What Are You Afraid Of?

Horror comic books have been around since the early 1940’s, reaching there peak in the 1950’s and our currently making a resounding comeback in 2012. The 1950s was a great time for horror comics. Superheroes had worn themselves out. The 15 minutes of fame were over for funny talking animals. And, although the "next big things", Romance and Western comics started at that time, during the early Cold War era, horror comics reigned supreme.

As an avid reader of horror comic books, I asked myself what is it that attracts people to horrorcomic books, the gore, the violence, the sex or just the pure delight in mayhem. Personally, I think it is all of these things wrapped up in one horrific package.

Horror comic books dominated the market in the early 50’s, until the government intervened declaring that horror comics contributed to juvenile delinquency.

Fredric Wertham, a German- American psychiatrist, published in 1954 a book, Seduction of the Innocent that created alarm in parents that fired them up, causing them to campaign a war in congress against horror comic books. Wertham believed that the violence and hidden sexual themes depicted in horror comic books enticed young readers to commit juvenile crimes. Thus the Comics Code Authority was born, leading to a government ban on, “lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations."

In my opinion, Wertham only added fuel to the fire, making the banned comics more desirable than ever. People of all walks love reading something there not suppose to. A good example of this phenomenon would be “The Satanic Verses” by Salmin Rushdi. 

This book was banned in every Muslim-controlled country, but millions of Muslims read it. Every mother knows that telling a child they can’t have or do something only makes them want it more. We do not outgrow this type of curiosity when we become adults.

This impulse along with the spine-tingling chills, and the anticipation of violence and imminent death, is what attract us to horror stories. After all, it is when faced with death, that we feel most alive. Just ask any daredevil or thrill-seeker. We also experience a sense of relief that we ourselves are not the victims.

The modern era of horror stories began with Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, the torch has been passed from generation to generation through writers like Stephen King, Joe Lansdale and Clive Barker, all of whom have made significant contributions to the field of horror comics.

Reaffirm your love of life by picking up some horror comics today.

Barbie66

You can find lots of great horror comics and other comics, too at http://www.superherocomicbooks.com