Horror is a genre that has evolved into a broad umbrella with multiple portrayals of the original works underneath, this allows for diversity and appeals to a wider range of audiences. The horror genre began in the Romantic Movement in the beginning of the 19th century and encompasses many types of horror literary works and films. These include science fiction with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and supernatural with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Horror as a genre has continued in popularity with supernatural novels and films such as Stephen King’s It. The horror genre can differ with the types of monsters described, but the works all have had one thing in common for over 200 years, the monster exists.
Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein is one of the most noted horror genre classics. Frankenstein was published in 1818 and has been made into many film adaptations for nearly 200 years. Frankenstein is the story of a scientist who creates a mismatched assembled creation in his lab. The creation is depicted as grotesque and is as seen as a monster. “By forcing us to face the monster's physical repulsiveness, which he can never deny or escape, and which aborts his every hope of gaining sympathy, film versions of Frankenstein prompt us to rethink his monstrosity in terms of visualization” (Heffernan 131). In the novel, Shelley described Frankenstein's monster as an “8-foot-tall creature of hideous contrasts” and while his limbs were proportionate, “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but this luxuriance’s only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same color as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 42). This description allows for the reader to know the basics of the monster’s appearance and encourages him/her to use their own imagination to formulate what the monster looks like. Often, what is written is an outline for what the reader uses to create the monster visual in their mind. This allows for the audience to input their vision into the story and have more engagement with the literary work.
Long, after the book's release, the first film adaptation was released in 1931. This film gave the first visual to how the monster was created and what the monster itself looked like. The film version of Frankenstein was a giant figure in the film with limbs of proportion, however, Frankenstein was a black and white film, so the skin tone appears as extremely pale instead of yellow (Whale 1931). His facial features were as such as conveyed in the novel: long black hair, sunken eyes, and shriveled complexion and thin lips.
In one of the many Frankenstein film versions since the original Bride of Frankenstein, Karloff portrays the monster in a way that would become the stereotypical depiction. The creature is almost certain to appear as a towering undead-like figure, often with a flat-topped head and bolts on his neck to serve as electrical connectors. He wears a dark and torn suit and heavy boots, causing him to walk with an awkward, stiff-legged walk (Whale 1935). His skin tone is usually a shade of green and gray and his body appears stitched together at certain parts, like the neck and joints. This portrayal of the monster has become one of the most iconic depictions of monsters and has even influenced other genres, such as Marvel’s Hulk.
Dracula is another example of a classic origin horror genre work of literature and film. Dracula is a supernatural horror literary work and film. Although this category of horror differs greatly from science fiction, the monsters involved are still as impactful. In the 1897 novel, Dracula is described as a tall old man, being clean-shaven except for a long white mustache, and dressed in black from head to toe and “without a single speck of color about him anywhere”(Brahm 16). This description is vague and lacks the monster vibe that was given by monsters like Frankenstein. Later in the novel, his description goes more in-depth illustrating that “His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline” meaning like an eagle. “The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy mustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth that protruded over his lips” The visual effect of Dracula was one of “extraordinary pallor,” or an unhealthy pale appearance (Bram 18). While the description of Dracula is more detailed than Frankenstein's, the reader still maintains some control of the visual in their mind.
In the 1931 film, Dracula, the portrayal of the vampire has a more human quality. In the film, Dracula has facial structure features but lacks a long mustache and massive eyebrows. Dracula’s teeth did not protrude over his lips and were unseen until his mouth opened (Browning 1931). This version was largely based on the stage play, rather than the book. The 1924 play was the first adaption of the book and was widely successful. Basing the film off the play made economic as well as entertainment sense, and almost guaranteed similar success.
However, not all adaptations were as Bram envisioned his beloved monster. “The transformations of Dracula, who has become the vampire in the popular imagination, however, are different. In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula is a white-haired Eastern European patriarch with bad breath and hairy palms. He is also a powerful aristocrat who dominates both men and women. However, in the film adaptations of Dracula, the primary source of vampire legend and lore for twentieth-century vampire followers, the character shifts shapes constantly, creating in the public imagination a composite Count Dracula who has become a universally recognized icon” (Holte 110). In the 2012 film, Hotel Transylvania, horror monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, werewolves, the Invisible Man come and stay in a hotel located in Transylvania. The portrayals are intended to accommodate a young audience, so the characters themselves are cuter than what was originally intended in the novels. Dracula has a tall stature and fangs but is portrayed as a recluse after the loss of his wife. Frankenstein is an animated version of 1935’s stereotypical portrayal and can fall apart and then be placed back together (Genndy 2012). Dracula and the other monsters have reversed their roles and are now afraid of humans. This is a twist, unlike their original works, allowing for a new audience to enjoy the characters and allow for the characters to continue living for generations to come.
Stephen King is known as one of the best horror authors of all time, writing multiple horror category works including previously mentioned science fiction and supernatural. King has created some of the most recognizable monsters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including Cujo, Gage Creed and Pennywise. Stephen King’s, It, is a modern supernatural horror work. King’s novel was released in 1986 and in its 33 years has enraptured generations of admirers. Stephen King uses his belief in monsters to fuel his literary works and in turn, has added his name to the horror genre's successes.
It is the story of a group of kids in the town of Derry, who must band together to fight a monster known as Pennywise, an eternal entity that can shapeshift and change forms but is best described as It. Pennywise is primarily depicted as a clown, which is a rational fear in of itself but can transform into more forms than shown in the film adaptations, including werewolves, bats, leeches, and sharks, embodying any of a child's worst fears. “It itself, which is multiple, fractured, and inconsistent, functioning as a kind of meta monster. Where readers are familiar with a single monstrous trope being treated as a focal point in the Gothic narrative (we gasp, it’s a vampire! it’s a ghost!), It is, amongst other things, a werewolf, a monstrous bird, an enormous disembodied eye, a mummy, a large plastic statue, voices in the moon, violence, the ‘deadlights’, a giant spider, and, most frequently, Pennywise the clown” (Jones 168). The first visual encounter portrayed in the book is when George “Georgie” Denbrough loses his paper boat in a storm drain during a storm. Georgie, like most children, ducked down and peered into the drain in hopes of finding his boat, instead, he saw Pennywise. “There was a clown in the storm drain. The light was far from good, but it was good enough so that George Denbrough was sure of what he was seeing. It was a clown, like in the circus or on TV” (King 13). Pennywise is a significant monster because adapts to his audience feeds on fear, and by becoming whatever people fear most, has an unlimited food source until his time is up. “Then the clown’s face changed. And what little George Denbrough saw next was terrible enough to make his worst imaginings of the things in the basement look like sweet, angelic dreams; what he saw destroyed his sanity in one clawing stroke”(King 13). Pennywise is the monster we all fear most, the monster who knows are fear and uses that to his advantage.
In the film’s 1990 adaptation, Pennywise’s appearance is true to the book. Pennywise looks exactly like a stereotypical clown. “The face of the clown in the storm drain was white, there were funny tufts of red hair on either side of his bald head, there was a big clown smile painted over his mouth…The clown held a bunch of balloons, all colors, like gorgeous ripe fruit in one hand. In the other, he held George's newspaper boat...” (King 13). Once Pennywise transforms into his demonic form that feeds on fear, however little changes. His eyes change colors, his teeth sharpen, and this makeup becomes more dramatic with the addition of some smudged red lipstick and blue eyeshadow surrounding his eyes (Wallace 1990). This portrayal also is true to the final appearance given my Pennywise in the book, It transformed into that of an enormous spider and refers to this spider-like embodiment as “deadlights” (King 522). This film version allows for comprehension of the multiple transformations of Pennywise and allows the audience to get a sense for what the being would look like.
In the film’s 2017 adaptation, Pennywise’s appearance differs from the original. Advancements in technology and film visual effects contributed to this factor, as well as the need to make Pennywise as terrifying has he is portrayed in the book. Pennywise still resembles a clown, only now he has more elaborate face makeup: a white face and red lips with the appearance of red lipstick continuing from the outer edges of the lips making a line across the cheeks and past his eyebrows (Muschietti 2017). Pennywise now has a less-than-perfect smile during the original encounter with Georgie. He has buck teeth and then they become long, sharp teeth that extend from his jaw when he opens his bite. These visual effects allow for a more accurate depiction of the original book, as well as engage a new generation of audience members.
In conclusion, horror has been a popular genre since its origin with Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram’s Dracula. The genre is still popular today and is only growing in popularity with novels and blockbuster films like King’s It. The genre spreads across many subcategories, but the storylines all have one thing in common, that the beast is real. The horror genre ignites our fascination with the belief of other possible life forms among us and fills our adrenaline-seeking desire. Stephen King in The Shining writes, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too” with the possibility of this being true, we become enthralled with the stories (King XVII). In every horror novel or film one of the main characters, if not the main character, is the monster itself. The horror genre began over 200 years ago but will continue to engage future generations in literature and films for years to come.
Works cited:
Browning, Tod, director. Dracula. Universal Pictures. 1931.
Genndy, Tartakovsky, director. Hotel Transylvania. Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. 2012.
Holte, James Craig. “A Century of Draculas.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 10, no. 2 (38), 1999, pp. 109–114. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43308376.
James A. W. Heffernan. “Looking at the Monster: ‘Frankenstein’ and Film.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 24, no. 1, 1997, pp. 133–158. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1344161.
King, Stephen. It's Stephen King. Sevenoaks, 1987.
King, Stephen. The Shining. Doubleday, 1977.
Muschietti, Andrés, director. It. ABC. 2017.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus: the 1818 Text. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.
“Stephen King, Affect and the Real Limits of Gothic Practice.” The Gothic and the Carnivalesque in American Culture, by Timothy Jones, 1st ed., University of Wales Press, 2015, pp. 151–178, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt17w8hdq.10.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990
Wallace, Tommy Lee, director. It. ABC. 1990.
Whale, James, director. Frankenstein. Universal Pictures. 1931.
Whale, James, director. The Bride of Frankenstein. Universal Pictures. 1935.