We are almost to Spooky Day, friends!
I hope you’re having a lovely month full of scary movies, chilling books, and hot drinks under a blanket.
For my last Horror Month post, I’ve decided to discuss my favorite horror settings. Compared to other genres, horror is extremely reliant on setting. Factors such as time period, geographical location, environment, and context are all important tools that, when used properly, ramp up the tension and dread.
Now, these are just my personal favorites. If a storyteller is skilled enough, any setting can be made dreadful. But these specific settings are consistent in their ability to unsettle me.
Small towns
It’s well-known that Stephen King basically created the small-town horror story. In ‘Salem’s Lot, the town isn’t just a place for the story to unfold; it’s one of the characters. It’s distinct and has its own history, willpower, and motivation. Another great King example of this is Needful Things, which is an absolute trip if you’ve never read it.
Others have taken the small-town horror and made it their own since then, though. A notable work that I know is very well acclaimed is Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass (take a shot; I mentioned Mike in a post). The story of Midnight Mass is so specific to the little island town that it simply would not work if it was set anywhere else. Mike created a vivid, believable, and relatable world for that amazing story to unfold, and it’s a fantastic example of how a small-town setting can amp up tension.
A more recent example of a personified small town is found in Eric LaRocca’s We Are Always Tender With Our Dead, which came out last year. The nightmarish setting of the town combined with the unreality of what goes in inside pair to make a thoroughly unsettling story that left me wanting to watch cartoons in a blanket.
Extreme cold / arctic settings
There are a few reasons this one is dependably creepy for me. Not only does a covering of snow give everything a hushed sense of quiet anticipation, it also by default introduces a survival factor. Move any horror story you know into a frozen winter landscape and the stakes are instantly tripled.
My favorite example of this setting used to create tension is Moon of the Crusted Snow. The setting itself is part of the story, as a First Nations tribe find themselves cut off from the rest of the world after an apocalypse. Due to their location, they’re unusually prepared for life off the grid, but human nature begins to poke its ugly head up through the snowdrifts.
A more well-known example is The Shining. Both the novel and its adaptations do a great job of really making you feel the impact of the severe winter weather that’s keeping the Torrances from an easy escape. I always say The Shining is a cozy movie because of the way it makes you feel snowed in even just in the audience.
Another gem in this area is The North Water. What I love about this work is how gritty and unflinching it is. It’s a hard read for many reasons, and one of them is that it’s hard not to feel like you’re freezing right alongside the characters. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. It scratches the itch of survival horror, body horror, and a nautical tale all at once. (Note: When Googling for the book’s cover image to insert, I learned that there’s a TV adaptation of the book. Looks like I’ll have to check that out.)
Colonial / frontier America
Now, I’d like to preface this by stating what’s hopefully a given: I do not romanticize the colonization of the US and the mass genocide that occurred to make it happen. That being said, there is something unsettling about being in an unfamiliar land with little to no resources, especially before the current age with things like modern medicine and improved communication.
There are many shining stars in this category for me. There’s The Witch, one of my favorite movies of all time, which centers on a frontier family exiled from their town, setting off for a life of isolated homesteading. It’s the perfect breeding ground for terrifying visuals and creeping dread. This setting is also used to the same wonderful effect in Slewfoot and Lone Women.
But the one film that really does it all for me is The Wind. I’ll forever be in debt to Walt (hi Walt!) for introducing me to this movie. It’s the perfect horror story set in the creepiest, emptiest homestead imaginable. I know I talk about this movie all the time, and it’s for good reason. Go watch it. I probably am as you’re reading this.
Fluid spaces
With the recent success of The Backrooms, there’s a bit of a spotlight on liminal / fluid space horror right now. To me, there’s nothing creepier than a room or building that doesn’t behave according to known reasoning and logic.
I recently had a great time watching Exit 8, a Japanese film about a subway passage that repeats itself. I loved how the film built dread slowly, using uncanny visuals and purposeful quiet rather than jump scares. It also made me emotional, which is always an added bonus.
I also finally got around to House of Leaves this year, which was both an incredibly memorable experience and about a month of torture. I honestly don’t know if I’d recommend this book to people, but I can say that if you do pick it up and manage to fumble your way through, you’ll be left with images that won’t ever leave your mind. Imagine finding a pocket of infinite space inside your average American family home. And imagine that it eats you alive if it knows you’re afraid.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I recommend I’m Thinking of Ending Things left and right. Both the book and the movie. My favorite thing about it is you never actually feel like you’re in a real place, whether it’s in the not-quite-right parents’ house, on the snowy road, or creeping through the empty school. I love films and books that just feel like the entire thing is one long nightmare, and this is the cream of the crop. Go read the book, then watch the movie, then stare at a wall.
Isolation
Something that greatly contributes to the sensation of being inside a nightmare is lack of contact with the world outside your immediate perception. I’m sure we all have tons of favorites for this category, and here are mine.
I don’t know why And the Trees Crept In isn’t being passed around in literary circles like crazy. There are few audiobooks that have been so scary that I’ve had to pause them and go hug my cat. This is one of them. Its isolated cabin setting and watching woods make you feel like you’re running in circles through your own little cozy corner of hell. Seriously, if you want to be scared out of your pants, go listen to it right now. Dawn Kurtagich should be way more popular than she is.
Another shining star for isolation is Philip Fracassi’s Boys in the Valley. What’s the perfect setting for an outbreak of murderous violence? If your first thought was “a Catholic-run boys’ school in the middle of nowhere”, you’re gonna like this one. It’s very Children of the Corn meets The Shining. It’s what inducted me into the Fracassi Fanclub.
One of the best films I’ve ever seen about isolation is The Lighthouse (yeah, I’m still fresh off my Eggers binge). There are about three characters in the entire movie and one location. The way the cinematography is used to show the descent into madness is genius. There are images in this movie I still see when I close my eyes. And who doesn’t like to watch Robert Pattinson bludgeon a seagull to death?
What are your favorite horror settings? Do you have a time period, country, climate, etc that just creeps you out consistently? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Stay tuned for next week’s post, where I keep the spooky spirit going just a little bit longer and tell you about every spooky thing I read and watched during October!
Silly Spooky Rhyme of the Week
Since this is the last of the silly spooky rhymes, I thought it would be fun to pass the microphone to everyone’s favorite poet.
That’s right. Our last rhyme of the season comes to you from Saige!!!
Haunted mansions, ill lit groves
Bring with them hordes of scares by droves
Atmosphere and vibes are key
To making ‘fraidy cats like me
Quake and tremble, full of fright
They keep me scared awake all night.
Happy Halloween everybody! I hope your holiday is spooky, safe and fun!
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