Why We Love Summertime Scares
In 1975, the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws would establish the summer blockbuster, changing the way audiences and studios interact with summertime releases to this day. Less acknowledged, however, would be how it changed the horror genre. Now one of the most anticipated and exciting seasons of the year became the perfect home for thrills and scares.
Automatically, most audiences associate horror movies with the fall. With the continuing establishment of Halloween as a place for horror, studios have used the season as a selling point for new releases. As the horror genre has grown in popularity, however, such films have found success upon year-round releases. But summertime horror releases are not just a marketing gimmick but have additionally begun to characterise the genre as a whole.
The Scares of Sleepaway Camps
Summer break symbolises respite from the gruelling school year and a chance for kids to explore without restraint. For many, it also means being shipped away to isolated summer camps away from family. Films like the iconic Friday the 13th (1980) and controversially beloved Sleepaway Camp (1983) established the recognition of the trope in the early 80s. Yet its continued popularity may have more to do with the oddness of the setting than its prevalence in the genre.
For many young children, sleepaway camps present the first opportunity for parentless living. Surrounded by other kids and young counsellors, there may be an unconscious yet exhilarating discomfort towards the limited adult supervision. Most slashers use this fact to their advantage, relying on teenage hubris and rash decision-making to catapult their stories further, often leading to a pile-up of bodies along the way.
The sense of isolation also lends to the eerieness of wooded campgrounds. What seems playfully open and expansive in the day turns haunting at night. Deep forests offer hideouts for threats and remote locations limit accessibility for help. The sleepaway camp couples childhood fears of separation with the troubling realities of nature, where the known comforts of modern life are absent to the audience.
What’s In The Water?
From corpses clinging onto boats to killer sharks, horror has always made use of one of our most unknown environments: the water. For years, humans have been obsessed with what lurks beneath the ocean, with concepts of Krakens, sirens, and other sea monsters purveying ancient mythos.
As a part of its Universal Classic Monster franchise, 1954’s The Creature from the Black Lagoon helped introduce these marine threats to the silver screen. While possibly not as scary as today’s movie monsters, The Creature solidified the unknown of the water as a genuine horror.
Contemporarily, oceanic horror strays from fantastical humanoids, instead relying on the fears of real underwater life. While giant cephalopods and ravenous piranhas have floated past our screens, no greater monstrosity than the shark has captured audiences’ fears. The success of Jaws has resulted in many copycats throughout the years, and while some fall by the wayside, more recent releases like 47 Meters Down (2017) and The Meg (2018) have garnered great commercial success.
Similar to the obscure campground, the open waters cultivate a sense of intense seclusion. While hidden perils lurk below, these films use the effects of solitude to induce psychological fear. While Robert Egger’s The Lighthouse (2019) is not directly set on the ocean, its looming presence is what ultimately ruins its characters. With water as an inescapable option for travel and leisure yet only foundationally understood, its coupling with horror allows for our imaginations to devise great aquatic alarm.
Are You Afraid of the Light?
While most horror films utilise the night and darkness to instil fear, the folk horrorgenre has upset this trend, using long summer days to illuminate its spectacles. The subgenre uses, as the name suggests, folkloric elements that blend mystic practices with groups cut off from society. What ultimately arises is an unnerving display of forgotten practices with unwilling participants.
While settings, tropes, and practices differ from film to film, the most classic of these works find their fear from the psychological. As such, when placed in the unconventional space of bright summer days, an additional sense of anxiety is washed over the viewer. The 60s and 70s defined this genre through works such as The Wicker Man (1973), Deliverance (1972), and Witchfinder General (1968). In such works, the threats do not hide in the dark, and instead achieve their whims in broad daylight.
There’s been a resurgence of folk horror in recent years, with A24 leading the forefront of this revival. The Witch (2015), Lamb (2021), and Midsommar (2019) all released to great critical and commercial success and have continued to prove that there’s no stopping evil by turning on the light.
2024’s Summer Horror Blockbusters
While last summer cultivated in the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, this one has audiences obsessing over something slightly different. Ti West’s X and its prequel, Pearl, won over audiences back in 2022. Now we’re returning to the character of Maxine Minx as she attempts to find stardom in 1985 L.A. Between the memories of the past and the Night Stalker murders, audiences will have to watch to see which will catch up to her first.
MaXXXine isn’t the only horror film awaiting viewers this blockbuster season. With limited marketing, cryptic online messages, and spooky voicemails, Longlegs has steadily amassed an online cult following that eagerly awaits its release. The film stars scream queen Maika Monroe (It Follows, Significant Other) and Nicholas Cage as the titular, “Longlegs.” Hailed as one of the scariest movies of the year, online buzz has been nonstop.
While summer is filled with exciting opportunities to be free from responsibility, the horror genre has co-opted the season as a cinematic setting and marketing tactic. Initially riding on the coattails of other summer blockbusters, horror has found the anxieties in summer comfort. From isolated campsites to ravaged beaches, summertime horror reminds audiences that every season deserves a good scare.
