Paradox of Horror

Abby Murphy

Paradox of Horror

It is interesting to think of how scholars have long been mystified by the horror genre. Horror is typically classified as something that induces repulsion, disgust, and fear in the viewer/reader. These are normally emotions that we seek to avoid on a daily basis, but for some reason, we seek these emotions out when viewing art-horror. This is referred to as the paradox of horror according to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror. The paradox of horror is an attempt to rationalize why we seek art-horror out when it harbors traits that we normally shun.

Carroll believes that art-horror has certain sources of attraction, pleasure, and added explanations that furthers our liking it. We derive pleasure from that which is distressful to us. There is a morbid fascination with an unknown force. In addition to the fear and disgust that art-horror evokes, Caroll states that some art-horror texts can be “allegorical readings that make their subjects appear wholly appealing and that do not acknowledge their repellent aspects.” However, repellency is part of the horror genre and is largely encountered. But if a moral lesson or message can be taken away from the plot, then the repulsion and fear felt before is just a part of the process associated with learning. For example, Dracula is a text that induces much fear and repulsion in the reader, but there is an allegorical lesson to be learned in the ending. The lesson is that trust must be placed in a higher deity, and to believe that evil will get its come-uppance. This overshadows the fear and disgust felt earlier, but does not obliterate it. Caroll says that fear leads to awe and wonder, and that it is this awe that affirms our deep seated human convictions about the world and our god.

We are attracted to the horror genre is because the emotions it prompts are comparable to the ones that we hold towards religion. H.P. Lovecraft mentions cosmic fear in Supernatural Horror in Literature and classifies it as something that gives the reader a profound sense of dread. According to Lovecraft, fear and religious feeling are instinctual and this is why we are drawn to them. Supernatural horror and religion are associated because they both incorporate concepts that are beyond the ordinary and can cause a fearsome paralysis if we feel threatened by its power. Yet, we find the power appealing. Monsters like Dracula fulfill our fantasies for coming into contact with something infinitely more powerful than ourselves. Dracula is ordinary in some ways, but not in others. He has the guise of a human being, and he can also live forever by draining the lives of others through bloodsucking. He is able to transform his shape(depending on the time of day) and has the strength of twenty men. Dracula even extends his power to control the beings around him. He can paralyze his victims(Mina and Lucy) and exerts his influence over wolves, rats, and the mentally ill(Renfield). Dracula is therefore able to rightly inspire cosmic fear in the reader, and is a force to be reckoned with. After all, he does have world domination on his mind.

"'My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine - my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my jackals when I want to feed.'" (Chapter 23)

We are also attracted to horror because its characters tend to represent, to some degree, the various psychological states of human beings. Dracula is a character that is believed to be a reference to the psychosexual desires that people are capable of harboring. The act of bloodsucking is associated with seduction. Dracula acts as the sinful aggressor towards Mina and Lucy, while the two women are viewed as helpless, innocent victims of Dracula’s advances. It is up to the male, Christian heroes to prevent Dracula from perverting their women. Caroll argues that the Dracula character is merely a manifestation of our innate sexual wishes. Dracula is the means by which the reader is able to make the connection between genital and oral sexuality. Human beings, like other creatures, are driven by the need to procreate. Dracula is an art-horror character that is able to touch base with one of our primary biological needs. He is a monster that sexually represents what makes society uncomfortable and his traits are what we as human beings normally, subconsciously repress. Dracula might be repulsive and disgusting to the reader, but at the same time he has a certain sexual appeal. He is of striking countenance and his brides are of equal beauty. Part of his cursed existence involves transforming his victims into the same sexual state that he embraces. Dracula’s three brides that live in the mountain castle have the same seductive influence over Jonathan Harker at the beginning of the Dracula novel.

"I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The fair girl went on her knees, and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth. Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed to fasten on my throat. I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the supersensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there. I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstacy and waited - waited with beating heart." –(Chapter 3)

Overall, Dracula and his brides may be parasitic, narcissistic, and predatory , but they also symbolize a representation of our innate, sexual desires turned loose.

To conclude, the paradox of horror is not a solvable one for scholars. However, the rationalization of it’s popularity is slowly being obtained over time. The reasons why an art-horror character such as Dracula are able to draw in so many readers are numerous. Yes, he does inspire fear and revulsion, but we also find him thrilling. The cosmic dread he evokes draws us in, and we marvel at his powers and abilities; and when we inspect him closely enough, we even begin to see bits of ourselves mirrored in him(pun intended). The fact that we can learn a moral lesson from the Dracula tale only enhances its popularity with readers. This is a story about coming together to confront wickedness, while stressing that one should never give up or give in to evil. The question that gets posed by Caroll when he discusses the paradox of horror is “Why horror ? ” For anyone who has read Dracula, the easy answer to this question would be “Why not ?”