When doing the Watcher World scare zones, I realized I was kind of assigning horror movie subgenres to the Lords in Black via the respective set-ups. I was gonna try and draw more to go with this, but it is not happening in time. As a pre-Halloween random-ass headcanon, here are horror movie genres I think fit the Lords in Black:
Pokey: If I said anything other than zombie and invasion films, I would be a liar. Overwhelming odds and the outside world becoming so hostile characters are often forced into tight proximity that creates plenty of internal drama are the bigger scare factors than whatever the monsters are. More OG Romero, The Mist, and The Thing than Zombieland or Evil Dead. Social commentary soaked in blood, so you can feel superior as you explain how zombies are American capitalism or whatever, while watching guts get spilled. As a treat, he can also encompass Terrance Zdunich films, because we all need horror rock operas in our lives, and they'reallowed to take themselves seriously.
Blinky: Mondo Films, full stop. Actual footage of sensationalized death, violence, sex, and """exotic"""" rituals, all presented in the guise of a supposedly neutral documentary to show the realities of the world, but often staged to reinforce colonialist perspectives and to shock audiences. If we absolutely need to get into actual horror movies and not glorified pre-internet shock compilations masquerading as documentaries: found footage and anthology films. Stories that benefit from a tighter run time and don't have to follow a set tone or plot. Stories that rely on the feeling of watching ordinary, no-name people fall victim to something terrible, and you are just a later observer of their fate.
Tinky: 80s horror, especially creature features and gimmick films, especially b-movies from smaller studios. So much body horror. Remember when scary movies were allowed to use unapologetically bright colors, and realism came a distant second to fun concepts and designs. Who cares if you can tell it's stop-motion or filmed in reverse, it looks awesome or scary as hell, and the effects team busted their asses figuring out cool new tricks to make it work on a shoestring budget. Loaded with cynical social commentary disguised by grotesque visuals. Additionally but in an almost contradiction: just the most depressing, self-destructive psychological horror that is painful to watch. You sit through it once just to say you saw it, and never need to do so again.
Nibbly: 70s Italian giallo, grindhouse, and slasher films (especially the post-scream era where self-aware tongue-in-cheek references became an ever-accelerating spiral into empty parody). They know what you're here for - some tasteless T&A, absurdly over the top kills, quippy one-liners, and a totally guilt-free voyouristic experience. You could read it as a cultural critique, but let's be honest, you're just waiting for unlikable hot young people to get killed in increasingly ridiculous ways.
Wiggly: That blend between cosmic horror and straight-up psychological horror. Gorgeous and disturbing visuals, even if some of the story parts drag. Very stylized visual presentations. Your mileage may vary on actual quality and success telling the stories they want, but you are definitely going to have certain scenes burned into your brain forever.


















