The closer we get to Halloween, the greater the desire becomes to terrify and delight ourselves with all things ‘horror’ related. However, some of our student body wishes these frights could continue year-round. I had the pleasure of speaking with one of these bodies in the form of second year Biology student Sam Rooney, the prospective president of the Horror Media Enthusiasts Association. We spoke on the association, horror as a genre, and much more.
Wendell Zylstra: So, to start, what is your association?
Sam Rooney: It's a community to bring people together through a shared love for horror or an interest in horror if you haven't explored it yet. Mainly horror movies because they're big right now, but also video games, literature, visual art, etc. If it was just movies it would be like the horror movies club. I wanted to expand the scope a little bit just because horror can be used in a lot of different ways. In ways that might not be possible in just a movie.
WZ: How are you hoping to balance these many different kinds of media in the association?
SR: The hope is for the movies to be kind of like the glue of the club, that they can happen fairly often because they're easy to set up and easy to schedule. They’d maybe [be] like a once a month kind of thing. There'll be some sort of big event, maybe twice a month, depending on what they are and if people want them. The events would be the bigger deals that would require more organization from our team, and hopefully would create some cool stuff and help people make friends.
WZ: Is that the main aim, to help people make friends?
SR: Partially, it's also in part because everyone likes a chance to flex about their thing, you know. If there are any people interested in joining a community or, like me, just love talking about horror, they'll get a chance to. There's not many places you can bring it up in normal everyday life. I've bonded with a lot of people before just over liking horror. It's a great place to start.
WZ: I find that a lot of people who are not in the societal norm really enjoy horror and its willingness to explore non-normative subjects, why do you think that is?
SR: Horror movies can kind of do whatever they want. They can be a jumping off point for a lot of social movements. They’re like a digestible way of talking about more difficult things. People go into the theatre knowing that because it's horror it's purpose is to make you uncomfortable and through that they can discuss more socially taboo things. The more people talk about them the better, the more we can move towards a healthier attitude about engaging, not just in conversations about society but also in art and talking about how it makes you feel. For me, sometimes I just like a movie and I don't even know why. I just enjoy experiencing that.
WZ: What do you think draws people to fear in media?
SR: It's the same idea as when you go on a roller coaster at 12 and your body and your brain tells you that you're being thrown around and you're going to die. You make it off and you're okay and you get a nice come down just to feel safe. It's also fun to anticipate when something's coming. That's what fear is.
Sometimes it's just knowing something's about to happen. It's really fun to fight with your own monkey brain about what's going to happen. I love seeing how movies can abuse that quality of the human mind. It's also fun to talk about it after the fact as well. You just feel like you survived something. I feel like that would bond you to the other people that you watch with. It's a very safe form of trauma bonding.
If Sam’s description of a ‘safe trauma-bond’ with other ghoulish students speaks to you, please check out the association's instagram page and fill out the survey in their bio. The club is not yet ratified and are still gauging interest for the coming year through said survey. A big thanks to Sam for sitting down and speaking with me. Have a spooky start to your Halloween season!
