What drew me to he text “The Nature of Horror” was the first sentence Noël Carroll writes, “–horror has flourished as a major source of mass aesthetic stimulation” (Carroll, 51). Even as I continued reading the text, I found several parts that caught my attention, including the fact that it was published in a journal called The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. I liked Carroll’s approach which goes beyond traditional literature to embrace horror in film, music videos, musicals, TV, and other artforms. The analysis highlighted horror as an aesthetic experience that captures both fascination and revulsion, a duality that made me rethink horror as not just a genre, but an art form capable of evoking deep and sometimes conflicting emotions. This resonated with my studies, particularly in film and gender, as it framed horror as a lens through which audiences confront and process fear, pleasure, and even societal anxieties. Carroll’s work helped cement my interest in analyzing horror, especially as I prepare my thesis on the connection of horror, gender, and generational shifts in the genre.
In horror, the characters’ reactions to monsters can serve as a blueprint for the audience’s own emotions. Carroll suggests that unlike in other genres, where viewer reactions may be ‘more ambivalent or open to interpretation’, horror provides clear emotional cues through the “positive human characters” who are often terrified, repulsed, or desperately trying to survive. This mirroring effect aligns audiences with the protagonists’ emotions, intensifying the fear and tension. One example being when a protagonist encounters a creature and recoils in horror, we, too, feel a visceral reaction, compelled by their fear to respond in kind. This connection between characters and audience establishes a direct and almost participatory relationship with the horror itself, as viewers are drawn into the narrative and prompted to experience the characters’ dread firsthand. This dynamic sets horror apart from other genres, where characters’ emotions may not always dictate audience response and t underscores the genre’s unique power to evoke empathy and psychological engagement through fear.