Smoose Entertainment

Thoughts on Writing - Horror for Hope.

I think one of the appeals of the horror genre is that it offers hope. It sounds ironic - a genre that is supposed to horrify, scare, that is full of killers and monsters and desperate situation, can actually offer hope.

But I believe horror audiences pull hope from these films and stories because it externalizes one’s internal struggles. Everyone has to cope with with internal matters like guilt, trauma, regret, loss. It’s not controversial to say that these problems can be extremely difficult to deal with.

But horror stories offer not only escape from them, but they offer a real, external monster to fight. A villain you can literally tackle, punch, and fight. And audiences get to watch the characters figure out a way to fight these monsters, which can make dealing with those internal struggles much easier, and offer a bit of hope that we, too, can find our victory.

Adam Smestad
- Stories about being human.