Horror Dimitri Is a Fifteen-Year-Old Interview

She said, "What is the point? I don't want to make myself feel that way. I would rather watch something that makes me feel good." Having no need for meditated horror, Fan simply said, "Oh you mean like Nightmare on Elm Street or something?" when asked about films.

Local legends and urban legends were of more interest for Fan because they pointed to the real world and genuine human need to understand crime and victimhood. As a victim of a crime, Fan said that she felt no matter how good a person is, bad things can still happen to them. It is philosophically difficult to understand, and the most important thing is to not be depressed and get on with life.

Interview 3

Daymien is an African-American gay male. He is 30 years old and the boyfriend of one of my brother's friends. I interviewed Daymien because he is a film buff and I know that he likes "B" and "C" horror films. First I asked Daymien how he defines horror. He smiled and said that "horror is anything you want it to be. For some it takes something grotesque, like in a Clockwork Orange. For others, it takes something more blunt and in your face like Freddy Kruger. For others, they prefer just the suggestion of violence but not the actual violence, like in a suspense film or even in those movies that don't show the actual blood and the audience can only hear the screams. You know, like the Blair Witch Project or like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.These are interesting films because they are frightening and even terrifying but nothing really major happens on the screen. The audience just feels the fear deep down…"

Daymien said that he wasn't that much into true crime or any real life cases. He said that he prefers to get "lost in a fantasy world." He said jokingly that he must "have a sick mind" to be so interested in horror movies, but that he was really just a gentle person who probably needed stimulation in his life because otherwise his life was boring. Daymien suggested that people like horror for the same reasons people like to go bungee jumping. "It makes them feel alive," he said.

Conclusion

These three interviews show different interactions with the horror genre, as mediated horror and also as real-life horror/das Unheimliche. Although each person has a different relationship with mediated horror, there were some commonalities. All agreed that people appreciate horror because it makes them "feel" something, although Daymien articulated this concept the best. Interestingly, Fan's example shows how real life horror is more important than mediated horror and her being averse to mediated horror might be related to her not needing the artificial interface. She already "feels" something. Dimitri and Daymien, on the other hand, appreciate the fantasy world of mediated horror. There are not necessarily differences in their age brackets, as Daymien and Dimitri were the farthest apart in age but the closest in their shared views and appreciation of….....