~ May Issue ~
 

The Art of Horror Comedy
By Brittany Crawford, Staff Writer

If ever a genre complimented another so greatly, it is comedy and horror. It is inherent human behavior to laugh when frightened, and the blending of the genres was completely inevitable, though met with great opposition at first. Thankfully, that feeling passed, and we have a delightful sub-genre to bathe ourselves in.

            Funny horror movies are movies that manage to scare you a little, or creep you out, but also make you laugh. Sure, there are lots of spoofs of horror movies, from Young Frankenstein to the Scary Movie series. They might be hilarious at times but they also don't keep the audience on the edge of their seats. And straight-forward frightfests are everywhere these days. However, it's a rare movie that can hit both ends of the spectrum with skill. The funniest horror movies have to actually be horror movies -- in other words, you have to jump or hide your eyes at least once, and laugh out loud at least once.

            A few good examples of horror comedies are Beetlejuice, Return of the Living Dead, Psycho Beach Party, and Club Dread. However, the horror comedy that tops most lists is Shaun of the Dead. As a zombie film, it succeeds as a comedy with a huge amount of laughs and even more gore. With family drama and romance thrown in, Shaun of the Dead combines so many different genres but still stays true to its horror comedy roots.

                        With horror and comedy movies being polar opposites, it's a tough task to blend the two together as well as the creators of Shaun of the Dead did. Some directors attempt to mesh these two genres and often fail miserably. Horror comedies often end up seeming campy and are completely laughable. Rarely are horror comedies done right, but when they are, they become instant classics.