The Horror Age Manifesto

If we scrape past their surface its not hard to see that politics can be scary and scary films can be political. The boundary between real horror and fantasy horror is constantly blurred for the sake of diversion, with the desired end of amusement in one arena and political control in the other. Horror films often try to present their story as something that really did, or at least could, happen, while political strategies often exploit our fears sprung more from paranoid delusion than the reality of daily life. It often seems that the more blatantly horrific these political narratives are, the more potent they become at plucking the heartstrings of the masses and orchestrating unity. Threats of nuclear holocaust and terrorist attacks hang over us like dark clouds but rarely ever confront us in any tangible way. Horror films can provide an alternate outlet for this fear, one that we have some semblance of control over, leaving us feeling invigorated instead of dispirited. In this world of make-believe, we are in control, we can place our hands in front of our eyes, we know it will soon be over and the credits will roll.

This quality of horror films can be therapeutic; they provide a sense relief from the abstract terror of modern life. While there is no doubt that evil does exist and must be confronted, it is sensationalized and aggrandized by those in control to distract us from dealing with its effects in a rational and just manner. The bogeymen of the world are reliable scapegoats, tools for political players to draw our attention from the real causes of anxiety and oppression that keep us from happiness. When we study the monsters of fantasy in our films and fiction, we can also learn more about the monsters of the newscast and campaign speech.

I believe it is healthy for us to do this, to become better acquainted with our demons, to analyze why they elicit in us such strong reaction and irrational behavior. By examining the phenomena of fear at both the micro level of the horror genre and the macro level of political rhetoric and action, we gain the power of self-knowledge. The more we can understand our fears the harder it is for them to be manipulated for the benefit of others.

Please join me as we map the nightmare landscape of modern media in and effort to find the truth that peaks out through the heaping bails of fearful spin dumped onto us by those who mean to control our vote, money, and liberty. Let us have fun with what destroys us and destroy what we find fun, let us rise from the ashes. Welcome to The Horror Age.