If you have the scratch, they have the scares
asserted
they → have → scares
If you have the scratch, they have the scares
asserted
they → have → scares
The horror biz is booming, as recent Weekend Edition reporting has made clear.
asserted
reporting → boom → ?
But not everyone wants to be up close and personal the with the IRL frights of a haunted house or spooky corn maze.
asserted
everyone → want → house
Many would rather experience nightstalkers, goblins and witches that can't escape the theater or TV screen, or zombies and werewolves that won't lunge off the pages of a book.
asserted
that → experience → book
Chanthal Harris owns Long Dark House in Alexandria, Va.
asserted
Harris → own → Alexandria
It's a bookstore devoted exclusively to horror and the supernatural.
asserted
It → devote → horror
It's been doing business for just over a month and Harris says she already has steady traffic from both genre stalwarts and first-timers.
asserted
she → do → stalwarts
"You know, I think people are looking for things that they wouldn't normally find in a lot of other places.
asserted
they → know → places
I've had people comment about the curation and how they're finding something unexpected," Harris says.
asserted
Harris → have → something
"And I'm also surprised at how many people are trying to dip their toe into horror."
asserted
people → surprise → horror
My love of horror started from an early age.
asserted
love → start → age
And I joke, but I do truly blame my parents because my dad was a[n] avid reader.
asserted
dad → joke → parents
He probably takes responsibility more for my fantasy/sci-fi love, but my mother always loved horror
asserted
mother → take → horror
," Harris says.
"
asserted
Harris → say → ?
I didn't think of it as a spooky thing.
asserted
I → think → thing
"
So after a career in aviation, Harris decided to follow her passion and open Long Dark House.
asserted
Harris → decide → House
"It's exceeded my expectations and, you know, could be the season.
uncertain
you → exceed → expectations
And so anytime someone walks through the door, I'm a little surprised and happy and grateful," she says.
asserted
she → walk → door
The numbers say Chanthal Harris shouldn't be very surprised.
asserted
Harris → say → ?
Market research by Nielsen says profits from the genre have jumped almost 26-percent year over year.
asserted
profits → say → year
Last May, Backrooms — about a horrifying liminal space that exists beyond our own reality — smashed box office records.
uncertain
that → exist → records
With just a $10 million budget, petty cash for Hollywood, it grossed over $400 million worldwide.
asserted
it → gross → million
The feature film started as a short on YouTube.
asserted
film → start → YouTube
And It's just one title from the newly-merged studio Blumhouse Atomic Monster.
asserted
It → merge → studio
Abhijay Prakash and Michael Clear head up the studio.
asserted
Prakash → head → studio
Prakash is Blumhouse president and handles the company's business strategy.
asserted
Prakash → handle → strategy
Clear is the president of Atomic Monster and leads the studio's emerging directors program.
asserted
Clear → lead → program
"We're drawn like moths to a flame to things that are scary," Clear says.
asserted
Clear → draw → things
"We reached out to Kane Parsons who had created the short and at the time he was 15 or 16; he was still in high school."
asserted
he → reach → school
Despite the headlines Blumhouse Atomic Monster garnered for hiring Parsons, Clear adds it's not really all that new for them.
"
asserted
it → garner → them
We've always kind of scoured a variety of sources, particularly for filmmakers who have a sense of how to scare people.
asserted
who → scour → people
Going all the way back to one of the first movies we produced, Lights Out, David Sandberg, the director of that film, was actually himself a YouTube creator," Clear says.
"
asserted
Clear → go → film
They say it's hard to describe what scary is but I know it when I see it."
A post-COVID reanimation?
asserted
I → say → reanimation
Abhijay Prakash says the COVID-19 pandemic had an outsized impact on the horror film industry.
asserted
pandemic → say → industry
Then after COVID though, it's occupying a much larger share.
asserted
it → occupy → share
And inside of that we are over half of that box office," Prakash says.
asserted
Prakash → say → office
And that's where we're focused.
asserted
we → focus → ?
We live and breathe it."
asserted
We → live → it
Our friends over at the Recreational Fear Lab theorize people are flocking to fear more these days because the real world has been just so darn scary.
asserted
world → theorize → more
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
