Techno-horror

Techno-horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that focuses on concerns and fears of technology. The stories are often cautionary tales created during periods of rapid technological advancement expressing concerns about privacy, freedom, individuality, and wealth disparity. These stories often include dystopian settings.

Criteria

Techno-horror focuses on how technology is either a direct force of evil, indirectly causes bad things to happen, or how it can be manipulated by people in positions of power to do evil things. Techno-horror relies heavily on elements of science fiction or fantasy, which set it apart from the techno-thriller genre.[1]

Examples

The overthrow or destruction of the human race by AI is a classic example. Others include radiation based terror where toxic waste from technology or radio-waves create mutants and monsters out of humans, or in the case of the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, radiation from a stray nuclear experiment causes the dead to rise. Another prominent example, sourced especially from J-horror, involves classical terrors (such as ghosts, spirits, curses, etc.) propagating, traveling, or communicating via hi-tech media: computer networks, cell phones, cameras etc. Here, modern technology is not a threat on its own, but rather a new conduit for various dark forces. [2] The subgenre is notably most popular in the Western world and Japan, with little prominence elsewhere. [3] This sub-genre of Techno-horror was likely influenced by stories of EVPs.

Films

Sources:[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Video Games

Novels and Literature

See also

References
  1. 'Everything new will kill you' is the worst trope in horror - Polygon
  2. Sonny Bunch, "Techno-Horror in Hollywood. Japanese Anxieties, American Style", The New Atlantis, Number 14, Fall 2006, pp. 137-140.
  3. Tony Magistrale, Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film, 2005 p. 82
  4. From Cryptic Calls to Cursed Computers, The Evolution of Techno-Horror in 10 Movies|Collider
  5. The 9 Best Techno-Horror Movies You've Probably Never Heard Of - CNET
  6. 10 Scariest Techno-Horror Movies|Screen Rant
  7. Techno-Horror of the Future - Mystery and Suspense
  8. Countdown: 10 Scariest Tech Horror Movies, Ranked | ScreenRant
  9. Nightmare-Inducing Horror Movies for Technophobes - Film School Rejects
  10. Top ten techno horror films | Dazed

Further reading
  • Clarke, Julie (2009). The Paradox of the Posthuman: Science Fiction/Techno-Horror Films and Visual Media. VDM Verlag. ISBN 978-3639143799.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.