Scary Story Genre Scary

Monster Archetypes Vampire Werewolf Thing Zombie

Vampire The vampire archetype of monster: can pass for a human. can appear as a friend, loved one, or seducer. makes the familiar unfamiliar. can evoke empathy Can evoke a twisted power trip The idea that your very best friend or loved one could be a monster is quite disturbing to us.

Hannibal Lecter Serial Killer Vampire Archetype Eats flesh (instead of drinking blood) Like vampires: Stalk the streets hunt for prey Could be next door neighbor Serial killers real – vampires mythical

The Werewolf Tortured in some way Can’t allow it to live Normal man looks into the abyss and becomes what he fears most Normal to stark raving lunatic (ha ha ha ha ha) Scary because a beast lies within us all and could be awakened.

The Thing The unknowable other Something within us that we do not know creature is a force of nature. cannot be reasoned with or bargained with manifestation of the fear of the unknown in a walking, crawling, or flying form.

Zombie The zombie really fits the” thing” archetype. can’t reason with zombies. if you explain them with a virus or other anomaly, there is a definite mystery about them. Their very inhumanity (tied to our humanity)makes them unknowable and horrifying. the archetype of the werewolf works too. Fear of becoming a zombie – becoming the very thing you fear the most

Other Archetypes Ghost child - changelings Scary dolls Vengeful Ghost Aliens Devils Death/shadow Trickster imposter Creature Epidemic Slasher Scientist

Setting Archetypes The horror genre also has some standard archetypal settings: The graveyard The small town overtaken by the scary thing The haunted house The insane asylum Camping trip Road in the middle of nowhere The cabin in the woods

Symbolic Archetypes The scary story genre also has some symbolic archetypes such as numbers, colors, or weather. 666 Black (darkness, mystery, evil) Green (death, decay) Red(blood) Storms, wind, lightening or fog