Hormor
What elements work to scare people to death? (Other than what’s happening to the country.)
- surprise
- inappropriateness
- shock
- exaggeration
- pain and suffering
What elements work for comedy?
- surprise
- inappropriateness
- shock
- exaggeration
- pain and suffering
As Buster Keaton said, “Nothing is funnier than a guy falling down a flight of stairs.” (Or something to that effect.) The line between horror and humor is thin indeed.
I was thinking about this last night as my friend Trey and I made our annual pilgrimage to Knott’s Berry Farm (rechristened every year as “Knott’s Scary Farm”) for the Halloween Haunt, now in its 35th year. Inevitably, my favorite part is the evil clowns. No, I don’t know why. They’re simultaneously hilarious and horrifying, so maybe it’s the double visceral thrill. I especially enjoy being in one of the mazes — preferably a 3D maze like the clown house from two years ago — and getting surprised by one of these twisted bozos jumping out from a blind corner (as perhaps happened to Trey in the photo below, taken in the “Doll Factory” maze).
Here I am, below, in another area of the same maze. I think the idea here is that the doll makers were trying to make a doll of the woman in this case, who unfortunately was still alive. Given that these mazes are mostly dark, with pounding music, strobe lighting, psychedelic effects, and hidden doors and switchbacks for hideously garbed performers to jump out at you from, it’s difficult to muster the concentration needed to make sense of much of this. Perhaps that’s the key to the fun: It’s like reliving all your childhood nightmares and laughing them off.
We’ve gone every year for five years now, I think. I took my wife with me for our anniversary (yes, we were married on Halloween) 12 years ago and she felt too old for it and derided me for my enjoyment; I was all of 33, she was 30. This year I couldn’t help noticing that the average age of attendees does seem to be that of Archie and his pals at Riverdale High, but occasionally I would catch the eye of some other guy in his 40’s and we’d look at each other knowingly. In “Tender is the Night,” Dick Diver’s annual test of his youth was whether or not he could leap over the couch. As for me, I plan to keep going to Knott’s Scary Farm every year until one of the damn clowns actually gives me a heart attack, and then I’ll know I’m finished.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Loved that last photo, of the evil clown next to the statue. Yike!
Several years ago we had a haunted feature at our local sports field. It was partly outdoors and then passed through a building with several decorated rooms. They needed a creepy host to walk groups through and, for some reason, I was the first choice. A very capable make-up artist gave me a classic ghoul face and I put on an old top hat I have.
The attraction was extremely popular. At the same time, it was too scary for some of the younger viewers. In one of the outside areas there were two guys in masks with chainsaws (blades removed) who were hiding under piles of leaves. When they heard us getting close they would jump up and start their saws. Little kids were nearly losing bladder control. There was also a funny area inside, where a guy dressed as a doctor held a big plastic bone and kept saying, “I have a bone to pick with you.”
Anyway, that was the last year they did it. Was I that bad as the horror host? I think the real reason they discontinued the haunted house was that someone decided it was an insurance risk. Or maybe my jokes were simply too lame. We may never know the truth.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:18 am
I’ve seen that look on Trey’s face before, usually after driving with Lee.
Paul