A tradition for many families around Halloween can be watching horror movies. Movies that frighten the audience, yet can also leave them with something to think about. This time of year, it seems all you are surrounded by is horror and other festive ways to enjoy the season. Yet, above it all horror movies stand above horror plays and books as a way that people celebrate this time of year. Why is this? Why are horror movies such a timely tradition where books or plays may not be?

Trying to get down to the bottom of this I met with the short film club leader, Brooke Dress (Class of 2025). Dress greeted me with a smile and allowed me inside to ask her a few questions. She apologized to me about the mess, her table was piled with stacks of black t-shirts and she was working at an ironing board. While I set up my phone to record the interview she was carefully ironing on small pictures into the backs of each of the t-shirts. Obviously she noticed my confusion and explained that as stage manager she was making crew shirts for the crew for Night of the Living Dead. Again, she apologized for the mess before the interview started.

What about film and movies intrigues you so much? Movies are a very visual form of expression and they appeal to everyone. While you may even be watching movies in different languages, you still understand what’s going on because you can see what’s happening. There’s also so many different ways to interpret different films and different characters because in books you know exactly what the narrator’s thinking, but there is that more mysterious aspect in movies. I feel like it adds a lot more depth to a character not knowing their every thought and their every motive. Also, they’re cool to look at.

Previously the short film club was run by  Mr. David Britton. Starting last year alum Lilly Weiksner (Class of 2024) started to run the club alongside Britton, and from there Dress inherited the club.

What got you involved in Short Film Club? Last year I was in Short Film Club and I think it did a really great job at creating a lot of thoughtful discussion about movies, about films, and what makes a good film. Being in a space with such open discussion and in an environment where we all have something in common, it really made me want to create that environment for a new group of people. [I wanted to] allow more students to not only watch short films but also find entertainment in making short films of their own and being able to bring those ideas to life.

I want to know, since you are so involved in the drama department, where does this interest in movies come from? And where would you say the difference is when it comes to watching a movie versus watching a play?  There’s something so nostalgic about the movies, but also there’s a different level of understanding between an audience in a theater and an audience in the movies. Again, there’s that sort of mystery factor to movies that’s really intriguing because there’s not actually people right there for you to talk to and ask questions about. There’s also something so therapeutic about sitting there at the end of the movie, right before the lights turn on, when the screen is just black and scrolling through the credits and everything, and just sitting there and trying to process what you just took in. I feel like that is lacking in theater. In the theater afterwards, everyone gets up and they clap immediately and then it’s immediately everyone leaves. There’s not that second to really process what you’ve just experienced with all the other people around you.

How would you say theater changes a story versus a movie? Theater, obviously, it caters to a different audience.  There is that desire for the more dramatic in theater, whereas films I’ve found are more real, where I find myself identifying with the characters and relating to the characters a lot more in films because there’s not that level of pretend almost. I feel like theater is so obviously fake that I find it hard to get lost in, like I get lost in movies.

Now to pivot a little bit. With it being Halloween I wanted to ask you more specifically about the horror genre as a whole. I’m a very big horror fan. I love the feeling of adrenaline when a movie is so terrifying that it makes my skin crawl. If I leave the theater genuinely freaked out for like a week then that movie has done its job, and I will go back and I will watch that movie a million times over.

Is that feeling something you feel you’ve ever gotten from theater or books? Not that genuine [fear]. A similar feeling but it’s never been the same. I have yet to find a book or a play that gives that same authenticity that movies do. And it’s not to say that I haven’t read books that have freaked me out, but it’s not to the same level that movies do. There’s something so different about being able to actually see someone’s vision come to life.

What would you say makes a good horror film, then? Being honest about what you’re trying to do with the movie. I would say it’s the most important part of a horror film. If you’re going for a more comedic film, then you have to commit to it, or else it becomes very campy and not in a good way. If you’re going for a truly terrifying [movie that] keeps people up for weeks at a time kind of movie, then you have to be able to fully commit to it, or else your movie is going to fall flat. Additionally, this might be an unpopular opinion but I think having a solid main character [is vital to a good horror film]. It’s very important and that falls through in a lot of movies.

You’ve mentioned horror comedy, I feel like that’s not a genre that gets a lot of attention because they’re very different things. How do you think horror helps compliment comedy?  I think that when done properly, horror can compliment comedy very, very well. Some of my favorite movies are horror comedies. Horror movies that I watch, they have comedic relief characters to sort of ease that tension that’s building  throughout the entire movie. Whether it’s a monster or like another person or whatever antagonist there may be, they usually have comedic relief characters to combat that adrenaline rush all the time. Like you get characters. Like Stu for example, from Scream. He is very much a comedic relief character. And while he also has other roles, not just the comedic relief, he does provide that sense of irony that sort of puts the audience at ease.

What would you say your favorite horror movie is? It definitely depends on what kind of mood I’m in. If I’m in the mood for more of a slasher movie, I would say Scream is a good one. That’s a movie where I definitely watch it all the time, even if it’s not around Halloween. But if I’m in more of a psychological thriller kind of mood then I would say Hereditary.