Never say ‘I’ll be right back!’
When you think of Slasher Horror rules you tend to think of Jamie Kennedy in Scream. Telling the others the rules whilst they’re all at a party they’re not meant to be at because of the town wide imposed curfew. But if you were ever to find yourself in the midst of a slasher horror would you remember them?
With the new series of American Horror Story: 1984 bringing us a Slasher Horror at Camp, it’ll be interesting to see how twisted and gory it gets. But you know there’s going to be a reasonably good story, it is American Horror Story after all. I wonder how many of these rules will be in there, and if we’ll discover some more.
Slasher Horror Rules
- One main killer who uses a sharp object such as a knife or axe to kill their victims -perhaps a homicidal maniac or psychopath
- The slasher horror killer is usually male and wears a mask –but not always
- The back story that tells the audience the reason for the killing spree -if you’re trying to survive the horror movie, you probably won’t learn this unless you have one of those talkative killers or stumble upon a super secret stash of old photos that fall chronologically into your lap
- Gore over plot – gore levels are more important than the actual plot but plot helps
- Victims (they’re usually teenagers, right?) – no sex, drugs, or alcohol, they take your mind off the surviving part and make the audience go ‘oh, here we go!’
- The person going first or last is probably going to be one of the next victims -make your way to the middle
- Phones -Do they work, are they charged, is there a charger?
- Vehicles -Do they work, are they charged, are there a spare 4 wheels?
- Footwear – Is it appropriate?
- Don’t split up – nothing good ever comes from splitting up in a horror movie
- A virtuous good girl lead -probably a Virgo, most likely to survive as a result of her determination, desperation, and absolute disregard for the consequences of what she’s about to do. If you’d met her before the movie you wouldn’t have believed her capable of such things
- It’s never just a doll – get out, get out, get out!
- And as a last resort, if you find yourself in a slasher horror, ask yourself What would Corey Feldman do!