You’re going on a summer road trip with a group of friends. Your best friend’s boyfriend has this brother who just bought a cabin that’s way up in the boonies in the middle of nowhere. It’ll be fun to get away for the week; to drink, go swimming, and relax with friends before the Fall Semester starts at Michigan State University. You drive in an Oldsmobile Delta 88 with your four friends up to the mountains, stopping for gas at what looks like an abandoned gas station. You ring the bell, waiting for someone to pump your gas, since it’s a full service station, and after minutes of saying hello?, an ominous and creepy old man with stringy hair and a slight limp finally comes out. After he pumps your gas, you ask him for directions, but he ignores your request and starts warning you and your friends to turn back before it’s too late. You ignore his warning and play it off as crazy talk, but he starts muttering something that sounds like an omen, and that creeps you out a little bit.  You head back into the 88 and get the hell out of there. After winding down back roads with canopied trees, you cross a rickety bridge and end up at an old log cabin at the end of the road. You and your friends unpack, and get the fun started by playing drinking games. Your best friend gives the guys a show as some slutty music plays in the background. 

 

Suddenly, a hidden door on the wooden floor pops upward, alarming you and the group. Your best friend’s boyfriend goes down to check it out, and everyone else follows when the coast is clear. There is a strange book on a dusty table bound in human flesh and written in blood. Next to it, you find a set of tape recordings. You don’t want to mess with it, but your friends are curious, and take it upstairs to listen to the tapes and read the book. There is a scientist on those recordings, reading Latin that your friend Bobby can kind of make out. It says something about resurrecting the dead, but he can’t be sure. Suddenly, something in the air changes. There is an evil, so thick you could cut it with a knife, and it manifests itself in your best friend. Her face is now contorted and laughing demonically, and she lunges toward you. This has now become a game of survival, and you’re struggling not to be “dead by dawn.”

 

This, my friends, is the classic horror story we’ve all come to know and love. And with the horror story come the archetypes that perpetually drive it. 

 

Let’s start with the obvious ones: EVIL DEAD, HALLOWEEN, BLACK CHRISTMAS, FRIDAY THE 13TH, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. These are the movies that built the foundation upon which modern horror archetypes are based. They are essential to the plot, and without them, there is no story – or at least not a very good one. 

 

Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

THE JOCK

 

His macho personality will be his downfall…

The Jock is a pompous character. He believes that he can accomplish and dominate anything in his path. He likes to take the lead in any group setting, even if that means being the first to put himself in the face of danger. But trying to be the hero isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes the hero gets the death penalty.

 

This archetype is essential in that all the women want him and all the men envy him. It drives the viewer’s want to have him killed, and they get satisfaction in knowing he has it coming. 

 

THE BLONDE BIMBO/CHEERLEADER

 

Looks can get you killed…

 

The blonde bimbo/cheerleader is secretly envied by all those she surrounds herself with. Usually the girlfriend of the Jock, she is beautiful and extremely popular. She is no prude, lives fast, and tends to do things for attention, which can get her into trouble. Rule of thumb: the promiscuous ones always die first. 

 

Again, the audience wants to see this girl die a horrible death. We can all relate to having that popular cheerleader in our high school that was a total bitch. We tolerated her because we had to. But in a horror movie, we can satisfy our inner high school selves by knowing that once she takes her top off, she’s done for. 

 

THE NERD

 

Sometimes being smart can’t save you…

 

The Nerd is the smart one of the bunch. Usually the voice of reason, he is extremely aware of his surroundings, and can tell when something isn’t quite right. However, no one else in the group tends to believe him. He can become hysterical because of this and make rash decisions for the purpose of self-preservation. But these decisions make him vulnerable to being killed. 

 

We’ve all been in this guy’s shoes. Ridiculed and made fun of by someone popular, i.e., the Jock or Cheerleader, we tend to have more of an emotional attachment to this character.  And in the midst of all the terror, he is our comic relief, letting us take a breather if only for a second. 

 

THE NICE GUY

 

Nice guys finish last, or end up getting murdered…

 

The nice guy usually has an interest in the Final Girl (which I will explain next). He consoles her when she is upset, talks to her, and it’s usually by a fireplace. He is attractive, caring, and looks out for the Final Girl’s best interests. However, he usually never gets anywhere and either ends up staying in the Friend Zone, or gets killed trying to save her. Or both. 

 

We have another emotional attachment here because he’s likable. A good, honest guy, we root for him and hope he survives, secretly hoping he and the Final Girl get together. 

 

The Final Girl

 

Those dressed in white survive the night…

 

The Final Girl is almost always a virgin. She’s shy and reserved, sweet and innocent. She’s got a clearer head than the rest and makes all the right decisions. When everyone else is dead, she finds her inner fighter and defeats the evil, thereby becoming a killer herself. She’s usually a little bruised, bleeding on the face, arms or legs, but is still in one piece. She is the ultimate survivor.

 

We all love the Final Girl because she grows as a character. She has more depth than the others, and proves to be the strongest out of them all. This is also the one that makes the ending possible. And we of course need that to carry on with our lives. 

 

These archetypes are essential to the plot because they not only drive the pace of the movie as each character gets killed, but they allow us to feel something. Without the emotion we carry for each of these characters, whether bad or good, it adds to the overall experience. Because we feel something for these characters, there are stakes. And without stakes, there is no fear. And without fear, there is no horror.