Halloween takes over the TV - CNN

Terror

TV , is there such a thing? Terror, that is, a fast heartbeat, fear in the pit of my stomach and the adrenaline shot, the terror that comes served by the suspense, as a harbinger of something terrible. The horror, the horror promise: terror rough, dry and dirty is it possible on TV?

Television no longer a shared entertainment, where, in principle and by definition, all have to feel comfortable. Television is still the place where extreme emotions have to be accepted by the majority, and the extraordinary should be sifted. Or it was at least before reality TV and of those unique characters that populate television right now. Beings impossible and bulging, so close and yet so far. Even fun. But I speak now of those monsters to be at home. We talked about the other, monsters with pedigree: the legendary. We talked about the vampire, with all its metaphorical talk of zombie, ghost, witch, also loaded with allegories. I mean, we talk about the monsters approved by tradition, stars of shows like Sleepy Hollow and Dracula, now come. And those other monsters of American horror story, a series full of bad omen and roll, with witches and ghosts …

Those monsters are located in the area of ??television horror right now, not to mention the Walking dead zombies, of which we have spoken already, where the end meets the acceptable and the extraordinary has to become digestible.

Terror on television can be understood as a form sublimation, and also another way to talk about fears and hopes. Where the hell out, the real, more complex, are transmuted into digestible fears screen, home. If we were in Spain two telefilms of terror that were a landmark, flagship of what we talked about: Asphalt (1966), Narciso Ibáñez Sawing, and The Cabin (1972) by Antonio Mercer. Both speak of two men trapped, powerless over the circumstances. The translation then society is simple: it was the Spain of the seventies, which is shifted in its stillness. But that was then, when there was something akin to horror indigenous television.

global television as popular culture, is also a privileged mirror reality. Series as Twink Peaks, David Lynch, American Gothic, Sam Raimi, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, both of Joss Whedom, each is the time, we talked about the state of mind of the United States and, by extension, the world. What now? Now is another time: the time of Halloween fantasy . The party October 31 marks the pattern of terror now television.

Halloween in the hands of children-and children-transforms the monster into something acceptable: on candy and sweets. Here we have always had the feast of All Saints, which is the same but it is not: Halloween is the trivialization of mystery. Where all that is disturbing in relation to the hereafter becomes accessible. Right now television, in terms of horror, has left us in a state of permanent Halloween.

Sleepy Hollow, for example, which starts next November 7, on Fox, has a humorous point. It is based on the classic Washington Irving, as based the film adaptation of Tim Burton. With a headless horseman still killing blow of the ax. But in the case of Sleepy Hollow, the series, I say, that monster, which is like a horseman of the Apocalypse, is a monster who does not hesitate to take the machine gun and shoot every living creature. Terminator is a monster.

New Dracula TV, in turn, no date of issue, retains the Victorian air. But here Dracula transforms into something like the Dark Knight, as in Nolan’s Batman: an avenger of the night. The third installment of American horror story, meanwhile, called Coven (November 13, at 23.15 pm on Fox) is the realm of women, a coven where women claim their power, their courage and decision. In key terrifying. They are series where terror is a mirror in the way, certainly. But the reflection that gives us is more like fairground mirror. We got scared a little and laugh at us.