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An increased interest in all things spooky means Halloween is right around the corner. Horror films are a perfect way to get into the mood, but there is room for the genre all times of the year.

According to Alex Rafi, assistant professor of media production at St. Louis University, audiences have driven a resurgence of horror due partly to crossover success of television series like 鈥淪quid Game鈥� and 鈥淭he Walking Dead.鈥�

鈥淗orror becomes more mainstream in different ways. One of the things about television is you get to grow with characters,鈥� Rafi said on St. Louis on the Air. 鈥淪eeing characters in these horrific environments over time gives us a bit of empathy and more intuition.鈥�

Miya Norfleet

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The horror genre encompasses classic movies like Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淛aws,鈥� Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 鈥淭he Birds鈥� and William Friedkin鈥檚 鈥淭he Exorcist.鈥� Despite these films being household names across generations, horror has often been looked down upon because they elicit such visceral response.

鈥淥ne of the downsides of the body genres 鈥� [which] includes melodrama and comedy 鈥� is that 鈥� critics can easily write them off as being mass culture in ways that are kind of pejorative,鈥� Rafi explained. 鈥淭hey miss out on the technical mastery required to [produce horror films]. When you get amazing actors, you can create really, really amazing films 鈥� [and] you do need amazing direction to pull these off in ways that are satisfying, or exciting and thrilling.鈥�

Rafi defines horror as media 鈥渢hat are meant to unnerve, scare and disturb.鈥� While this may not be everyone鈥檚 first choice in entertainment, there鈥檚 an important place for horror in storytelling. 鈥淸Horror] as a medium allows us to interrogate aspects of our society. Whether it's the outsider horror, the body horror, or social horror, all of it's there for us to look at and experience.鈥�

For more on horror films with Alex Rafi, including his movie recommendations for newcomers to the genre, listen to St. Louis on the Air on , or , or by clicking the play button below.

鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . is our production intern. The audio engineer is . Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.