Secrecy, Truth, and Justice in Horror and Mystery
As a genre, horror is concerned primarily with the matter of secrets. It would seem to share in this preoccupation with the mystery genre, but though both genres concern themselves with the search for the truth, the finding of that truth serves very different purposes in the narrative.
In a mystery, the search for the truth is vital for the restoration of order. The murderer must be caught, the stolen property must be returned to its rightful owner, the the abductee must be safely returned home. Above all, justice must be done.
Finding the truth may also be of vital concern in the Horror genre, but justice frequently takes a second place to the more immediate demands of survival. In many cases, there is no possibility of justice in a horror narrative; the antagonist is non-human or superhuman.
Solving the mystery is also less central to the resolution of the horror narrative. A mystery story that does not end with the solution to the problem, the exercise of justice, and the restoration of order would (rightly) be considered unsatisfactory.
In contrast, the horror narrative may not end with the solution of the mystery. It may come earlier in the narrative, propelling the protagonists to the final action of the story, or as a final twist in the tale. Some questions may even be left unanswered, lingering even after the protagonists have survived or met their doom.
Unlike the mystery genre, which is concerned primarily with the restoration of order, horror is about chaos. Even when the protagonists seem to come out the other side intact, the shadows frequently linger over their lives.
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In a mystery, the search for the truth is vital for the restoration of order. The murderer must be caught, the stolen property must be returned to its rightful owner, the the abductee must be safely returned home. Above all, justice must be done.
Finding the truth may also be of vital concern in the Horror genre, but justice frequently takes a second place to the more immediate demands of survival. In many cases, there is no possibility of justice in a horror narrative; the antagonist is non-human or superhuman.
Solving the mystery is also less central to the resolution of the horror narrative. A mystery story that does not end with the solution to the problem, the exercise of justice, and the restoration of order would (rightly) be considered unsatisfactory.
In contrast, the horror narrative may not end with the solution of the mystery. It may come earlier in the narrative, propelling the protagonists to the final action of the story, or as a final twist in the tale. Some questions may even be left unanswered, lingering even after the protagonists have survived or met their doom.
Unlike the mystery genre, which is concerned primarily with the restoration of order, horror is about chaos. Even when the protagonists seem to come out the other side intact, the shadows frequently linger over their lives.
This entry was originally posted at http://kit-r-writing.dreamwidth.org/481067.html. Please comment there using OpenID.