ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR – SOPHIA KUSSEL
As kids, many were afraid of the supernatural. Monsters lurking at every turn- under the bed, in the closet, and in the television, waiting patiently to drag one down into a pit of unspeakable fetid horrors. But in the ‘70s, movie directors knew what was up. It’s not the boogieman you should fear, but your family. That’s right, Freddy Kruger is nothing more than a hapless criminal next to beloved Mee-Maw and Pee-Pee.
The 70s was a time of rapid social change. The continued push towards women’s liberation, gay rights, racial equality, and the shifting of family dynamics was more than enough for most authors and movie directors to wet themselves. Women started to leave the territory of the domestic housewife in droves. With the increasing economic independence of women, the nation’s divorce rate also increased in turn. As a result, husbands were being left behind, either working in conjunction or even more salaciously, staying home and raising children.
Paul Tremblay, author of “Head Full of Ghosts” and “The Pallbearers Club,” gave his perspective, “Change takes so many of us out of our comfort zone because then we really don’t know what will happen next. Change is constant, and a truth of existence. There’s no going back, even if we could,” states Tremblay. It’s little wonder that the storytellers of the time picked up on the swelling anxieties over the social changes that had already been seeping into the millions of middle class American homes since the revelation of the ‘60s. Gone were the days of zombies and campy monsters lurking on the grounds of decadent gothic mansions or castles.
The ‘60’s lacked a true identity in the horror sphere, while the ‘70’s on the other hand completely redefined it. Horror history buff and author (His next book is “HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE” and it’s out on January 17, 2023), Grady Hendrix, states, “Horror didn’t exist as a genre in the ‘60s. Before “ROSEMARY’S BABY” came out in 1967, horror was marketed as “suspense” or “thriller” fiction… The first wave of books were, predictably, knock-offs of “ROSEMARY’S BABY,” “THE EXORCIST,” and “THE OTHER” but pretty soon, horror novels were dealing with more personal fears.” By the time the ‘70s rolled in, writers and filmmakers realized that nothing is scarier than a divorce (in this economy?) The public was thrilled.
The fear of family members is heavily present within the horror genre. It’s evident in some of the most iconic horror media, such as “The Brood,” “The Shining,” “The Exorcist,” and of course, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” that these horror families all strayed from the status quo with their troubled kids who act like they’re possessed and cannibalistic tendencies. ‘70s horror readily acknowledged the ubiquitous experience of familial relations. Families are fraught with personal stories of heartbreak, troubled childhoods and hierarchy— these stories are what truly haunt people. To put it simply, a horror story is at its scariest when one can relate to the actual story, and it’s the reason the genre seems to continuously reflect the societal fears of the time. As Paul Tremblay put it in the interview, “Being a child and being part of some kind of family is a near universal experience. Those interfamilial relationships can be fraught and are often subjected to outside social and political forces.
If there is anything society can agree on, it’s that change is hard. When change occurs in the family, it can feel catastrophic. Change is the inciting action in life and in storytelling, so why not embrace that thrill?