Put a finger down if you love horror movies. Put a finger down if you are trepidatious about admitting that love in public. Put a finger down if, when you do, you get a funny look, tinged with suspicion. Put a finger down if you have ever been asked ‘but why?’ Put a finger down if you’ve ever been asked ‘what’s wrong with you?’

Any horror fan reading this will likely be left with a clenched fist. Horror has been a defining cultural genre from the moment we could write, and from the minute we started making films. In cinema, it has always been a realm of fantastical possibilities, with horror films being the place where great effects, make-up and costume design are created, where editing and cinematography get to create terror and awe. And yet, it’s the only genre that is consistently deemed too low brow, too commercial, too icky. Fans (myself included) have to consistently defend its artistic merits. 

My book Feeding The Monster is a love letter to horror movies as well as a defence of horror as a profoundly emotional genre. It’s a space that allows filmmakers and audiences to explore and experience intense, often unspeakable or taboo emotional journeys. Things have started to change, though. More horror movies were recognised at this year’s BAFTA and Academy Awards than, well, ever before. Horror films are never just one thing. They can be as complex, profound, serious and goofy as any other film. Some are starting to realise what we horror fans have known all along. 

Anna Bogutskaya will be in conversation with author Kirsty Logan at Cowdray Hall, Aberdeen, Sunday 23 February, as part of Granite Noir; the talk is followed by a screening of British psychological horror film Censor; Granite Noir runs from Thursday 20–Sunday 23 February with the full programme here