I love to watch, read, write and illustrate everything horror-related – so that must make me mentally disturbed right?
According to this ridiculous article yes, I must be.
Right now, my front yard is all decked out for Halloween. I live in Australia, probably the only country where Halloween isn’t widely celebrated (there is a revolution happening, however, people). When my family and I put out our display every year, I’m sure there are a few neighbours who wonder whether we’re all serial killers.
I love Halloween and horror the same way other people like to watch romance movies or sport. It’s my thing. I am a creative person, so Halloween and horror are my creative outlets. My wife and kids get involved too, but we don’t sit around while we’re doing it teaching them black magic, despite what you might think.
Also, I’ll be clear, I don’t let my kids watch horror movies. The creepiest movies they’ve seen are films like The Addams Family, or Beetlejuice and Gremlins. I’m not out to terrify them. My wife doesn’t read horror and I have friends who don’t read horror, but do I judge them? No.
So why does this person at Glamour Magazine feel the need to judge people who appreciate horror as an art form?
Why? Probably because they needed a clickbaity article that week.
Ironically, the article author’s response to horror films is exactly what we writers and film-makers strive for. So the best I can do to rebuff her claims is to sit back and laugh and point at her, because what I really enjoy the most about watching horror films is watching people who don’t like watching horror squirm in their seats.