The Halloween season has me thinking of the horror genre.
My two favorite horror movies are “Waxwork” and “Waxwork II: Lost in Time.” They’re not scary. Not at all.
The horror movies I tend to like aren’t even scary. In fact, most horror movies in general tend to fall in the realm of not scary. True fright is an individual affair.
What really draws me to the horror genre isn’t blood and guts, though that can be awesome. The special make-up effects in, for example, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” alone are worthy of watching. Checking out the making-of features of any of those movies is wonderful. It is remarkably creative to see a giant torso made of latex rubber that people can press against, to signify the souls that Freddy Kruger has devoured.
But it isn’t scary. Certainly rad. But not scary.
So what is scary in horror movies?
Usually the fear comes from what is not seen. That is why the film “Alien” worked so well as a sci-fi horror flick. You almost never saw the monster — until the end. When the monster is hidden, the viewer can attribute any type of individual terror they wish to it.
What you are afraid of is personal. One person may not like spiders, while another person is terrified of clowns with razor sharp teeth and supernatural abilities.
“It” was made for TV, and Tim Curry’s performance still chills people to the bone.  “It” isn’t horror because of the monster. It is horror because of the clown. I bet you know quite a few people who aren’t all too fond of clowns.
Fear works when it’s universal. Like comedy, those emotions are completely subjective to the person viewing the film.