Reddit reviews The Philosophy of Horror

One thing to have in mind many is that there are several horror subgenres, and that somes rules change because of that. A slasher movie is very different from a psychological horror. Mistery is certainly an integral part of the horror effect, but in varying degrees. OP must identify his story's profile. TV tropes can help with that.

The Philosophy of Horror is an excellent book on the subject, and the author defends the theory that horror is the result of a monster (or any scary entity) that is, at the same time, highly dangerous and extremely fascinating. What scares you the most is not only the fact that the monster poses a real threat to your life, sanity or well-being, but that, at the same time, you cannot resist an urge to know and understand this creature. That is why, for example, we HAVE to check that noise in the back of the house (where the monster is). That's the explanation why many horror movie characters put themselves in extremely dangerous situations: they must know, even if their lives are at risk. The monster is an irresistible source of fascination!

That is, of course, only one theory, but a very persuasive one.

/u/TheJsDev, if you're reading this: the book is awesome, but it's a philosophy book and you don't have to read everything, okay? I don't remember it very well, but I think the introduction and the first chapter are enough for your purposes. It get's a bit more complicated and specialized after this.

You might enjoy some of these:
Shock Value How A Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman
A History of Horror by Wheeler Winston Dixon
The Philosophy of Horror or Paradoxes of the Heart by Noel Carroll
On Monsters An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T Asma
Dark Dreamers Facing the Masters of Fear by Stanley Wiater
J-Horror The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond by David Kalat
Hollywood Horror From Gothic to Cosmic by Mark A Vieira
Why Should I Cut Your Throat Excursions Into the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror by Jeff VanderMeer
And I haven't read this one yet, as I'm still on the waiting list at the local library, but it looks quite interesting:
The Gothic Imagination Coversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media by John C Tibbetts
Edit: fix link

Here's a partial works cited list for an essay I wrote on horror. These may be more academic than what you're looking for:

Hanscomb, Stuart. "Existentialism and Art-Horror." Sartre Studies International 16.1 (2010): 1-23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Lavery, David. "The Horror Film and the Horror of Film." Film Criticism 7.1 (1982): 47- 55. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Sanjek, David. "Fans' Notes: The Horror Film Fanzine." Literature Film Quarterly. 18.3 (1990): 150-159. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2012

Walters, Glenn D. "Understanding the Popular Appeal of Horror Cinema: An Integrated-Interactive Model." Journal of Media Psychology 9:2 (2004): n. p. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

You should also check out Noel Carroll's book The Philosophy of Horror. It's pretty fantastic!

Also, if you like, you can read my essay in The Montreal Review. Yay for shameless self-promotion!

Well one thing I will say is that the horror genera in general is much more formulaic than other types.

This is the book we read in on of my phil of film classes

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415902169/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0813136555&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EVFNRV555SDTK3FA599

The book goes much more in detail with this of course but essentially you can boil down 99% of horror movies to a 'monster discovery' or 'mad scientist' plot archetype. These plot structures tap into that 'fear of the unknown' that gives that tingly spine feeling horror lovers crave.

Now I am speculating here but I would guess when a director is told by the producers hey we want a horror movie for next years halloween it is very easy and quick to fall back to these tried and true plot archtypes which people apparently don't get tired of.

How do we get another shining? Well maybe convince Tarantino or Nolan to make a horror movie

Have you seen Let the Right one in? I would say that is an above average horror movie of recent years

First of all, books=/=literature. Are all the books in your room fiction? I'm a bit confused. I'll assume you are referring to fiction only.

While I don't believe there is anything wrong with escapism or relaxation (stress will kill you), actually it's unlikely that's all we get out of reading literature.

One view is that we read because evolution has taught us that it helps us to be better social creatures and that benefits our survival.

A related view is that fiction help us practice understanding others

Or maybe reading helps us think about puzzles.

Then again, those are all links to "books," so if you insist on feeling sick over it, I can't stop you :)

I haven't gotten to read it yet but I found this for $10 at a like-newebookstore near my house: The Philosophy of Horror: Or, Paradoxes of the Heart

Looks pretty good!

I highly recommend this book for anyone writing a horror anything - book, film or game. It's packed with great advice on what makes things scary in stories. (Google and you should find a cheaper ebook version.)

Three things that the author points out that makes things scary in horror media is for the Scary Thing to be:
a. A genuine physical threat to the character,
b. Creates a feeling of disgust in the viewer (the "do not touch me" factor),
c. Breaks boundaries.

A wolf is intimidating because it's a physical threat. But it's not necessarily horrifying.

A rabid wolf is scarier, due to its disease. But it's not necessarily disgusting.

A wolf suffering from a flesh-eating disease that is covered in infected ripening pustules, would be disgusting: who wants anything with a pustule touching them?

A wolf, suffering from a flesh-eating disease, covered in infected pustules, that is as intelligent as a human being: scary. It's human-like thinking breaks the boundary between animal and human.

A good example of this theory in practice are the Cenobites from Hellraiser.

Pinhead is physically intimidating: he thinks, and razor-edged chains wrap themselves around you and slowly slice you to ribbons.
He looks like a day-old corpse - shiny, moist grey skin - and has nails sticking out of his head.
He also breaks physical AND moral boundaries: he's a man that willingly became immortal demon who practices BDSM.

What an interesting quote, this looks just up my alley. Funny that just as you were recommending to me a book with "Horror of Philosophy" in the title, I just found the book "Philosophy of Horror" (https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Horror-Paradoxes-Heart/dp/0415902169) and it looks good too.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Get thee to a library and check out Carroll's "Philosophy of Horror".

Among his suggestions for components that are typically present in horror are:

1. The idea of wrongness; the uncanny: the feelings of disgust and fear evoked by something we perceive as wrong or unwholesome.
   
   
2. The violation of the body, of social norms or the health of the "tribe".
   
   
3. The numinous: supernatural dread that transcends reasonable explanations; not necessarily a supernatural horror, but a force so terrible and inexorable that any attempt to explain or thwart it seems beyond normal human powers.
   
   
4. The protagonist's gradual awakening to the threat posed by a horror ("discovery"), followed by the character's increasing isolation, as others fail to believe it or grasp its true nature.
   
   
5. Audience empathy for the main character; this is essential for any good story, but it's frustrating how often horror writers manage to miss this part.