Evolution of a Horror Fan

How Horror Changes as I Grow Older

I've often thought about how horror is different now and when I was a kid. As a kid, I didn't take things as serious. Movies needed to be fast-paced, action-oriented. Now, I've seen so many horror movies and so much real killing, in the news and elsewhere, that now I rather see a good story with good atmosphere.

One of the main things of horror that I've more or less outgrown are slashers since I was in high school. Before that I loved them. It's like going from not liking broccoli to loving it. It's like going from craving fast food as a kid to mostly despising it due to heartburn. It's like my favorite part on women going from chests to their posteriors. Tastes change. :)

Don't get me wrong, I do still like slashers but I just prefer certain slashers, ones with something special about them - be it a good story, great acting and/or a truly creepy atmosphere. Not your run-of-the-mill, plot less slasher such as "Friday the 13th", which has a good basic story as its framework but is just repetitive killing every movie. I'll watch it but I'll be bored. I much prefer slashers such as "Psycho" (no way Jason Voorhees has anything on Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates!), the original "Black Christmas" (an unseen killer, crazy phone calls during Christmas!) and "Halloween" (similar to "Friday the 13th" but with a better, more extended story and Donald Pleasance & Jamie Lee Curtis).

There have been tons of slashers before and after I was born, although, most of the slasher craze really took off in the 80s with countless slasher clones. Most are almost carbon copies of one another but every once in a while, something special will come along and surprise me, such as "Sleepaway Camp" which is definitely not your standard slasher!

Since the mid-90s, most slashers have gotten worse with sleeker, modern settings/atmospheres and teenage/twentysomething characters. This phenomenon really took off with the likes of "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer". Both of these are passable and would've been good if only they didn't start a Hollywood trend of clones of these movies.