For horror fans, October is sacred. Commonfolk wear costumes, visit haunted attractions, and celebrate all things festively creepy en masse. Television channels, streaming platforms, and theaters dedicate overwhelming program blocks of Halloween favorites. Horror is en vogue, but with that attention comes the invariable onslaught of taste-maker trades showing their whole-ass behinds. Those who treat horror as unworthy for 11 other calendar months suddenly have opinions about horror's "resurgence," "death," or incoming "fatigue." It's a clockwork tradition that riles internet hordes -- with good reason.
This year, two specific articles dominated genre discussions despite their wildly unsubstantiated and data-ignorant claims. The Hollywood Reporter warned that studio executives are worried about "Horror Fatigue," while Vulture opted for the headline "Horror Movies Are Just Trying To Survive." I hate the phrase "Horror Fatigue"; it's a made-up phenomenon that's been disproven year after year. Yet, sites like THR and Vulture approach horror-centric journalism with a goldfish's attention span.
"[Horror Fatigue] is a preposterous notion because you're talking bout a whole genre," says multi-hyphenate Michael Varrati. "We don't hear anybody refer to any other genre in this way," he elaborates. "There's no such thing as drama fatigue or romance fatigue because a discerning audience understands that's a tentpole descriptor for something multifaceted that fills many roles." Varrati's experience as an analyst and creator puts him in a unique position to observe how horror continues to thrive behind the camera, journalistically, and everywhere else. "As long as audiences want to engage with stories, they will want to engage with all kinds of stories."
"Horror is so much more than what outsiders perceive it to be," adds beloved actor and genre champion Barbara Crampton. "Horror encompasses what it means to be human, and the storytelling barriers the genre has broken down keep expanding." From Crampton's legendary performance as Megan Halsey in Stuart Gordon's "Re-Animator" to her resurgence as one of modern horror's matriarchs post Adam Wingard's "You're Next," Crampton has witnessed the genre transform again and again. "Not only is horror fatigue not true, but the genre will keep growing stronger as we tell more stories that reflect humanity."