We all stand to benefit from more horror fans. It can only be a good thing if more people bring their dollars to the bookstore to buy horror. Also, the mainstream-ness of horror is probably a rising tide that will lift all boats.But I think it’s also super valid that people look for hopeful horrors, because they are using it to process their trauma, they are seeking comfort in it, and saying those stories aren’t welcome isn’t very punk of us, is it?.I think there’s a valid fear that, in becoming mainstream, horror will be diluted and sanitized and we’ll lose the fucked-up edge that has kept it on the fringe where it’s allowed to be weird – ie the thing that made it thrive in the first place.There’s innovation in horror that doesn’t exist in the rest of our media right now. Part of that is that horror has always been a bastion of indies, punks, weirdos, and shit that won’t fly anywhere else. Part of that is because we’re processing a lot of collective trauma. I think horror is mainstream right now in a way it hasn’t been for decades.This entire debate is incredibly nuanced (as you can see from the variety of responses here) and I’ve legit seen actual professional friendships break apart over it which is…oof.
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