Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I can't believe that Halloween is upon us, whether you
(00:02):
enjoy the candy in fun or the fun of the fright.
People who love the horror writing and horror genre stories
and study it exclusively.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And joining us now to talk more about it on
the KWA Common Spirit Health Hotline is see you English
Professor's Stephen Graham Jones Professor, thank you so much for
your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Oh I'm glad to be talking to It may.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Be something very simple, it may be a very very
long explanation, but let's try to boil it down of
why are people a fan of horror?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
You know, I think horror gives us a spike of
terror that we need in our kind of contemporary lives.
Or we think we're safe, So when we're scared, that's
when we are most human.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And probably I would imagine when you feel an adrenaline rush,
the emotions whether they're good, bad, scared or indifferent.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Correct, And to tell you truth, with horror, that spike
of terror, that's not actually why people come to horror.
I think I think what they come for is that
waship relief that follows the spike of terror, That washer
relief of being alive. And especially when you're in the
theater watching something scary and the whole audience feels that
wash of relief and being alive. That's an experience like
(01:14):
none other. I think.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So, is it more about processing our fears in real
life or more about just suspending our disbeliefs and being like, well,
this can't happen to me. You know.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Horror it's like a funhouse mayor for our anxieties and fears.
So I think it is about processing our daily lives
and our yeah, all of our issues and anxieties that
we carry with us, and they can weigh us down.
Horror gives us away not to expel those, but to
kind of confront them and process them. Like you say,
(01:45):
and when we.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Break out the horror genre, because I'll say this, I
am fascinated by the genre that deals with the religious piece,
whether it's the omen like the Amityville Horror, those movies
that have and maybe that's my Catholic upbringing, But do
you that it even breaks down along those lines where
it's the gory horror of like Chainsaw Massic or something
like that Halloween or the ones that have the religious overtones.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
No, I think I can i'll be scary. It just
depends on different users, different readers, different audience members, thresholds
and tastes and predilections. So, but yes, you're right, religious
horror in the West, specifically Judeo Christian horror, seems to
really unsettle people.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
You're right, professor.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
There's a really entertaining CNN article that kind of talks
about a six year old, an eight year old, and
a three year old who are all very obsessed with horror.
They dress up as Pennywise, they run around with Jason
masks on. One even sleeps with a little Chucky doll
next to them. Why are kids so entertained with something
that should be so spooky and so scary to them?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Well, I mean kids are basically putting on the monster
masks of the world around them. When you're a kid,
you're just physically littler than everyone else, and you also
have no power. You can't control your daily life. You
can't say we're going here, we're going there. You just
pulled along to place at your place, and everyone in
your room, in your life are these lumbering giants, these monsters.
(03:11):
And so when they get a chance to put that
monster mask on it's like they're stepping around to the
other side. And I think there's a power in that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Is horror healthy to the point where makes us feel alive?
But is there a healthy aspect of having that feeling
that whatever angst you may have.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, I think it is. But again, people have different thresholds.
For some people, they don't need the gore, they don't
need the loudness, the jump scares, but other people do so.
And yes, I think horror is healthy. I mean, at
the most simple level, they raise their stress levels temporarily,
and those having those stress levels just kind of pushed
(03:51):
a little bit. I think that is healthy, Professor.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And wrapping up with you, you've written horror novels as well.
What made you a fan of this and what is
some of the genres or some of the ideas that
you like to highlight in some of your books.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I love marsters, I love empires, I love warbels, I
love zombies, and I've written a lot of slasher novels,
so those are kind of where I live and breathe.
I'm also very fond of haunted houses. As for why
I'm drawn to horror, I think it is almost arbitrary.
I feel like I was introduced to horror in junior
high and it gave me something I didn't have, and
(04:26):
so I became addicted. And now I want to give
back to the genre which has given me so much.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Professor, I want to ask a follow up to that.
You know, besides your books, what have you read or
what do you see on TVs or movies that scares
you that you're like, that is really good.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I see a lot of stuff that scares me. I
tell you truth, the true crime stuff probably scares me
more than horror, because that could happen down the block,
It could happen wherever I'm going. But recently, the novel
American Rapture by c J Lead that a virus a
plague sweeping across America is pretty unsettling.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Oh, that one sounds a little familiar. To see you English,
Professor Steven Graham Jones, thank you so much for your
time this morning and your insight.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Thank you very much.
I can't believe that Halloween is upon us, whether you
(00:02):
enjoy the candy in fun or the fun of the fright.
People who love the horror writing and horror genre stories
and study it exclusively.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And joining us now to talk more about it on
the KWA Common Spirit Health Hotline is see you English
Professor's Stephen Graham Jones Professor, thank you so much for
your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Oh I'm glad to be talking to It may.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Be something very simple, it may be a very very
long explanation, but let's try to boil it down of
why are people a fan of horror?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
You know, I think horror gives us a spike of
terror that we need in our kind of contemporary lives.
Or we think we're safe, So when we're scared, that's
when we are most human.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And probably I would imagine when you feel an adrenaline rush,
the emotions whether they're good, bad, scared or indifferent.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Correct, And to tell you truth, with horror, that spike
of terror, that's not actually why people come to horror.
I think I think what they come for is that
waship relief that follows the spike of terror, That washer
relief of being alive. And especially when you're in the
theater watching something scary and the whole audience feels that
wash of relief and being alive. That's an experience like
(01:14):
none other. I think.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So, is it more about processing our fears in real
life or more about just suspending our disbeliefs and being like, well,
this can't happen to me. You know.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Horror it's like a funhouse mayor for our anxieties and fears.
So I think it is about processing our daily lives
and our yeah, all of our issues and anxieties that
we carry with us, and they can weigh us down.
Horror gives us away not to expel those, but to
kind of confront them and process them. Like you say,
(01:45):
and when we.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Break out the horror genre, because I'll say this, I
am fascinated by the genre that deals with the religious piece,
whether it's the omen like the Amityville Horror, those movies
that have and maybe that's my Catholic upbringing, But do
you that it even breaks down along those lines where
it's the gory horror of like Chainsaw Massic or something
like that Halloween or the ones that have the religious overtones.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
No, I think I can i'll be scary. It just
depends on different users, different readers, different audience members, thresholds
and tastes and predilections. So, but yes, you're right, religious
horror in the West, specifically Judeo Christian horror, seems to
really unsettle people.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
You're right, professor.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
There's a really entertaining CNN article that kind of talks
about a six year old, an eight year old, and
a three year old who are all very obsessed with horror.
They dress up as Pennywise, they run around with Jason
masks on. One even sleeps with a little Chucky doll
next to them. Why are kids so entertained with something
that should be so spooky and so scary to them?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Well, I mean kids are basically putting on the monster
masks of the world around them. When you're a kid,
you're just physically littler than everyone else, and you also
have no power. You can't control your daily life. You
can't say we're going here, we're going there. You just
pulled along to place at your place, and everyone in
your room, in your life are these lumbering giants, these monsters.
(03:11):
And so when they get a chance to put that
monster mask on it's like they're stepping around to the
other side. And I think there's a power in that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Is horror healthy to the point where makes us feel alive?
But is there a healthy aspect of having that feeling
that whatever angst you may have.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, I think it is. But again, people have different thresholds.
For some people, they don't need the gore, they don't
need the loudness, the jump scares, but other people do so.
And yes, I think horror is healthy. I mean, at
the most simple level, they raise their stress levels temporarily,
and those having those stress levels just kind of pushed
(03:51):
a little bit. I think that is healthy, Professor.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And wrapping up with you, you've written horror novels as well.
What made you a fan of this and what is
some of the genres or some of the ideas that
you like to highlight in some of your books.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I love marsters, I love empires, I love warbels, I
love zombies, and I've written a lot of slasher novels,
so those are kind of where I live and breathe.
I'm also very fond of haunted houses. As for why
I'm drawn to horror, I think it is almost arbitrary.
I feel like I was introduced to horror in junior
high and it gave me something I didn't have, and
(04:26):
so I became addicted. And now I want to give
back to the genre which has given me so much.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Professor, I want to ask a follow up to that.
You know, besides your books, what have you read or
what do you see on TVs or movies that scares
you that you're like, that is really good.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I see a lot of stuff that scares me. I
tell you truth, the true crime stuff probably scares me
more than horror, because that could happen down the block,
It could happen wherever I'm going. But recently, the novel
American Rapture by c J Lead that a virus a
plague sweeping across America is pretty unsettling.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Oh, that one sounds a little familiar. To see you English,
Professor Steven Graham Jones, thank you so much for your
time this morning and your insight.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Thank you very much.
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