The Horror Genre.
My thoughts on The Ruins.
The Ruins by Scott Smith is an excellent horror novel. Why?
Well, to answer that question, I must delve into the nature of the horror genre. Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction all deal with things that are beyond human norms. It might be magical, it might be paranormal, it might be superhuman, but werewolves, dragons, and aliens all are beyond what we consider human. Fantasy and Sci-Fi, however, try to make the supernatural into the human. There are rules in fantasy and sci-fi. They make sure to explain that it was because of the greed of Men that Sauron lives to tempt and conquer on, or that it is because of their very human desire for honor that the race of Bug-Eyed Monsters need to go to war with the galaxy.
Horror, though, doesn't. Stephen King knows this well. If a preacher picks a black rose and suddenly becomes a werewolf, he doesn't stop and explain why. There are more examples. Why does the drowned zombie boy feel a need to keep killing all camp counselors, when obviously he's already killed anyone who was responsible for his death. He just does. That's the point of the horror genre. While SF&F tries to come to grips with how humanity could come out shining in the face of desperate odds, Horror is all about bad things happening to good people.
Oh, Jaime Lee Curtis or her various clones might survive, and the sluts and drug-users might get cosmic justice smote upon them, but the genre pushes you straight up with the fact that sometimes the world doesn't make any fucking sense. Sometimes the werewolf kills people just because they were outside, not because they deserved it. Sometimes, when you volunteer to go find a lost friend in a Mayan jungle, you die. And nothing in the world you do will make you good enough or strong enough to escape this.
This is what horror is here for. Rather than trying to show how magic/reason and heroism exists in everyday life, or that humanity can be found even in the most inhuman things, it shows that you will fail. Even if you survive the event, if you're strong enough and pure enough to defeat the monster and come out, you can't save your friends. You cannot save them, and it's all your fault that they died.
And this is what The Ruins does well. Horror, as a genre, is much like Classic Tragedy. The point is catharsis, to shove your face into the darkness and rub it all around. And if you can come out and continue to be who you were, you are a stronger person because of it.
In a way, this is why most people hated Cloverfield. They came into it expecting the classic monster movie, where we eventually find out why [Godzilla] stomps [Tokyo]. And, not to spoil it too much for anyone, but you don't. Had it been billed as a very strict horror movie, I think everyone would have been a bit more forgiving.
But The Ruins is straight horror. And it shows you the meaning of it.
The Ruins by Scott Smith is an excellent horror novel. Why?
Well, to answer that question, I must delve into the nature of the horror genre. Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction all deal with things that are beyond human norms. It might be magical, it might be paranormal, it might be superhuman, but werewolves, dragons, and aliens all are beyond what we consider human. Fantasy and Sci-Fi, however, try to make the supernatural into the human. There are rules in fantasy and sci-fi. They make sure to explain that it was because of the greed of Men that Sauron lives to tempt and conquer on, or that it is because of their very human desire for honor that the race of Bug-Eyed Monsters need to go to war with the galaxy.
Horror, though, doesn't. Stephen King knows this well. If a preacher picks a black rose and suddenly becomes a werewolf, he doesn't stop and explain why. There are more examples. Why does the drowned zombie boy feel a need to keep killing all camp counselors, when obviously he's already killed anyone who was responsible for his death. He just does. That's the point of the horror genre. While SF&F tries to come to grips with how humanity could come out shining in the face of desperate odds, Horror is all about bad things happening to good people.
Oh, Jaime Lee Curtis or her various clones might survive, and the sluts and drug-users might get cosmic justice smote upon them, but the genre pushes you straight up with the fact that sometimes the world doesn't make any fucking sense. Sometimes the werewolf kills people just because they were outside, not because they deserved it. Sometimes, when you volunteer to go find a lost friend in a Mayan jungle, you die. And nothing in the world you do will make you good enough or strong enough to escape this.
This is what horror is here for. Rather than trying to show how magic/reason and heroism exists in everyday life, or that humanity can be found even in the most inhuman things, it shows that you will fail. Even if you survive the event, if you're strong enough and pure enough to defeat the monster and come out, you can't save your friends. You cannot save them, and it's all your fault that they died.
And this is what The Ruins does well. Horror, as a genre, is much like Classic Tragedy. The point is catharsis, to shove your face into the darkness and rub it all around. And if you can come out and continue to be who you were, you are a stronger person because of it.
In a way, this is why most people hated Cloverfield. They came into it expecting the classic monster movie, where we eventually find out why [Godzilla] stomps [Tokyo]. And, not to spoil it too much for anyone, but you don't. Had it been billed as a very strict horror movie, I think everyone would have been a bit more forgiving.
But The Ruins is straight horror. And it shows you the meaning of it.