Every genre has its cliches and conventions which make it distinctly the genre which it aims to be. In this post I shall be assessing some of the cliches associated with the horror genre:
The Protagonist
- Teenagers - mainly girls.
- Daredevils/ rebels.
- Miraculously stupid.
- College drop-outs.
- Even more stupid boyfriends.
- Blonde.
-Talented screamers
- Druggies
- Alcoholics
- Had sex many times with many people.
- Party animals.
- Clumsy.
- Goes somewhere they were told not to, to prove how rebellious they are.
The Antagonist
- Ghosts
- Zombies
- Werewolves
- Creepy children
- Demonic possession
- Vampires (although they are now sneaking into the romance genre for some unfathomable reason)
- Lunatic with a chainsaw.
- Scientist with a crazy scheme
- Want vengeance.
- Have some sort of routine for their appearance
- Hold some sort of power over technology that disrupts phones and CCTV.
The Story
- Unresponsive bodies.
- Haunted houses.
- Haunted woods.
- Haunted graveyards.
- Haunted islands.
- Haunted lighthouses.
- Haunted towns.
- Haunted hotels with equally creepy workers.
- Shower murders
- Mysterious noises that must always be investigated.
- A window jump scene.
- A mirror jump scene (usually occurring after the protagonist has washed their face)
- Nightmares.
- Creaky doors.
- Creaky floorboards.
- Creaky stairs.
- Creaky rocking chairs
- Clowns.
- Dolls.
- Pictures with blurry faces.
- People coming out of pictures or TV's.
- Creepy, suspenseful music.
- Intense build-ups that lead to nothing...and then the jump comes.
- Gore.
- Splitting up or separating to investigate the danger.
- The old man who seems to know everything.
- The killer who walks in slow strides whilst the protagonist tries desperately to find a way out.
- The killer never fully dies.
- Minorities die first.
- Linen closet killing.
- Upping the stakes by a child being in danger.
- Old folk tales that are actually true.
- Thunderclap!
- Pathetic fallacy.
- Newspaper clippings of shocking events associated with the killers motives.
- Shadows.
- Chainsaws.
- Knives
- Unbelieving boyfriends, who believe only too late.
- Children communicating with the undead.
- Objects moving without visible force.
- Doors slamming - occasionally not opening again.
- Puddles of water that somehow link to the death.
- Crows cawing.
- Wolves howling.
- Dogs barking.
- Animals run away when they sense the danger.
- Lanterns.
- Candles blowing out.
- Chill wind preceding antagonist.
- The Psycho soundtrack.
- Nursery rhymes.
- Moving pictures.
- 'You are mine'
...the list is literally endless...
