11/11/2021
We've had some fantastic framings of the horror genre from this year's artists.
Occasionally we see people viewing the genre through a very narrow lens, dismissing work with phrases like "it didn't scare me."
The 'scare factor' does not define the quality of a horror-inspired creation.
With that in mind, thanks to some great interviews with , we want to share some of artists' thoughts on what horror means to them and how they apply it to their work...
Emily Gillmor Murphy (Blind):
"all of us have a dark and mysterious side to us, and the horror genre is a way to celebrate and explore that aspect of our personalities."
Nic Lamont (Mary Shelley: Muthamonster):
"Horror comes in so many forms; melodrama, dark comedy, the macabre, the ghostly, the gore… I adore them all and like to take pinches of each to flavour my shows."
James Swanton (Irving Undead):
"In adolescence, my superficial fascination with the grotesque began to darken and deepen. It increasingly became an escape valve: a way of getting out energies that would otherwise be deemed unacceptable... I never felt more alive than when playing the undead... Monsters will always be my great love. They've saved my soul, repeatedly - and they've given me a career!"
Matt Boothman (Lights Out):
"It's about seeing people in extreme circumstances. I think we all go through tough times, these past couple of years especially, and there's something both reassuring and cathartic about seeing characters in horror going through that x100 and still persevering. In a strange way it makes me feel hopeful, like maybe we're all more resilient than we think, and if a horror character can be faced with all that and still struggle to survive, maybe I can find the strength to struggle with whatever I'm facing too."
Sasha Ravencroft (A Simple Tale of Love):
"I love the supernatural and otherworldly goings-on. I was obsessed with Hammer House of Horror as a kid and have always had a soft spot for a vampire, so it’s an honour to be part of something that celebrates all things strange, mystical and just plain terrifying!"
Chazz Redhead (Bespectacle):
"Comedy and Horror have very similar beats and rhythms, which is why I think they blend together so well."
Ariella Como Stoian (To be a bat):
"I've always loved fantasy and horror and sci-fi. I have an escapist bend and so since I was very young have learnt to understand the world through the prism of genre metaphors. Horror can be a safe (relatively), affecting, waking place to explore true, difficult experiences of the world. It acknowledges what we don't always have the words or the willingness to talk about in the day today... [In To be a bat] Horror is woven into the characters’ everyday existence. They sit in it, they live with it, they find joy amongst the unrelenting brutality."
Justin Treadwell (Birdwatching):
"It’s an unconventional approach to horror – it’s a very viscerally uncomfortable play. Rather than jump-scares or monsters or things like that, it’s a masterclass in creating slow, interpersonal tension, where the real fear comes from the constant misogyny and degradation between the characters – the external supernatural events are just pressures that tip that all over... it’s a play where the greatest fear is internal, not external, and that’s fascinating."
Full interviews: https://www.thenewcurrent.co.uk/lhf-2021
Craving some horror theatre after all that?
You can still watch the livestreamed recordings of
Threedumb Theatre's One Man Poe and Distracted Rat Productions' To be a bat on demand here: https://londonhorrorfestival.co.uk/ondemand
