Avenue Q and the Horror Fan
If you’ve ever seen the musical Avenue Q, you’ll know that it’s a relatable, catchy, and popular show. As someone with an English degree that hasn’t landed me a job in years, I’ve always had a fondness for the song “What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?” It’s a question that often leads to ambitious summer reading and writing lists, including my work here.
Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
As summer comes to an end, I’m diving into one of the seminal works in horror scholarship: Carol Clover’s Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. This book is not only frequently mentioned on the podcast The Faculty of Horror, but it’s also the origin of the Final Girl trope of Slasher films. Clover identifies these female victim-heroes as adopting typically masculine characteristics to defeat their masked tormentors.
Challenging the Stereotype of the Typical Horror Fan
What I find intriguing from the outset is Clover’s description of the typical horror fan. She concludes that the typical viewer is a young male, which makes sense on the surface, but it doesn’t quite align with my own experiences.
As a young-ish male viewer, I fit into Clover’s approximation of the horror fandom. Both of my older siblings are also long-standing horror fans. However, my male friends growing up were largely indifferent or even opposed to the genre.
Female Horror Fans: A Growing Demographic?
In contrast, I have numerous female friends who are die-hard horror fans. One of my close friends introduced me to The Faculty of Horror podcast, and we often swap scary movie recommendations. Another friend edited an entire book with The Shining (1980) playing on a loop in the background.
My now-wife and I initially bonded over our mutual love of horror movies. I invited her over to watch Quarantine (2008) one night, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
Has the Horror Community Changed Over Time?
Throughout my life, I’ve encountered many female horror fans, but only a few male fans. This makes me wonder if the landscape of the horror community has changed over the last three decades. Has the introduction of Final Girls attracted a larger female viewership? Is the recent feminist bent of horror films representative of the people actually watching those movies?
I’ve said before that “something interesting is happening in horror right now.” Perhaps the “something interesting” has more to do with who’s watching these movies than what they’re about. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that something interesting is happening with horror viewership right now.
