Tsalagi hellbilly

Tsalagi hellbilly

Monday, September 9, 2019

My Prescription For Horror in Comics

I have been fascinated with the paranormal for most of my life. I have experienced many things I could not explain. Some are quick to label occurrences as paranormal or attribute it to cryptesthesia. Those lacking intelligence try to understand and explain common environmental conditions. Unable to, they attribute it to baleful souls and paranormal phenomena. We need to ask is there any evidence to prove the existence of earthbound souls or chthonian? And there is none.
 I have seen things I cannot explain, but that does not mean it is paranormal. It simply means I can't explain it - I lack a bit of information that would enable me to explain it. I believe there should be more actual science applied to the so-called paranormal by scientists.  Not idiots with cameras making fools of themselves. Using scientific equipment does not make you a scientist any more than using a calculator makes you a mathematician.

This is a real-world phenomenon. That means, in time, science will solve the mystery.

In comics, we can take the paranormal to new levels. It can be, the Spirits of Vengeance turning a person into a flaming entity with supernatural abilities. Then there are those like Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfmen, taken from great novels adapted for the comics. Mephisto and all sorts devils and demons. Harmless ghosts like Casper or not so friendly like the demon Trigon. Fact is, the writer can take the supernatural beyond anything that has been reported in the real world.
Psychic powers are accepted in the comics. Not so much in reality. For me, the tales of supernatural events and abilities in the comics cause me to seek what is plausible.  I yearn for proof of what is on the other side. Which is vaster, our imagination, or the limits of those things that exist beyond our reality? If we can imagine it, does that mean in some other existence it can happen?
The Multiverses in the comics gives us glimpses of alternate realities. In their world, our existence may seem paranormal or fantasy. What if what we call [some] ghosts are no more than another reality crossing over with ours?
People fear that they don't understand. Not every monster is a Victor Crowley or even a Chrome Skull. The monsters in our imagination terrify us but have no power to harm us. We should embrace the fear. It will give us strength and courage. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."
A well-written horror book can be scarier than a movie. Books can unlock the doors to our darkest fears and dark things in our imagination.  Cinematic films often fill in all the blanks. Giving limited capacity for our mind to take over. I really like the Wrong Turn franchise because it has a hint of possibility in them. Maybe, there are really cannibal hillbillies that live back in the hills of West Virginia. I can tell you that folks do go missing there. Also, it is possible to hide out the woods and not be found.
Horror is more than blood and gore, it is something that goes deep into the psyche. "Fear hath torment." People like to be scared. It releases chemicals in the brain that are like a drug. Those that avoid the horror and scary stuff are afraid of being afraid. Embrace the fear it is empowering.

I believe we need more horror comics, especially. Much of the horror comics focus on peril, blood, and gore. Horror goes much deeper than that. Horror movies usually rely on "jump scares," green filters, and violence. Comics mostly rely on scary monsters and blood. The scariest part of any story for me is, what goes unsaid. Again, the imagination is where the fear lies. We need to tap into that. When you blend imagination and real-world potentialities together, you have a prescription for horror.

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