do aspies like horror books/movies?

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No, I dont watch horror movies they depress me. I like watching romantic dramas.

I find them usually too predictable these days, but I've always been fond of horror films. I find them funny.
Freddy Kreuger - all those wisecracks and puns. Love it!
Final Destination - is there anything better than watching a bunch of irritating teenagers being slaughtered in inventive and highly elaborate ways?
Friday the 13th - such ropey effects. The older horror films are always hilarious for those.

Horror books are different. Stephen King is a favourite of mine, and he doesn't just write a load of schlock. He gets into the minds of his characters. Jack Torrance doesn't just go psycho in The Shining - we see the gradual slide as the hotel gains control. We see how his relationship with his own father impacted on how he treats his own family, and his eventual horror when he realises he's turning into him. The film was a pale imitation of the book.

I tend to hate romance. Utterly dull and usually unrealistic. I mean, the horrors are unrealistic too, but they're meant to be!

Yes, I love horror. I recognize that most of it is quite bad, but part of being a horror fan is finding the effective scenes or moments in otherwise bad movies.

I like almost any genre (as long as it is done well).

Some favourites of the various genres:

SF - Blade Runner, Gattaca

Horror - Silence of the Lambs, The Decent

Romantic Comedy - When Harry Met Sally

Cop Movie - 48 Hours, Sea of Love

I also like some of the "gross out" comedies - such as Bridemaids (a good 'chick flick' I think...); I Love You Man; Knocked Up; Zach & Marni Make a Porno, etc.

I also enjoy the newer Superhero movies. Favourites include Spiderman, Dark Knight, and the first Iron Man. I liked the Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton. I find the newer Superhero movies more character oriented, with deeper/darker themes than the more cartoony ones in the past (think Superman and Superman II). I mean - they were good too - but the new ones are waaaaay edgier.

I like other sundry movies too - the thing is I expect sharp writing (both story and dialogue), good direction and good acting. Any genre can be done well so that it is an enjoyable experience for the viewer. Likewise, any genre can be done poorly so that they viewer feels like they wasted a couple of hours of their life by watching.

I think a comment like "aspies like horror books" is about as valid as "brunettes like horror books". All people on the spectrum are individuals. All like and dislike different things. Some like things that others of us hate and vice versa. I am actually terrified of horror movies. I get creeped out even by scary commercials. I think this is just an individual taste, not something related to the spectrum at all. Even common likes such as trains can still not be generalized to encompass all people on the spectrum. Some Aspies, I'm sure, likely hate trains.

Horror movies have been my longest and most persevering special interest.

I agree with this. It's sort of like how men are said not to like reading fiction, and if they do read they're supposed to like reading action/mystery stuff. There may be a trend of Aspies tending to like or not like certain things, but people should really take it for what it is: a trend and not a diagnostic criteria.

I love horror movies, but I don't think I've seen really good one in a long while. I've seen some decent ones (Martyrs, Whispering Corridors series, Cube, Aliens) but generally I find that horror movies disappoint. They're just not scary. The ones with the jumpy scare tactics have no atmosphere and horrible stories, but the ones with atmosphere and good stories never seem to be able to breach that line between simply "unsettling" to truly horrific.

I think if I had to point out one great example of horror, I'd point to Cronenburg's The Fly. The actors are a bit stereotypical (I really don't like the main female lead), but the whole movie in general is good. The "scenes of normalcy" before everything goes nuts don't make me want to bite off my own fingers. I HATE "scenes of normalcy" in horror movies. I don't want to sit around watching people stupidly fall in lust and have sex all over the place just so we can establish some contrast in the film. I don't want to watch them have breakfast and say goodbye to little Johnny as he gets on the school bus either. I HATE those scenes. But The Fly doesn't drag horribly like most horror films do. I don't get the urge to skip scenes (except for the sex scenes).

And let's look at the most important thing: the movie was made 25 years ago and it STILL has the power to disturb. The special effects were so well-handled they hold up today. I honestly don't think modern technology could improve it much. The final transformation at the end might have some room for CG help, specifically in making the creature more mobile and perhaps more detailed than rubbery, but given that it's a scientific monstrosity and not an evolutionary adept perfect killer, it's in many ways perfect as it is. And everything before that (in terms of horror scenes) are pretty much golden. They're strong, solid scenes with a real ability to disturb that technology couldn't improve upon.

Hey, Stephen King fans out there: tell me one of you has seen Creepshow.

I think there's a good reason for a lot of aspies to be engaged by the horror genre. (BTW I'm a big fan). Eventhough cinematic modern horror is awful, and like someone said before, based too much on gore and shock. A lot of interesting horror movies have characters that are lonely and isolated. Lovecraft's characters are estremely rational individuals who live on their own or have otherwise little company from others. They a re often deemed as odd people and mos of them have misanthropic behavior, (eventhough it's not always immediately apparent). I can easily relate to those characters. Something similar happens with Poe and Stephen King. Horror isn't about people or relationships, It's about people being somewhat on their own agains something misterious and powerful. It's just easier for me to feel related to that. there are other genres that might appeal to aspies as well, I don't deny that, but certainly horror is bound to be of the liking of some aspies. Just sayin'

I think I caught the end of it once.

It can't be an Aspie thing if NTs read horror too.

I'm not into horror. I like comedy, like rude jokes and stuff. And I like the Simpsons.

Let's take a wild guess that some do and some don't.

I can't stand horror. It gets into my brain and I cannot turn it off. ick. I like sci-fi and I also like historical fiction and fluffy romance.

My son, also an aspie, loves horror.

Personally, I think Creepshow is Stephen King at his best. At least in terms of the films. It's campy, yes, often even cheesy, but it is still genuinely horrific. I haven't been able to say that about any other film adaptations of his stuff.

Of course I've seen Creepshow.
I am a big fan of horror movies, but only the truly scary kind, not the ones that are just violent. I think a more accurate description is that I like terrifying movies.
Example of good, terrifying movies (in my opinion): Session 9, Pet Sematary.
Example of wretched "horror" movies (in my opinion): Hostel, Saw, I Know What You Did Whenever.
For some reason I like watching movies (and reading books) that I know are going to scare me. I remember seeing "Thriller" on tv when I was 4 or so, and being totally captivated. I stayed up all night and was at my window at midnight, expecting/dreading to see Michael Jackson and a bunch of zombies dancing down my street. Then I woke up my parents to inform them that it was midnight but there were no zombies; clearly something was wrong....
Recently I bought a terrifying-looking movie called Insidious to watch by myself, at night, in a strange house while dogsitting - guaranteed to scare me! And sure enough I was absolutely terrified, it was pretty intense. A friend asked me why I would do that to myself, and said I think it's like those people who bungee jump for the thrill of it (which I think is insane). Surely they must be scared, but they like it for some reason. I think scaring myself with horror movies is like that....except that I'M not actually in any real danger (unlike with bungee jumping, there has to be some risk there).

Gosh no!! I hate horror movies, possibly derived from being a youth. I watched a vampire movie when I was a child, I was so terrified to walk into direct sunlight, that I shifted between the shadows of trees for years.

Of course these days it probably wouldn't be so bad being a vampire, if I walked into direct sunlight I'd probably just become reflective if modern movies are anything to go by (Twilight saga).

As for prefered genre, I'd have to say Action and Ganster movies - Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Segal and Robert Di Nero!!

To me, gangster movies are much more frightening than horror movies (in a good way).
In horror movies, it seems like the villain is usually some bizarre, Avant-garde psycho
with implausibly elaborate Rube Goldberg-type methods and suspiciously shallow motivation.
In gangster movies, the villains are fictional extremes, but they represent something that is a real danger in some cities.

Last edited by Fatal-Noogie on 11 Sep 2011, 11:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.