited: Sodikdjon A. Kodirov, Shuichi Takizawa, Jamie Joseph, Eric R. Kandel, Gleb P. Shumyatsky, and Vadim Y. Bolshakov, "Synaptically released zinc gates long-term potentiation in fear conditioning pathways ," Procedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS Online Article contributed by Eric R. Kandel, August 16, 2006), Copyright 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences.]

If you are interested in the physiology or chemistry of fear, there is recent research in neuroscience on the chemical interactions possibly related to learned behavior; particularly in relation to the learning of fear. In the abstract to an article titled, "Synaptically released zinc gates long-term potentiation in fear conditioning pathways," the researchers submit that 

"Using whole-cell recordings from amygdala slices, we demonstrated that activity-dependent release of chelatable Zn2+ is required for the induction of spike timing-dependent long-term potentiation in cortical input to the amygdala implicated in fear learning."

Fear Reaction

[Online information cited: "Dental Phobia and the Neuropsychology of Fear," Dental Fear Central - Your Hub for Dental Phobia Information.  © Dental Fear Central/Various Authors 2004-2006]

According to the Dental Fear Central  website, a fear response ("fight-or-flight" response) is characterized by some or all of the following:

  • Heart Palpitations

  • Sweating

  • Trembling/shaking

  • Sensations of shortness of breath

  • Feeling of choking

  • Chest pain

  • Nausea or abdominal discomfort

  • Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded or faint

  • Chills or hot flushes

  • Paresthesia (numbness or tingling)

  • Feeling of derealization (world's not real) or depersonalization (being outside one's body)

  • Fear of losing control or going crazy

  • Fear of dying

Phobia

A phobia is an irrational fear of anything: objects, people, situations, activities that the experiencer of the phobia feels compelled to avoid. Erin Gersley explains that the symptoms of phobias include:

  • Feeling of panic, dread, horror, or terror

  • Recognition that the fear goes beyond normal boundaries and the actual threat of danger

  • Reactions that are automatic and uncontrollable, practically taking over the person’s thoughts

  • Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and an overwhelming desire to flee the situation – all the physical reactions associated with extreme fear

  • Extreme measures taken to avoid the feared object or situation [Excerpt from Erin Gersley, "Phobias: Causes and Treatments," AllPsych Journal (November 17, 2001), Copyright © 1999-2003, AllPsych and Heffner Media Group, Inc., All Rights Reserved.]

Comprehensive Lists of Phobias

Insect Phobias

Projects on Fear

  • "Fear, Horror & Terror at the Interface": a project led by Rob Fisher of Wickeness.net described as follows: "This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to examine and explore issues which lie at the interface of fear, horror and terror. In particular the project is interested in investigating the various contexts of fear, horror and terror, and assessing issues surrounding their artistic, literary, moral, social, (geo)political, philosophical, psychological and religious significance, both individually and together."
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