Skip=20 navigation

Fear factor

Why More TV Viewers Love to Have the Life Scared Out of Them

By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, December 6, 2008

As a young woman walks alone in the damp, dark woods, a = hand=20 suddenly comes up from the ground and grabs her ankles. She frantically = tries to=20 escape before realizing that the nemesis is actually her vampire love = interest,=20 who eventually seals the loving reunion by sinking his fangs into her=20 shoulder.

Romantic, eh? The scene is straight from HBO=E2=80=99s = hit drama series=20 True Blood, one of several cable shows that is = pushing its=20 own twist on the horror genre to bring in the eyeballs.

Besides HBO=E2=80=99s True = Blood series =E2=80=94 a love=20 story between a strong but vulnerable young woman and a 100-year-old = vampire,=20 which has averaged 7 million cumulative weekly viewers during its = just-ended=20 freshman run =E2=80=94 even general-entertainment networks are finding = that hair-raising=20 shows can sell.

AMC posted double-digit viewership increases this year = for its=20 annual eight-day October =E2=80=9CFearfest=E2=80=9D horror-movie = marathon, formerly=20 =E2=80=9CMonsterfest.=E2=80=9D

VH1 is currently airing Scream = Queens, a=20 reality-show competition in which 10 actresses vie for a role in next = year=E2=80=99s Saw VI horror flick. And NBC Universal=E2=80=99s = Chiller channel is=20 gaining traction with more than 20 million subscribers.

Gore films and splatter flicks are thrilling audiences = on every=20 platform. The box office is getting the biggest hit: Summit = Pictures=E2=80=99=20 teen-targeted, vampire-tinged love story Twilight has=20 generated $120 million at the box office since its debut two weeks ago, = while=20 the fifth installment of =E2=80=9Ctorture porn=E2=80=9D mutilation movie = Saw=20 V earned nearly $60 million at the box office since its debut two = months=20 ago.

Online, Comcast=E2=80=99s Web-based and = video-on-demand service FearNet=20 averages around 1 million unique users per month with its mix of classic = horror=20 films and original content. And several horror video-game titles filled = with=20 monsters and aliens are set to launch over the next few months, = including new=20 editions of hits Alone In the Dark and Resident Evil.

Nowhere has the horror genre had a bigger impact this = year,=20 though, than on the cable industry, feeding on viewers=E2=80=99 desire = for the macabre.=20 At a time when the stock market is in the tank, terrorism is still a = threat and=20 people are concerned about the recession, scary shows are, perhaps = surprisingly,=20 a widespread, if not well-liked genre.

Such shows elevate the =E2=80=9Cscary characters, = monsters, emotions,=20 and really base primal sense of fear that=E2=80=99s in all of = us,=E2=80=9D said David Sehring,=20 general manager of Voom=E2=80=99s Monsters HD, a 24-hour horror = high-definition movie=20 channel that features classic horror films such as The Texas=20 Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. = =E2=80=9CPeople like=20 to confront their fears in the comfort of their living = room.=E2=80=9D

With a few notable exceptions, not very many = horror-genre shows=20 have broken through onto the broadcast television landscape. A 1972 TV = movie and=20 1974-75 series called Kolchak: The Night = Stalker was=20 popular on ABC, and more recently, the campy teen-targeted drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran from 1997 until 2003, = first on=20 The WB and later on UPN.

In 2005, ABC unsuccessfully attempted to revive Night Stalker, in which an intrepid reporter = stumbles onto=20 stories of the occult, but the show was cancelled after one season due = to poor=20 ratings.

=E2=80=9CIf you look at the top television series in = almost any era,=20 what they have in common is that they feature characters that television = viewers=20 can relate to and recognize,=E2=80=9D said TV historian Tim Brooks, who = while at=20 Lifetime two years ago helped spearhead the two-season run of a = vampire/police=20 drama, Blood Ties. =E2=80=9CAnything too = fantastical and clearly=20 not real tends not to play well to the television audience, which for = the most=20 part likes to see themselves and their own lives on the = screen.=E2=80=9D

Since viewer expectations aren=E2=80=99t as high for = a niche cable=20 network such as NBCU=E2=80=99s 20 million-subscriber Chiller channel, = some believe that=20 horror content has more staying power on cable TV. =E2=80=9CIf a cable = show gets 2=20 million people, it=E2=80=99s considered it a hit, so the genre has a = better chance of=20 taking hold,=E2=80=9D Robert Thompson, founding director of Syracuse = University=E2=80=99s Bleier=20 Center for TV and Popular Culture.

Indeed, the 2 million mark was enough for HBO to = consider its=20 vampire drama, True Blood a huge success for = the 30=20 million-subscriber pay TV service. The series, produced by Alan Ball = (Six Feet Under) and based on the popular Sookie = Stackhouse=20 novels by Charlaine Harris, took in an average of 2.2 million viewers = during its=20 12-episode run on HBO this past fall, and 7 million cumulative viewers, = on=20 average, once repeats and on-demand plays are added. If the cume numbers = hold,=20 the series would place third behind HBO standouts The=20 Sopranos and Sex and the City, according = to the pay=20 service.

While the story is steeped in vampire lore, HBO = Entertainment=20 president Sue Naegle said the series successfully mixes other elements = including=20 suspense, mystery and romance =E2=80=94 the love interest of Sookie = Stackhouse (Anna=20 Paquin) is a 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) =E2=80=94 = to help the=20 show reach a broad audience.

=E2=80=9CTrue Blood is a = hybrid, and part of=20 its success is that you can be a horror fan and find your way in, you = can love a=20 great soap and find your way in, or be a great fan of romance and find = you way=20 in,=E2=80=9D she said. =E2=80=9CThere=E2=80=99s really something for all = different kinds of audiences,=20 and once you=E2=80=99re in, you can appreciate all the other pieces of = it.=E2=80=9D

Thompson added the success of True=20 Blood, as well as the success of the teen-aimed Twilight romance novels =E2=80=94 the = mid-November release of the=20 movie has earned more than $100 million at the box office =E2=80=94 has = helped the genre=20 broaden beyond its stereotypical male-targeted, violent and = often-misogynistic=20 images.

=E2=80=9CI think it=E2=80=99s a misconception that = men are prototypically the=20 ones into horror or sci-fi, but women love a good scare just like a man = does,=E2=80=9D=20 said Naegle, adding that True Blood=E2=80=99s = audience is 60%=20 female. =E2=80=9CThis is about what scares you psychologically and = whether or not the=20 real-life monster that could be outside your door is as scary as what is = going=20 on inside your head, with regard to your fears about love or sex or = anything=20 else. These shows are more textured and more real, and that=E2=80=99s = why it=E2=80=99s easier=20 for women to watch.=E2=80=9D

Indeed, women seem to be tuning into horror content = on cable,=20 as witnessed by AMC=E2=80=99s increased female viewership during its = annual=20 Halloween-based =E2=80=9CFearfest=E2=80=9D programming stunt this past = October.

The eight-day stunt, which featured such bloody = films as Return to the House on Haunted Hill and Resident Evil, drew 327,000 female viewers during = its Oct.=20 24 to 31 run. That=E2=80=99s a 49% increase in the demo over the same = period last year,=20 according to AMC senior vice president of programming and scheduling Tom = Halleen.

=E2=80=9CWomen are watching =E2=80=94 it=E2=80=99s = split right up the middle among our=20 target 18-49 demo, which benefits us in that we=E2=80=99re a = male-skewing network,=E2=80=9D=20 Halleen said. =E2=80=9CWhen you=E2=80=99re talking about fear and the = fear ride, it doesn=E2=80=99t=20 matter whether you=E2=80=99re male or female. I think we all have that = desire and rush=20 and want to enjoy it together.=E2=80=9D

Thompson said the continual = =E2=80=9Cdomestication=E2=80=9D of the horror=20 genre will continue to attract more viewers that may have been turned = off by the=20 multiple body counts attributed to serial killers Freddy Krueger and = Jason=20 Voorhees in the Nightmare on Elm Street and = Friday the 13th movie franchises.

=E2=80=9CThe monsters are no longer out to get us = =E2=80=A6 instead they=E2=80=99ve=20 become us,=E2=80=9D Thompson said. =E2=80=9CThe horror genre has in many = ways been converted=20 from this thing designed to scare the living daylights out of you to a = new way=20 of telling stories of contemporary America. True = Blood=20 is about the vampire next door; the Twilight = book=20 series and the movie is about kids with the usual problems that kids = have, only=20 there=E2=80=99s a vampire among them.=E2=80=9D

But it=E2=80=99s not just the softer side of horror = that=E2=80=99s getting=20 audiences on cable. FearNet, Comcast=E2=80=99s horror = video-on-demand/Web-based channel,=20 is scaring up a record number of viewers in its third year with a mix of = classic=20 horror films like Rosemary=E2=80=99s Baby and = Night of the Living Dead, according to Comcast = Emerging=20 Networks and FearNet president Diane Robina.

In October =E2=80=94 traditionally a big month for = horror buffs,=20 because of Halloween =E2=80=94 FearNet on-demand drew a network record = 13.1 million=20 downloads, paced by the 1.2 million views for renowned horror producer = Clive=20 Barker=E2=80=99s movie The Midnight Meat = Train, according to=20 the network.

The Fearnet.com Web site drew nearly 1.1 million = unique users=20 =E2=80=94 a 125% increase from last October, and 6.5 million page views, = up 150% from=20 October 2007.

While the network=E2=80=99s vast library of horror = titles drives much=20 of its audience, Robina said FearNet is also drawing viewers with = original=20 content. The network has teamed with Hollywood director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) to produce a Webisode series called = 30 Days of Night. The series, which has spawned = two=20 sequels, have drawn more than 13 million views since debuting last year, = according to Robina.

The service is currently offering a Web series = featuring=20 producer Mary Lambert (Pet Sematary) dubbed = The Dark Path Chronicles, and later this month = will debut=20 Fear Itself, an anthology series coproduced = by=20 Lionsgate, FearNet and NBCU, featuring = original stories=20 from famous horror producers.

=E2=80=9CThe Web turns out to be a really great = platform to create=20 these Webisode series,=E2=80=9D Robina said. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s very = much appealing to our 18-to-34=20 target viewer who wants to watch what they want when they want to, and = it=E2=80=99s=20 important to say to our fans that we are a breathing, live brand that = makes=20 content.=E2=80=9D

Horror has been a fixture on American screens since = the=20 silent-film era, with such classics as the vampire-tinged Nosferatu, followed by classic monsters such as = Frankenstein and Dracula, and=20 later in the post-atomic 1950s with such nuclear-altered giant monsters = as Godzilla.

The horror genre really took off in the 1970s and = over the=20 following two decades with the development of bloody slasher films such = as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Friday the 13th movie franchise.

More recently, the post-9/11 era has ushered in what = has been=20 termed =E2=80=9Ctorture porn=E2=80=9D with movies such as the Saw=20 franchise =E2=80=94 which has earned $342 million over five films since = 2004 =E2=80=94 providing=20 gory bodily mutilation, including scenes of desperate victims literally = sawing=20 off their own limbs in an effort to escape the clutches of madmen.

=E2=80=9CPost 9/11, the daily news on TV was so = horrific that=20 filmmakers had to go very extreme to freak people out, which drove the = success=20 of the torture porn movies,=E2=80=9D said Thomas Vitale, executive vice = president for=20 programming and original movies for NBCU=E2=80=99s Chiller, which will = offer weekly=20 horror movie premieres in 2009. =E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99re now moving into a = period of hope and new=20 beginnings, so horror entertainment =E2=80=94 while still scary and = horrific =E2=80=94 is going=20 to become more imaginative and fantasy-driven.=E2=80=9D

Robina also believes future horror projects will = continue to=20 migrate away from the violent, bloody slasher films and more toward = story-driven=20 fare like True Blood in an effort to attract = a more=20 mainstream audience.

As evidence, she pointed to the number of recent = horror-driven=20 theatrical films starring marquee actors like Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia), Nicole Kidman (The=20 Invasion) and Jessica Alba (The = Eye).

=E2=80=9CI think you=E2=80=99re going to see a more = PG-13 type of horror,=E2=80=9D=20 said Robina. =E2=80=9CI think with the success of Disturbia=20 ($80 million at the box office) with LaBeouf you=E2=80=99ll see a lot = more movies=20 targets a younger, female demographic.=E2=80=9D

But many believe the torture porn or = =E2=80=9Cgorn=E2=80=9D (gore-plus-porn)=20 segment of the horror genre will continue to thrive as well =E2=80=94 = and potentially=20 become even more grotesque in an effort to appease hard core fans.

Monsters HD=E2=80=99s Sehring said the genre will = always consume a=20 healthy portion of the entertainment industry=E2=80=99s audience.

=E2=80=9CThe genre will always be a happening = one,=E2=80=9D Sehring said.=20 =E2=80=9CLike Jason Voorhees, it never dies. =E2=80=A6 It just keeps = coming back.=E2=80=9D

=C2=AB=20 Back | Print

=C2=A9 2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier = Inc. All rights=20 reserved.