I’ve written about post-event horror before here, when writing about my 2020 novel, Normal. What happens after the horrific event? I wrote about Kealan Patrick Burke’s Kin in which the ‘sole survivor of a nightmare’ goes back to face the ‘cannibalistic lunatics’ she escaped from as a great example of this.
In film, we often have survivors become early victims (Alice Hardy) or experts who help the next wave (and them victims) (Nancy Thompson). Sometimes (Tommy Jarvis) they go from survivor, to traumatised and rage-filled mess, to self-aware which then help them overcome the threat.
Wes Craven’s Scream is over 25 years old. While it wasn’t the first to show self-awareness, it was the first time it was a major part of the plot in such a widely released film. We’ve reached a point where Scream has rebooted itself toying with the idea of the ‘requel’. And yet, still we see films which follow the archetypal slashers, some of which work.
For me, the traditional slasher has never worked well on the page. Cinema has always served the story better. I’ve read a lot of stories from people who have grown up watching slasher films and think they can replicate those well on the page, following some faceless, soulless killer as they off victim after victim. These victims are often as faceless and soulless as the killer, so it has no meaning. It’s hard to care. The flipside of these stories are the ones from the perspective of the final girl who has plot armour, narrowly escaping every encounter, because he has to; she’s narrating the damn tale.
Two novels I’ve read recently change have changed my opinion on whether a slasher can work on the page, and the image at the top gives it away Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw and Grady Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group.
The reason they work, is because they’re self aware. The protagonist in The Final Girl Support Group, Lynette Tarkington, is a final girl. She’s a survivor. She’d already been through the horror, so the complexities of this are well and truly in her head already. All of the fears and anxieties control her life, and her decisions.
In My Heart is a Chainsaw Jade Daniels is a superfan of the genre. She knows what to expect and how to survive. The final girl trope, for her, is a fantasy, but one she’s engaged with so long she knows how to react and what to do. The reason she’s become dependent upon these movies for survival is also a huge part of the complexity of her character.
I guess, one of the criticisms of the slasher on film has always been shallow characters. You could argue people watch the films for the kill count, and in a 90 minute run-time, if you’re going to kill 12+ people, that doesn’t give much time to present them as anything more than stereotypes and stock characters. A novel, however, cannot survive with shallow characters. People might read it, but they’ll soon forget it. So start the story from the point where you’ve already got a fully fleshed out (and flesh-covered?) survivor, someone who is not going to frustrate us with their silly mistakes, someone with a plan, someone with fortitude, and resilience, and the strength to keep getting back up to fight again. After all, they’ve only got to get up one more time thn whatever faceless, soulless shape is trying to kill them.
Can the traditional slasher still work on the page? Tell me, which slasher novels get it right? What am I missing?