Horror From the Page: How Scares Work Differently in Film

One of the most exciting genres in literature and film is horror, yet the way terror is constructed and presented in each can vary greatly.  Horror on paper mainly depends on the reader’s imagination.  An effective passage can sow the seeds of fear, which will gradually grow due to internal expectation and imagination.  To create a spooky mood, authors frequently employ tempo, ambiguity, and psychological depth.  Something frightens us the most in books is frequently something we can’t see.

Film, on the other hand, offers the special benefit of sensory control.  To elicit quick responses, directors work with timing, sound design, and graphics.  It can be challenging to capture the visceral anxiety that jump scares, eerie music, and scary imagery can arouse in writing.  Horror movies tend to have a faster tempo, with tension created by editing, lighting, and camera angles.  Consider the difference between reading about a creaking door in the middle of the night and really hearing it while the lights are dim and a spooky soundtrack is playing.

Image Courtesy: AP News

However, the complexity that writing permits may equally be restricted by the visual aspect of a film.  Once a monster or ghost appears on screen, it becomes fixed and literal rather than merely existing in the viewer’s imagination.  Horrors might remain ambiguous in books, existing only in the shadowy recesses of the mind.

In the end, horror films and books work on separate psychological levels: one hits with sensory impact, while the other slowly infiltrates the mind.  Although they both have the potential to be extremely powerful, they frighten us in quite different ways.  The most effective horror adaptations are aware of this difference and make use of both media’s advantages to create a powerful impact.

–Farheen Ali