Monsters in Mankind: The Horrific Reflection of Horror Movies as Society

Explore how the genre shifted from supernatural monsters to the horrors of the human condition in the 20th episode of the Creatinuum podcast, “EP20: "Do You Like Scary Movies?": Horror in Pop Culture”

Photo by Lennart Wittstock

For as long as people have told stories, they’ve told scary ones. Horror has always been a mirror of what societies fear most. In the past, that mirror showed us monsters, curses, and supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. Today, it often reflects something much closer to home: ourselves.

The Age of Monsters and the Unknown

When Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein in 1818, she tapped into fears of unchecked science and unnatural creation. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) embodied anxieties about disease, sexuality, and foreign “others.” For centuries, horror relied on the supernatural—vampires, witches, werewolves, plagues—creatures and forces beyond human control. These monsters served as stand-ins for cultural anxieties, externalizing the unknown so that readers and viewers could confront it safely in the dark.

What united these early horrors was their distance from the everyday. They were otherworldly. The threat could be defeated by torchlight, crucifix, or holy water. The danger lived “out there.”

Enter the Human Mind

By the mid-20th century, horror began shifting inward. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) shocked audiences not with vampires or ghosts but with the chilling reality of Norman Bates, a murderer hiding in plain sight. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) further cemented psychological terror, turning the isolation of a snowed-in hotel into a portrait of one man’s violent unraveling.

This was a new kind of monster: the human psyche itself. It wasn’t the supernatural that terrified audiences, but paranoia, madness, and the suggestion that anyone—our neighbors, our parents, even ourselves—could be dangerous.

Horror as Social Commentary

In the 21st century, horror has become even more self-aware. Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) transformed the genre into a sharp lens on systemic racism. The Purge series channeled anxieties about inequality, violence, and corrupt governance. Black Mirror blurred the line between science fiction and horror, showing us the terrors of our own technologies.

These films resonate because they ask not just what scares us, but why does it scare us? Today, horror forces us to confront uncomfortable truths: the fragility of democracy, the dangers of surveillance, the persistence of prejudice. It exposes not only what hides in the dark but what lurks in plain daylight.

Why the Shift Matters

The transition from supernatural monsters to human-driven horror reflects more than a change in storytelling. It signals how societies process fear. In the past, we projected dread onto creatures of myth. Now, horror thrives by reminding us that the real monsters are not fanged beasts or cursed spirits but ordinary people, corrupt systems, and the shadow sides of our own humanity.

At its best, horror entertains and unsettles while also provoking reflection. The screams in the theater linger because they echo deeper anxieties about power, morality, and survival. Horror has become not just a genre of fear but a genre of reckoning.

What scares us says more about our culture than the monsters on screen. Horror works best when it’s intentional and the themes beneath the jump scares are sharpened with clarity and craftsmanship. At themanuscripteditor.com, we specialize in helping writers uncover those layers, ensuring your story terrifies for the right reasons. Send us your manuscript to receive a free 800-word edit!