Caillou Pettis - The Inspiring World of Horror

Caillou Pettis

The Inspiring World of Horror

First published by Falcon Publishing 2022

Copyright 2022 by Caillou Pettis

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For Korynn. I love you to the moon and to Saturn.

H orror is practically everywhere you look in the entertainment industry. You might not think so, but if you look hard enough, you, too, will come to the same realization. And its not just in film either, but also in video games, novels, television programs, and even sometimes comic books.

Ever since I was a little kid - probably around the age of six (I know, way too young to be enamored with horror) - I fell in love with the genre and it all stemmed from when I first watched the 2006 remake of Wes Cravens The Hills Have Eyes. In my household, every Saturday, we would do a family movie night where myself and my parents would go to the local Blockbuster Video store (oh, the nostalgia) that was about five minutes from our house and pick out a movie that we all agreed looked like it would be good.

Usually, my parents ended up picking drama films - which I didnt always mind because some of them I was surprisingly entertained by even as a little boy - but every once in a while, they, too, had that horror itch and I vividly remember the first horror movie I had ever seen with them was The Hills Have Eyes.

As a matter of fact, its the first horror movie I ever remember watching in its entirety and boy was it ever one rollercoaster of an experience. Right from the opening scene which showcases the extremely bleak and desolate locale that the rest of the film will take place in, I knew I was in for an experience unlike anything my innocent eyes had witnessed up until that point.

It is worth mentioning that my parents had no idea just how brutal and unrelenting the film was going to be before we all sat down and watched it, but they had just spent money on it and so they werent just going to pop the DVD out of the player and take it back. What I do remember is when a scene was far too violent for me to be watching, my mother would put her hand over my eyes shielding me from being traumatized for the rest of my life.

And as much as I tried to crane my head around to see the television screen, my moms hand was right there to readjust, making sure I wasnt seeing any of the brutal violence unfold.

Even still to this day, I remember watching The Hills Have Eyes and being frightened by it for weeks afterward. But as much as I was scared of it, I loved it more. From there, I started to watch more horror films such as the Childs Play series of films as well as John Carpenters original Halloween from 1978 which was my favorite horror film of all time up until a movie came out in 2018 that changed my life forever - which you will learn more about later on in this novel.

And I miss the days when I was staying home sick from school and ended up watching a marathon of horror films because it genuinely did fuel my love for the genre and if it wasnt for me watching so much horror as a kid, I am not sure how much affection I would have for it today.

I would like to believe that I would still love horror more than any other genre, but really, the deepest, most affectionate loves for horror usually stem from people who watched them at a young age. Were they too young to be watching films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Probably. Yes. But they watched them anyway and found a whole new area of film they never knew existed before.

When I was a kid growing up with horror, I thought monster and slasher films were the only ones to exist, but boy was I wrong and I am glad that I was wrong. Up until I was about thirteen years old or so, I had watched an onslaught of films featuring jumpscares that seemed impressive to me back then, but lame to me now.

Eventually, I found a sub-genre of horror that blew me away - psychological horror. The kind of movie that does feature some genuinely messed up stuff, but also has a brilliant way of toying with your head. Making you question what you know and keep you on edge for the remainder of the movie.

Now, chances are if you are holding this book in your hands right now, or reading it on an e-book platform, you probably like horror films, otherwise, you more than likely wouldnt have bought it. Unless you just wanted something fun to read which is great too!

But I am just going to assume that you, reader, are a horror fan. I have a question for you - have you ever thought about what influenced your favorite horror author, screenwriter, or directors lives and careers? Or maybe a film critic you read that loves horror? They watch plenty of films all year, but that one horror movie certainly would stand out to them and change the way they viewed the genre.

Obviously one of these people wouldnt have made a piece of horror entertainment had horror not been something that they were truly passionate about. I spend so much time thinking about this because oftentimes I will watch an insanely intense and thought-provoking horror film and wonder what exactly inspired the director or writer to get into horror in the first place.

It got me thinking so much so that I thought it would be an absolutely amazing experience to gather horror novelists, directors, writers, and film critics to discuss a couple of horror films they watched - ranging from the 1950s-2021 - that genuinely inspired them and changed the way they see horror.

As you will see throughout this entire book from the various different, highly talented individuals, horror has shaped them in unforgettable ways and each writer in this book has a deeply interesting story as to why their favorite horror film has inspired them.

To this day, the Academy Awards and various other ceremonies such as the Golden Globes do not recognize or honor the horror genre and it baffles me because horror is without a doubt one of the most important, if not the, most important genre of fiction out there. Not only is it the one that evokes the most reactions out of people, but it is also, in my opinion, and the authors in this book, the most diverse and rich.

There is so much you can do with a horror story if you tell it right and strike the right chord with the right people. And as you will discover in this book, these horror films certainly struck the right chord with the writers, directors, and critics you are about to read stories from.