There's the age old saying to write the comedy to get to the drama, and just as equally, write drama to get to the comedy. Horror is one of the few genres that rarely hits the bullseye. I don't think enough people are brave enough to write in it; also, there's not enough people who are brave and know how to write well in it. Horror isn't just about blood and guts, ghouls and ghosts, or Halloween and... Christmas.
I think we should write horror to get to the revelation. I think we have to face our darkest fears, break them down, so that we can find the hope and realize that these blood mongering villains have nothing on us. There's so much about fear and doubt that's informative, but we miss out on it. We'd rather fill up our lives with noise than face the inevitable conclusion that we are all destined to death. Without the recognition that we'll all die, I think we become complacent, selfish, and misguided. We should be living with purpose, and I do think there's more out there than just living in a flesh body whatever that context happens to be, but if we can't look at the dark pit of nothingness I think we then let it control us. I think horror is about that tension: about living and not living -- a rope that some would call faith, by no means a "religious" faith, but something I think is much deeper. It's the ladder in the pit, the light in the darkness, or the tiny bit of baking soda in the batter. I don't know what that strand is behind it all, but I think forcing a name on it might just reduce it. Faith works, except that word has been somewhat watered down by the zeitgeist and the counter zeitgeist.
I used to be petrified of scary movies. I used to think of all the classic scary things before going to bed. I think I was faced with reality at some point, and came to the conclusion that: ghouls are not as scary as humans. I think horror should be used to help reveal how we as a species are often the trauma inducers and perhaps through storytelling we'll realize what we can do to stop. I think more of life is a horror tale than a comedy or drama, but we've gotten stuck with cliches (vampires, werewolves, and zombies) to the point that we don't recognize the terrible things that are right in our faces.
Truth be told, with the pilot I'm writing that has no series title at this point, I didn't envision such a world of psychological thriller and horror. I wouldn't want the whole series to follow that direction either. I think it would tank and lose momentum if it tried to be a creep fest every episode. I would prefer that each episode conveys a different aspect of the story world in and of itself. I don't think it can flip gears drastically from say a comedy one week to a musical... that's nauseating. More like, there's a time for developing romance, suspense, and adrenaline pumping action. Sure, all three can be in one dose, but it's perfectly okay to slow down and focus on one character and the quirky world they have -- I mean, a whole episode dedicated to Mr. Jibbs could be heartfelt. I wouldn't expect each episode to be near as scary as what seems to be coming to the dinner party for the pilot. If it was an ideal world, and all my ideas came out in perfectly written words in a breath of air and all of this story from my mind was given to angels to produce, I'd say I want this story to be told in a way that's daring to be meaningful, desperately seeking for innocence in a world that's lost it, asking deep questions that leaves an audience hanging, brings back old classic stories, gets people talking about spirituality and science, and gets people to question the reality they're in. I really want the thought provoking and the heart throbbing. I wouldn't expect less. I'd like to share these characters with more people. I think it gives the characters more life. It almost seems selfish to just keep them to myself when they could inspire people. Also, it would be pretty stinking cool to see some of these characters played out. I mean, Lise? I would kill for a part like that.
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