As a culture, we unanimously agreed to keep out of this type of house.
If I were to ask you where you’d set your horror movie, what location would you choose?
Most people would say a house. It can be domesticated and simple, which makes it easier to lure the audience into a false sense of safety. Maybe you want to establish that the house is already haunted, so you pick an old Victorian mansion.
Victorian mansions are an iconic image in horror movies. Whether bats are flying around as the house is lit by the full moon or a thunderstorm with lighting striking just above it, the Victorian mansion has become a cliche of horror.
Want to know why? Let’s break it down.
Why Are Victorian Mansions Popular in Horror Movies?
The ghostly presence of the Victorian mansion traces back to paintings like Edward Hopper’s House by the Railroad from 1925. Hopper, an artist whose work is known for its haunting isolation and loneliness, depicts the Victorian mansion in an eerie way that sent chills up the viewers’ backs.
Author: Alyssa Miller
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
