Horror novels, as well as their accompanying movies, always have this way of picking out unique little villages for the horror scenes to come to life. These villages are usually ones that actually exist and they are often perfectly scenic in every other way. When we watch the horror movies, or read the books, we are tempted to never succumb to the invisible threats that lie under the lakes or that creep in the woods that always accompanies these little villages. Even Jaws made its mark on a little village set on the coast.
Why do these little villages make such great places of horror? Generally because they are also places that seem so perfectly picturesque that the author can’t help but shatter the idea that America’s sweet little village are as perfect on the inside as they appear on the outside. All of these little villages are places that look like the right place to raise a family, to put down roots, and to live simply. What better place for an author to throw a little chaos and fear into that the perfect little American village?
We still drive through these villages of horror, but we have a renewed sense of perspective. We have, through the horrors written in fantasy, learned that there are problems everywhere and the perfect little town or the perfect little house can not erase the problems we all face. Rather, we all have to deal with our own horrors in order to make sense of them and prevent them from creeping into our white picket fences.
