The Online Horror Market

In case you haven’t noticed it yet horror movies are becoming a mainstay in popular culture. Even children are watching horror movies. From lovable monsters like Monsters Inc. from Disney to the It. Horrific creatures are getting more and more popular. If you are a media content creator especially if you love horror then why not produce horror media content yourself?

The Presentation is the Key

You might argue that Monsters Inc. is not a horror movie. But think about it. A one eyed green monster. A large blue furred creature with horns. If the artists and animators have drawn the characters a bit differently these creatures can be really frightening instead of being cute. How about the villain creatures? The disappearing serpent henchman and the spider like boss villain?

They can be very frightening especially with their insect like legs. However these monsters are presented like humans. They have a city. They have jobs. They have cars that look like monsters themselves and so on. Basically once a horror creature begins to display traits that of a human especially when they show humanity in them they become less scary and even not scary at all.

These days humans have already been in the moon and has clear images of distant planets and is discovering more. Humans have also been to the depth of the oceans and inside the most secluded places in the world. You would think humans especially those with high educational attainment would not believe in horror creatures anymore but many people are still consuming horror content nonetheless.

Thus horror is not really the content but in the way it is presented to the reader, listener or viewer. The same doll in a movie can be shown as cute or scary. It just depends on the way it is presented.

Why People Like Horror or Being Scared

According to psychologist many people want the sensation of being scared. For some people it is like mental training with a safety net. For example most of the time you would not be able to persuade people to go to so called haunted houses at night. However a person who watches horror movies based upon haunted houses can behave in one of two things:

They can be so horrified with so called haunted houses that firstly they would never set foot in such places even in places that resemble haunted houses and would frightened out of their wits when in one. Secondly they would accustom themselves in what they could possibly expect in such places and prepare themselves mentally and strategically.

This is perhaps why television shows that show people going to so called haunted houses exists. These shows come complete with the hosts perusing in the dark when a brightly lit place should be the norm. They want the people to feel the sensation of being in a dark desolate place. They are really selling the feeling of being scared.

But perhaps the most important information to the seller of horror content is when psychologists and other experts confirmed that the sensation of being scared releases brain chemicals which effects horror fans in an odd way. The first sensation is fear. The horror fan is scared of what they read, hear and see based on what media content they are consuming.

Horror fans enter a scenario where they are in the unknown with the presence of a scary creature or human which might be lurking somewhere and could harm them. Then their brain informs them that they are in a safe place. The reality is that they are just for example watching a movie in their living room together with family where they are safe and cared for.

This feeling of safety brings a sensation of comfort to the horror fan. This sensation causes the release of endorphins and other “feel good” chemicals in the body. So after a horror fan is terrorized they feels comfort immediately after realizing they are just consuming entertainment and they are really in a safe situation.

This terror and comfort sensation repeats throughout the consumption of the horror media content and can be very addictive when felt. It is the same sensation as riding a roller coaster. You are scared and happy alternately and this continuous switch between two extremes of sensation can be very exhilarating that people want to repeat the feeling over and over again.

What I can discern from these studies is that if you sell horror you do not go to one extremes only. Like all happiness or all horror but you should alternate between the two. Finally you need to bring your consumers back to reality. This means if you are selling a horror story there is a happy ending like the monster in the story being defeated.

Side Note: Should Children Watch Horror?

There are people who recommend that children should also be exposed to horror content. The reason to this as previously explained before is that it helps children be familiarized with scary situations. This trains them to control their fear and act in a proper way. They also believe that it trains the children to not believe in such horrific creatures and that they are just products of the imagination.

That is why again as a seller of horror products you should think of the children’s market and not only of the adult market. There are already many horror products that are made to appeal to children. Horrific monsters are repackaged to be cute. This means that you can sell your horror products either as a scary or cute and anything else in between.

The Online Market For Horror Products

After trawling online for horror products I found out that the market is segmented between products. There would be websites that would sell physical merchandise only. There would be websites that are entirely devoted to horror entertainment content especially movies and television shows.

There would be online stores that could either be classified as Horror Stores or Halloween Stores. Horror stores are more devoted towards merchandise devoted to horror movies and television shows. Halloween stores in the meantime are devoted towards the occasion of Halloween like costumes and decorations.

However I chanced on an online information which may or may not be accurate. There is an online site called Creepy Crafter which during the time of writing this article their website is not yet operational. They are supposedly the horror version of Etsy. This means that horror product sellers can sell their products using this website.

If this information is accurate then it is good news for horror sellers and buyers alike. This means that the horror industry is growing and gaining more and more mainstream acceptance. Times have really changed since my childhood in the 70’s when parents would stop their children from watching horror movies and would consider children who like horror as not normal.

Do You Want to Setup a Horror Website?

If you want to setup a horror website then you may want to consider the website Popcorn Horror as an example. Their website contains a lot of information about horror. Besides the usual information about horror movies they also have other segments like short stories, art, news, photos and so on.

I do not know much about how they monetize their website although I have seen advertisements about digital content. They also sell their own magazine. But based on their very fresh stories we can make an educated guess that they are thriving. But what really piqued my attention on the website are the many horror film festivals being announced.

This means that there is a following almost cult like for horror movies. If you setup a horror website that is your own you need to target these people especially the communities of these people. As shown by this website horror does not only need to be movies but horror can be anywhere and anything. As a horror seller this would mean that you could sell more products and not just horror movie merchandise.

Another better if not more successful model is Bloodydisgusting from an online horror media content business they eventually grew to also produce movies. At first they were financed by outside investors. Eventually they paid off their outside investors and diversified into other media content besides online content.

A more complete story of them can be found in their Wikipedia page. They are just another proof that horror sells. In case also that you are interested in writing horror content whether it be stories, news, reviews and so on then you could contact them. They are accepting writer submissions. Who knows this could be your foot in the door towards a horror media company of your own.

More Proof that Horror is Profitable

The website The Numbers have a graph that shows how popular the horror genre is. In their graph titled Box Office History for Horror It shows that as ticket sales for all genres trended to drop the horror genre remained consistent even growing.

This is very evident during the start of 2019 when the bottom fell for ticket sales for all genres but ticket sales for the horror genre shot up. I also noticed that HBO for example have been showing more horror movies or movies that has the scary element in them. Going back to The Numbers website we can see that more horror movies are being released by media companies in the near future.

Do You Want to Write Horror Short Stories?

I myself am interested in writing short stories and did my research on which genres are the most popular in terms of publishing companies. The answer has always been romance and erotica. This status has not changed much. Then follows horror. Then it is followed by science fiction and fantasy. In my online there are more publishing companies interested in horror than science fiction or fantasy.

I cannot however deduce if publishing companies want science fiction with horror or fantasy with horror. Even a psychological thriller can be deemed as horror if you write it with a horror bent. So it is a safe bet that you can write across a lot of genres including romance if you want. Remember Twilight? It is a movie about vampires and werewolves but no one believes it is not a romance movie.

In fact if you for example the Google keywords“where to submit your horror short stories” you would easily see a list of a lot of online companies accepting submissions. So there is a market for it. One thing you would also notice that among these companies there are those who also accept other genres such as science fiction and fantasy.

Do You Want to Write Horror Novels?

After writing horror short stories and perhaps being successful in selling them to publishers perhaps you could also be interested in writing novels. It is a well known fact that novels still outsell short stories. But times are changing as even Amazon the big daddy of the e-book and audiobooks market has started to aggressively market much shorter novels.

Whatever length of novel or novelette you write just take note that there is a market for them if you think about your horror fans. There are certain storylines or ideas that have persisted in the writing of horror novels and in fact all genres that greatly deviating from them can be catastrophic to a writer.

For example in the subject of cursing and grotesque violence there are a majority of readers who have a low tolerance for it. You might just be trying to be very realistic with your story as cursing and grotesque violence are very real in everyday life but your readers might be turned off by the very realism that you are presenting.

My suggestion is to do your assignment and read about the works of the successful horror writers before you. For example Anne Rice which is best known for her novel Interview with a Vampire which was even made into a top grossing movie with Tom Cruise and Bradd Pitt has a successful novel series not only about vampires but other horror creatures as well.

Besides vampires she has written about werewolves, mummies and other related horrors. She popularized stories about vampires for example who have feelings, emotions, turmoil that spans through the ages. Her epic novel series are not only popular but also profitable as well. Many authors have started to write in novel series.

There are lesser known authors and even beginner authors who make the first book in their series as the “starter plan” in their novel making business. They usually sell the first novel at a discount and even free and if successful sell the rest of the novels in the series with much more profit. Take note of this when you are writing your first novel for writing a novel is also a business.

If you are a horror fan then you know Stephen King the master of horror. This despite the fact that he also writes about straight science fiction, fantasy, dramas and many more. Instead of merely concentrating on horror monsters like vampires, werewolves and so on he mostly writes about the supernatural and urban horror when it comes to writing horror like boogeymen and inconspicuous space creatures.

Of course you could write in the same mold as the Twilight novels or the most popular trend today which are zombies. Remember again that writing is both an art and business. Selecting only one can doom you as either no one wants to buy your novel or you could be just any author out with the same old story and also sell nothing.

Conclusion

There are people who like consuming horror media content because of the extreme feelings they derive from it which is extreme fear and extreme safety. This could be addictive and as previously explained it is like riding a roller coaster where the perfectly designed roller coaster just gives enough doses of fear and safety to the riders.

There are many ways you the seller of horror products can profit from this. You can sell physical merchandise like costumes, decorations and so on. You can also sell digital content in the form of websites, movies, blogs and so on. If you really want to delve into the digital content business of horror you can start with short stories and progress your way towards novels.

There are many examples of successful authors and the best way to proceed is to study what the masters of the horror writing craft have done. To reiterate again. Writing is both an art and a business and you must learn to master both in order to be successful if not just to survive. Study the market above all else.