Horror Research 2: Images of Horror

Gothic Codes

As a lot of horror is based on gothic writings and carries a lot of gothic imagery, I will start with some pictures that convey codes of the gothic genre.

Image of an abandoned church with graveyard, perfect place for a supernatural horror to occur. This sort of location is a good example of gothic imagery being used. The associations with death and afterlife that are linked with graveyards make this an ideal place for a horror film involving undead creatures e.g vampires or zombies.

Picture of a haunted house, this image is very stereotypical of the kind of haunted houses that appear in horror films with tall spires and a long pathway leading up to the house, gnarled trees appear in the front garden, and bad weather seems to surround the house constantly. Only one light appears to be on indicating that who ever is using the house is alone and possibly a recluse which adds the feeling of isolation that is already created by the house's desolate appearance.

Foggy graveyard, fog often appears in horrors, especially supernatural horrors, the fog gives an eerie appearance to an area, giving the impression that creatures or people of a sinister nature may be hiding where they may not be seen this is why the dark of night is also a crucial part of a lot horror films.

Supernatural Horror

The most recognised form of horror this section has the most recognised creatures and uses, more than any other genre of horror, the gothic codes that I have outlined

A werewolf from the film 'Van Helsing' this is one of the best known supernatural creature of the horror genre (along with the vampire) werewolves only weakness is silver, to stab a werewolf with a silver knife, or to shoot one with a silver bullet is the only way of killing the creatures. This particular image shows the full moon in the background which is a good piece of gothic imagery, as well as the darkness of the figure itself.

The vampire, possibly the most infamous creature of the horror genre. Vampires have an extreme averison to sunlight, being killed by it if they venture out into the day, they are also affected by crucifixes and holy water. The above picture is taken from the film '30 Days of Night'. As you can see the vampire has blood dripping from the mouth, this sort of imagery is characteristic of vampires and the horror genre in general.

The mummy from the 1932 film 'The Mummy'. The mummy of Imhoptep was revived after archaeolgists stumble upon his tomb and acidently read an ancient egyptian spell designed to give him life. Imhotep then wreaks havoc untill the manuscript containing the life giving spell is destroyed by the ancient godess Isis.

Regan MacNeil from ‘The Exorcist’ is possessed by a demon which giving her supernatural powers and making her speak extreme obscenities in a deeply man like voice. The demon is then removed from her by an exorcist who challenges the spirit to enter his body, upon which point the exorcist kills himself and the spirit. The extreme use of obscene language, horrific implications and disgusting scenes has made this one of the highest grossing horrors of all time. This is an example of possession and spirits being used in modern horror, not a type of supernatural creature that is often used.

Scientific Horror

Zombie from the film ‘Resident Evil’ the zombies from this film are created by a virus that has been spread causing corpses to be reanimated, all those that have been bitten becoming infected, this makes them a scientific horror, rather than zombies created by means of voodoo. The way that zombies are killed is by removing their head or destroying their brain.

The spiders from the Film ‘Eight Legged Freaks’ are mutated by radioactive insects that are given to them by their owner after a barrel of nuclear waste falls into the swamp where he collects the insects from. This is a good example of scientific horror as spiders are naturally occurring creatures that have, in this case, been changed through scientific means.


The creature from the film ‘Predator’ Is an alien that visits earth to hunt victims, with the intention of collecting their skulls as trophies. Although the creature only ever hunts armed victims, so when a group of commandos are on a mission where the ‘predator’ is hunting then the creature slowly hunts them down. This creature relies on advanced technology to kill its victims, unlike the ‘xenomorph’ aliens from the ‘Alien’ films


The xenomorph aliens from the ‘Alien’ films are all perfectly evolved to hunt and ultimately kill creatures. They lay they’re eggs in the stomach of victims, with their lava growing inside its stomach, once matured the adult xenomorph bursts out of the victims chest. This is a brilliant creature for a horror film as the idea of having a creature growing inside someone would touch on one of an audiences deepest fears.

Naturalistic Horror

Naturalistic horror, is the third and final sub genre of horror, the most common form of naturalistic horror is the ‘slasher’ movie. There are also other forms of naturalistic horror where the antagonist is not human, and is a known species of creature therefore separating it from creatures of the scientific genre.
Michael Myers from the film ‘Haloween’ Myers trademark weapon is a kitchen knife which he uses to murder teenagers. Myers killed his sister one day when she had to babysit him, when his parents returned home they found his sisters dead body, and sent Myers to a child mental institute, where he was declared to be ‘pure evil’. Myers then escapes when he is being transferred to an adult prison; he then makes his way back to his home town to murder more teenagers.
Leatherface is the main antagonist of the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ films. Leatherface is himself a cannibal and also lives with a family of cannibals, whom often tease and abuse him. The character is represented as being severely mentally retarded and disturbed. Leatherface wears masks made of human skin to hide a severe facial abnormality that removed most of his nose. Leatherface uses either a chainsaw or a sledge hammer to brutally murder his victims.

Jason Voorhees makes his first appearance in the film ‘Friday the 13th Part 2’ after his mother is killed in the first film, he builds a shrine to her severed head around crystal lake, and for 5 years he guards the lake from intruders until a group of teenagers camp around the lake. He slowly murders all but one of the teenagers, whom escapes in an ambulance. Jason’s trademark weapon is his machete

Freddy Cruger is an undead serial killer from the ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ films. Freddie has the ability of murdering his victims from within their own dreams. Although he has the trademarks of a supernatural monster, Freddy is portrayed in a naturalistic ‘slasher’ movie. His trademark weapon are his metal claws.