This week, I offered the folks over at Apex Book Company a blog post entitled, “Why Do Some Horror Authors Write about Rape, Incest and Abuse?“ This was a sensitive topic to write about, and I found out after the article was published that I made a slight oversight in the post.
My goal for this article, was not to provide a definitive “answer” on this subject, but to facilitate discussion and to get people really thinking about writing for “shock” value or how they might address serious issues like rape, incest and abuse.
Let’s take a look at a quote:
Good horror stories can cause a reader to react in a number of different ways. They can jump out of their chair, groan in disgust or feel their skin crawl. Fear, however, isn’t the only emotion a reader can feel. They can also feel empathy for a character, anger because the villain got away, or sadness because a victim died. These reactions occur as a result of the story’s pacing or description; an author’s goal is to help guide the reader through a broad range of reactions so that the reader won’t put their book down.–SOURCE: “Why Do Some Horror Authors Write about Rape, Incest and Abuse?“
If this topic interests you, there’s a lot of comments and interesting discussion on the post that you might want to check out. As I mentioned earlier, I firmly believe that there aren’t definitive answers to my question. I just feel it’s a question worth exploring.
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Katherine Walker January 25, 2010
I’d like to comment on two, I feel, very distinct points:
1) the reaction our society as a whole has towards the all-too-common sexual abuse of girls and women (as in, incest, abuse and rape) has almost become one of acceptance/not-quite-apathy due to the over-saturation of this theme on every tv network
and
2) the fact that this particular version of victimization is so intrinsic to our collective notion of “fear,” what scares us because it is so ‘real’ (and the much more disturbing fact that the same thing that terrifies one could actually thrill someone else, a potential predator eating popcorn and drinking a soda right behind you), and all-too-familiar for so many women that if feels a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.
What may more horrifying than the actual acts portrayed on screen is how the marketing of ‘fear’ has evolved from ‘smart’ psychological thriller/mystery suspense to FULL-ON exploitation of the most vulnerable.
That may be because we are avoiding the bigger fears of our world crumbling down around us, that it’s not the land we grew up in anymore, and there are serial predators waiting til our backs are turned, represented on all networks–each week kidnapping, hiding and torturing a girl or young women.
Ironically, I have been writing about this topic, from another angle, for years, my own torment from incest, abuse and rape was not so much a horror film as a tragedy unfolding.
But the ongoing recovering from the constant dread, anxiety, shame and fear you feel IN YOUR OWN HOUSE when you don’t even know who you are yet doesn’t make a blockbuster.
I think it’s because the suits at the studios are so lacking in any creative concepts that they just rehash the obvious fare.
But there is definitely more to this if we go into the archetypal mind, and what I’ve always wondered since I once read a book on how to prevent rape by identifying which of the 4 types of rapists is attacking you and responding accordingly–now, who, I ask can assess that kind of behavioral quality when fearing for one’s life? And, of course, one’s dignity.