The perfect formula for blending horror and fantasy

What makes a good fantasy film?

What makes a good horror film?

Is it the suspension of disbelief, or the engaging world that we are immersed in as the main character leaves their old, drab world behind?

Is it the adventure the character is thrust into completing, or the way they grow as a person on the journey?

Is a horror story only defined by jump scares and blood curdling screams?

Or is there something a bit more to all of this than simple storytelling fun?

I believe that the genre that truly encapsulates the complexity of reality and fantasy in a way that captivates us, makes us think, and also——oddly enough mirrors our daily lives—is the horror fantasy genre.

The first personal favorite of mine, that I had rented at a movie rental place (in a grocery store, that’s how old I feel lol), was Paper House. I was just getting into horror, but I always had loved fantasy.

This film brought out a new expectation for me in cinema. It was dark, brooding, scary at times, off putting, magical—-and absolutely brilliant. I remember as a young teen watching this, mouth agape, in shock and confusion, trying to figure out what this film was trying to say to me.

The sweeping landscapes of the fantasy world where the main character, Anna, finds herself living in(which she created out of drawings), feels more claustrophobic and suffocating than her actual life.

I didn’t understand at the time how living in your fantasy world could feel that way. But I finally came to the conclusion that inside, she was always feeling this way, even if she didn’t act that way. Her feelings of loneliness, of fear and anxiety, were hidden away from the real world—-and when she released it, it was in that new fantasy world, only magnified and projected in her childlike and overwhelming viewpoint. Reality was shown distorted, broken and scary, but only because she was dealing with them the only way she knew how. To work through the pain by trying to understand what scared her, and why.

The perfect formula of the horror fantasy genre that extends this to an even higher level is Pan’s Labyrinth.

Pan’s Labyrinth shows us a glimpse of Facist Spain in graphic and gory detail and how a little girl and her pregnant mother live in such a tyrannical and monstrous world. The little girl is fascinated by fairy tales.

Aren’t we all?

But even the original Grimms' Fairy Tales had a slice of horror in them. Take a look at a few scary things about the original Cinderella story:

And Pan’s Labyrinth is no exception.

Her fantasy world is inhabited by (almost) worse, exaggerated monsters, scarier decisions and even more terrifying results than even the world her new baby brother will be soon joining them in has to offer.

The two worlds mesh and cross over several times, which makes me believe that they are the same. Life often mirrors art, as they say. And it’s true.

These monsters and creatures in this other world, crossed over by a tree in the real world, or the labyrinth outside the Captain’s house, or by a fairy that looks like an insect, are made to be bigger and badder than reality because Ofelia can deal with the fantastical elements of a monster, but she cannot save her mother from her illness. She can deal with a huge monster trying to chase and devour her but she can not deal with her brother being born in a world where war and death is a part of everyday life.

Horror and fantasy is my favorite genre, because it can delve deep into our worst fears, anxiety, depression and possibly even our largest joys. It shows us how human we really are, even with all the fairies, monsters, fauns and larger than life fathers, who aren’t that scary once you deconstruct them down.