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Q&A Can disgust be a key component of horror?

As a component of "horror" it has a role to play - and it can be quite effective. On it's own? No. Seeing internal organs up close can as you say invoke a disgust/repulsion response. But context w...

posted 5y ago by motosubatsu‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T15:32:55Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43924
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:28:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43924
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:28:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
As a _component_ of "horror" it has a role to play - and it can be quite effective. On it's own? **No.**

Seeing internal organs up close can as you say invoke a disgust/repulsion response. But context will determine whether we are likely to have a horrified response as well.

A dish in an operating theater containing say an appendix that has been removed in an appendectomy could reasonably trigger some disgust. But it's not horrifying in of itself - the organ has been removed but we know that it's likely to be as a result of a relatively routine medical procedure.

Finding the same organ in a chipped bowl on the floor of a dingy bathroom spattered with blood however is likely to be both disgusting and horrifying - because we know that not only objectively is performing surgery in that sort of environment inherently more dangerous to the subject but it's also something that heavily implies it was done under some pretty worrying circumstances.

Essentially disgust can be viewed as a spice - you add it to your horror scene to alter/enhance the flavor, but you can't just put a load of it on a plate and call it dinner.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-22T12:08:55Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 14