The horror genre has always captured and represented the fears that lay within the collective consciousness. Since the year 2020, many fears have come to the forefront of peoples’ minds. These fears are sure to manifest themselves into the next wave of horror movies and television shows soon. Here are a few types I am expecting to see.
Zombie movies have been around almost as long as movies in general have. Not to mention the countless iterations that have adapted the concept over the years. After the global COVID19 pandemic, I do not doubt that zombie movies will get another reimagining. I think the zombies will be more “humanized,” having the narrative focus more on seeing them as “once human” rather than “no longer human.” Changing this perspective allows the story to explore more nuanced, complex issues while still using the familiar world of a zombie apocalypse.
The found-footage subgenre of horror rose to incredible heights thanks to the success of movies like Rec, Paranormal Activity, and The Blair Witch Project in the early to mid-2000s. However, the extreme popularity of YouTubers, streamers, and other types of social media influencers offer found-footage films the potential to become modern horror classics. Spree, released in 2020, has already attempted to play with a similar concept but unfortunately was met with a less than stellar reception. The potential is still there, though.
Not extraterrestrial horror. Terrestrial horror. Instead of monsters coming from outer space, they will be coming from under the Earth’s crust or deep beneath the sea. Cryptids, ghost stories, legend, you name it! Think Creature from the Black Lagoon or even more campy movies like Lake Placid. This type of horror has often been saved for action movies and rarely explores the horror aspects. After being quarantined in our homes for so long, the terrors that exist or potentially exist all around us could make for some great horror stories.
Many different themes, monsters, and even subgenres have grown from representations of collective fears to become staples of the horror genre and pop culture in general. Which ones do you think we will see in the coming years?