Horror Slideshow

An artist has made a name for himself taking still shots of terrifying scenes.  Joshua Hoffine is a talented photographer, that I can tell for certain.  I guess my question is more about what horror is, and how it can rise above the cheesiness that we have put on horror so we can tolerate it.  For example, making Freddy Krueger witty to distract us from his kills.

If you have a moment, please check out the slideshow of his photographs and tell me what you think.

They didn't budge me, not one bit.  In fact, I found most of them laughable.  The only picture that brought out a reaction was the spiders and the baby (because they were about to touch the child, I attribute this to years as a highly protective aunt).  Did any of them make your hair rise?

This is what I consider canned horror, images taken from a stockpile that is generic and not very effective.  I am not afraid of a wolf, or a clown. I am not afraid of an altered voice asking me about my favorite scary movie.  Maybe it's a lifetime of growing up reading Stephen King and watching the evolution of horror film.  But it just doesn't reach me, in fact it annoys me as though I were spoken to like an elementary school child.  I am afraid of spiders, but the imagery didn't really touch me, it was fear for the child that made my heart leap for a fraction of a second, then settle back into an unimpressed rhythm.

But a clown and balloons?  Nope.  What say you, does horror really scare you, entertain you, or fail all around?