A part of the internet has found itself under a spell—a spell in which people revive any remnant of the past, and turn it into the latest aesthetic to imbibe.

But amidst all the lengthy buzzwords of uprising cores and fashion aesthetics like Frutiger aero or shoe diva chic, the entrenchment of horror in particular, is potent. From short-lived TikTok trends, and renowned films, to self-insert simulation games, horror has become a charming commodity for the female gaze.

(Photo from Pinterest)

So you name it: “Fatal Frame,” “Silent Hill,” “Rule of Rose,” “Haunting Ground”– the list of nostalgic PlayStation horror games have become a staple in fashion enthusiasts’ vocabulary. The female protagonists (or ghosts) of these games, such as Miu Hinasaki from “Fatal Frame,” take center stage in the various outfit inspo posts that plague Pinterest and TikTok.

The “Fatal Frame” character style, in particular, is a direct influence of the dark coquette aesthetic, consisting of black or neutral milkmaid tops, A-line miniskirts, and knee-high socks. This exhibits a gloomy, doll-like image similar to the common Japanese high school girl persona.

Other styles—which take inspiration from more action-packed zombie and apocalyptic games like “Parasite Eve,” “Walking Dead,” “Resident Evil,” and even “Lollipop Chainsaw”—feature a survival edge in their character designs. The use of skimpy black jeans or shorts, and torn and overused tank tops while sporting combat boots is how these 2000s horror heroines command their weapons.

(Photo from Pinterest )

In the process, these horror heroines became products to emulate. I, for instance, adore the feminine outlines of milkmaid tops with their lace and bow details, and have since been actively searching “fatal frame inspired outfits” in online thrift shops. Aside from fashion, the popularity of purplish eye makeup and ashy white contours also made rounds on YouTube and TikTok makeup tutorials. And it was from here that I realized the charm of this aesthetic was how seamlessly it blended the art of cosplay with my everyday attire.

However, this fascination with female characters in horror doesn’t merely exist for beautification purposes. The presence of women in horror is a classihttps://thelearnedfangirl.com/women-like-horror-movies/c, for it touches the painful themes of vengeance, sexual awakenings, and melancholy with such rawness, despite being gruesome and bloody. So if we check the horror hits today, it almost always stars a female lead– either as a creepy, jealous grandma or an axe-wielding final girl, or maybe even both. This media trope, therefore, adds a new and intricate layer in the many forms of feminine representation.

One of many Tomies

(Photo from Juni Ito’s Tomie )

Japan has long been considered a powerhouse in horror. The acclaim of classic and mainstream Japanese horror films like The Grudge or The Ring solidified its reputation in horror media. But the history of the female ghost archetype goes deeper than that. According to a study, Shōjo Spirits in Horror Manga, the horror genre is effective at showing the physical manifestations of the darker side of girlhood.

In contrast to the lovey-dovey pastel world of the quintessential Shōjo (girl) mangas or animes, the blend of horror in girl-centered media depicts their realities through a forceful and heavily brutal pain. May it be from monstrous puberty, lover betrayals, or in the carnal desire for perfected beauty, horror is a screaming representation of the complexities faced by women.

A beloved monstress that is trapped in a never-ending cycle of these raw emotions is Junji Ito’s Tomie. First published in 1987, Tomie was Junji Ito’s first work and winner of the Kazuo Umezu Award. Celebrated up until today for its timelessness, Tomie’s story starts with her as a beautiful Japanese high school girl who was brutally murdered by her male classmates because of their lustful obsession with her beauty.

However, she mysteriously appears the next day at school, seemingly unscathed and unaware of her “death”. In this series, Junji Ito draws a character that is overtly narcissistic, sharp-tongued, and mean towards both men and women that she bewitches. However, she appears to intoxicate the men, all by her sheer charm, turning them into maniacs in a sadistic rampage.

Tomie, despite being considered a villain, is firstly a victim. She offers an escapist fantasy wherein women can self-identify as a character in an ivory tower and yet at the same time, serve as a warning. Tomie shows the traits, mainly her dominance and self-absorbed nature, that women may have felt the need to suppress in order to fit in the world—or literally, to not get killed.

In my restless dreams, I’ve seen that town

(Photo from Silent Hill 2 Remake )

The trick to feeling the paranormal without real ghostly whispers haunting us is to play horror games. Considered a long-established genre in the gaming world, the early 2000s saw a surge in female horror protagonists, mainly to provoke empathy for female players who have, in general, outweighed the male demographic in terms of horror consumption.

In a video essay by Moon Channel titled “Why do girls love horror games?”, they propose the Empathy Theory to explain why immersing oneself to a piece of media in enough time can create an attachment and profound understanding of the motivation that lies beneath the initial jumpscare.

So as opposed to survival horror games riddled with mere jumpscares, horror games with heroines tend to have a storyline that gives them cathartic endings. We can see this in titles such as “Fatal Frame” or “Silent Hill,” where it promotes players to play for hours to dissect the rotating themes of vulnerability in their walkthroughs, not just the protagonist’s but also in the monster nurses or ancient priestess ghosts that haunt the game’s setting.

Final girl is hot, final girl is game

(Photo from Screams 4/IMDB)

Horror gets women bloodied up either to blossom a heroic survivor or to conjure an eerie ghost. But one thing remains the same, and that is their vengeance.

Be it dressing in mildly gothic dresses or idolizing complex female characters like Amy Dunne, Jill, or Tomie, the art of horror, whether intentionally or not, has presented an empowering culture for women.

So of course, this doesn’t dilute the fact that horror, at its core, is anything that we fear and are screaming to kill. But because of women’s exposure to various kinds of cruelty, they have unconsciously become wired to seek comfort in the grotesque and be in love with the occult, all in the name of self-actualization.