Horror Outside of Zombies

Zombies are the best. There’s no denying that, and they are my go-to monster when I need a horror fix. But zombies aren’t the only horror monsters I enjoy. I’m also a huge fan of slasher films and creature features.

When I was younger, my dad always let us watch Monster Vision with him, so my love of horror grew from there. I remember seeing old Godzilla movies and terrible, terrible shows that I can’t remember the name of.

It wasn’t until I was older that I got into slasher films. I had seen a few A Nightmare on Elm Streets when I was in grade school, along with some Child’s Plays, but I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. That didn’t happen until I was in college.

I wrote my thesis on slasher films. My committee chair suggested it. I originally wanted to write about demons, but this topic was more focused. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too sure about it at first. I didn’t think I would have a lot to say.

The focus of my thesis was the Friday the 13th films. My husband is a huge fan because he was born on the 13th. We had a blast watching them together. And I learned so much looking at them critically. To this day, I’m still hooked on slasher films. And yes, Jason is one of my all-time favorite killers. But I also really like Freddy. There’s something to be said about his sense of humor.

And I still really like creature features. Aliens or animals that have been mutated by nuclear whatever are my favorite. Like zombie films, I’ll watch anything in these genres, and rarely will I turn them off.

Do you have a favorite horror genre outside of zombies?