“I can’t say nothing or Candyman will get me…I ain’t scared of nobody but you’re crazy walking in here on your own.” – Jake, ‘Candyman (1992)’
There’s an old Cracked After Hours about horror that claims horror in the U.K. takes place in cities, but horror in the U.S. takes place in rural areas. That’s where we did our sins—the U.K. industrializing, then forcing that on the world, plus Jack the Ripper; the U.S. committing genocide and making chattel slavery the national income. It’s great, as all old Cracked After Hours were great, but I finally think it’s wrong.
And yeah, I see that this video is age-restricted and can only be watched on YouTube. That’s silly. Click over, watch it, come back. Make sure you come back! But don’t say “be right back.” We’re talking about horror movies.
Right up top, I should clarify that I don’t think you should be scared of cities for all the reasons right wingers think you should be scared of cities: public transit, schools with students of color, living without a lawn. Nor should you be worried about expertly sneaky muggers on every train, half-crazed murderers on every corner, and perpetually-horned up violent rapists in every alley. Cities in general are wonderful. Density should be celebrated and enjoyed, so should diversity, so should public transit. I will never not live in a city—within the city limits—unless the most perfect possible beach house comes along.1 That said, many things about a city are ripe to exploit for horror. Let’s take a look, and we’re going to focus on movies.
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The first thing that stands about Scream VI is how it does claustrophobia really well. The pre-title sequence has Ghostface lure Samara Weaving’s Dr. Crane out of a restaurant and deep into a lonely alley with just the slightest suggestion. Then there’s the crowded frat party Tara and Chad start in. Once Sam yanks them out, she’s rewarded for her efforts by immediately having some internet-addled conspiracy freak throw a drink at her. There’s the scene where Ghostface stalks the Carpenter sisters through the bodega (yes, slashers are allergic to guns, but Ghostface stalking the aisles with a shotgun is genuinely scary). Then there’s the excellent set piece of our heroes crawling from one apartment building to another over a horizontal ladder, trying to escape Ghostface while also not falling however many stories to their deaths.
We can’t talk horror in a city without bringing in the phenomenal Candyman. That movie has a ton of elements that play into the city setting: the white saviorism of a grad student going into gang-controlled high rises for the sake of academic research, the mythical explanation for the daily death and despair, and the simple, scary fact that you never know what’s inside a building. The 2021 version throws adds two other potent urban problems to the mix: police dishonesty/brutality, and artists exploiting tragedy for acclaim/profit without truly understanding their subject matter. Both movies are among the scariest and smartest horror movies out there, and they completely depend on a city setting.
Alligator is kind of a city horror movie. I do enjoy Friday The 13th 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, even if there’s barely any city. The Matrix and its sequels aren’t horror, but they prove that cities can be good settings for high stakes action sequences. The fact that I’m already making a non-horror exception is proof that we need more horror movies set in cities.
Two more things about Scream VI, and they are massive spoilers, so. One of the scariest things about cities (honestly, one of the coolest, but we’re talking about horror movies here) is how you never know what’s behind a building’s facade. The Chicagoan in me must reference HH Holmes here, of course. Seriously, though—there are so many buildings, and you’ve been in so few of them. At the end, when we’re in a strange building that turns out to be a shrine to past Ghostfaces? And the head Ghostface is a cop? That’s terrifying stuff. You know how murderous cops are? You know the unrelenting chokehold they have on city governments? Cops are like what the makers of Candyman thought gangs were—highly militarized, unfeeling, violent street-kings making everyone scared and miserable and often dead. Now one of them has decided to hunt you, specifically? And your sibling?
Up top, I said we’d just be talking movies. You can find city horror from authors like Victor LaValle, Ann Rice, Juan Martinez, Hailey Piper, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., and more. In fact, let me know about city horror writers you like. Hollywood, if you want any city horror scripts, get at Brendan and me.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris
- trick caveat: every beach house in the world is compromised by climate change ↩︎
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