What is Black horror?
The definition of Black horror depends on who you ask, since it doesn’t have one widely used definition. Some classify any horror film with a Black lead as “Black horror,” while others believe the film must also have a Black writer and director in order to be categorized under that subgenre.
“I’m of the belief that it can’t really be Black [horror] if it doesn’t have a Black creator,” says Dr. Chesya Burke, a longtime horror writer and an assistant professor of U.S. literature at Stetson University.
“Basically, it’s Black horror if it’s written and produced and cast with Black people. Otherwise, it’s simply horror with Black people in it.”
One aspect of Black horror that…
What is Black horror?
The definition of Black horror depends on who you ask, since it doesn’t have one widely used definition. Some classify any horror film with a Black lead as “Black horror,” while others believe the film must also have a Black writer and director in order to be categorized under that subgenre.
“I’m of the belief that it can’t really be Black [horror] if it doesn’t have a Black creator,” says Dr. Chesya Burke, a longtime horror writer and an assistant professor of U.S. literature at Stetson University.
“Basically, it’s Black horror if it’s written and produced and cast with Black people. Otherwise, it’s simply horror with Black people in it.”
One aspect of Black horror that sets itself apart is how often it subverts horror tropes by dramatizing history or current events surrounding race and Blackness. Black horror doesn’t require discussions about racism or Blackness in order to be classified as such, but the stories are typically presented from a Black experience. One common theme Black audiences appear to be drawn to is the familiar idea of powerlessness.
“A lot of Black horror really centers around the fact that there are people out there who want to hurt you and kill you for something that you can’t control. And that’s super frightening,” said Tonia Ransom, a horror writer and the creator and executive producer of Nightlight, a horror podcast that tells scary stories written and narrated by Black artists. Ransom said she has always had a strong stomach for the creepy, scary, and abnormal. What scares her the most is other people.
“There are people in this world that are truly awful people and a lot of them are in power,” Ransom said. “That’s a scary thing to know that humans are the real monsters; that’s not as easy as driving a stake through a vampire’s heart. You have to deal with human monsters in a very different way.”
See:
www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/t-magazine/black-horror-films-get-out.html
