In a post on CrimeReads, Lily Sparks examines the similarities between horror and comedy, and why these two opposing moods work so well together.
Traditional wisdom says that horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin because they rely on surprise and subversion to evoke a visceral reaction,” Sparks says. However, outrage and realism are even more crucial. “A good comedy or horror must take an outrageous premise and follow it through to its logical endpoint in a way that feels uncomfortably truthful to the reader (or viewer),” Sparks explains. “To be truly satisfying, comedy and horror must jettison all the devices that gloss and polish the uncomfortable and taboo.” Regardless of the premise, comedy and horror tempt the audience to climb aboard and see if the creator follows through on its promise.
When the material is truthful and specific, the tone is elevated. “Twenty years ago, the British Office was as painful to watch as Hostel because both built to wildly outrageous moments from uncomfortably recognizable premises,” Sparks explains. “The more outrageous the premise, the more unflinching the realism, the greater the dare to come and see.”
The tension is explicit in prose. While a movie audience can cover its eyes until an uncomfortable moment has passed, these moments in fiction only exist when a reader experiences them. Novels like Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and Eric LaRocca’s Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke capture the rich cross-over between horror and comedy.
“Some stories are designed to help us rise above hard truths, but Dark Funny strips them bare and dares us not to look away,” Sparks says. “Here you are, you naked mass of flesh and blood, piloted alternately by divine sparks or dubious vapors: is it funny, or terrifying? There is perhaps too much that is ludicrous and disturbing in our real lives to bear; but we can walk right up to the abyss with our fictional counterparts and laugh at our own daring.”
