Why aren't there more horses in horror?

[NightmareBreath]

I'm not a big fan of horror, generally. But when I find something that does interest me, it's usually because it involves an animal. Probably due to the fact that I'm quite an animal lover. A bit twisted sometimes, but an animal lover still.

Serial killers? No thanks.

Zombies? Yawn.

Revolting monsters? Nah.

Mutated killer sheep? Now we're talking! (Honest- I found a DVD called 'Black Sheep' about exactly that.)

Usually when an animal is the focus of horror fiction, it's something from a predictable list of horrifying creatures: bats, spiders, rats, wolves, or even rabid dogs. Even bunny rabbits have made the cut ('Night of the Lepus').

But horses? Come on! Horses are cute, docile, domesticated animals that wouldn't harm anyone. Or would they? There are many accounts of vicious horses (usually in past centuries, and usually intact stallions) that have attacked, injured, and even killed their handlers.

And then there are the frightening steeds of legend: the biblical Four Horsemen, the Headless Horseman, and the Nazgul riders in the Lord of the Rings, to name just a few. But the horses themselves are not the main focus, scary as they may be. The riders are the real agents of terror.

But the potential is there for horses to be a great focus of horror fiction. They are very large, powerful beasts that can easily overpower and injure puny humans or other animals, if they wanted to.

I know of only a handful of horror books (Charles Grant's 'The Pet' being one of the best, even if it is kind of silly) that feature horses as the primary focus, and no movies whatsoever. Why do you think that is?

Horses are one of my favorite animals, and I would be interested in any works of horror fiction that feature them in the spotlight.

Anyone know anything I don't?

[The Villain]

You raise a good point. Of all the animals that have been featured in horror movies, i can't think of any involving evil horses. There have been evil bunny movies (Night of The Lepus), Evil Frogs (Frogs), Evil Sheep (Black Sheep) as you mentioned and even an Evil Turkey (ThanksKilling) just to name a few. Maybe horses are too hard to control for a horror movie or maybe no one ever thought of a good idea or maybe there are some i've never heard of. Maybe you should go make one yourself.

Blood Horse, Dark House, Night of The Stallion. Something lame and dark like that.

[neverending]

Well, you're right- I don't think there are any films that feature evil horses as the focus. One of the latest Romero films had a zombie horse in it. That's about all I can come up with. Horses are generally seen as intelligent, regal beasts, and I don't think anyone has thought to twist that around.

[NightmareBreath]

You raise a good point. Of all the animals that have been featured in horror movies, i can't think of any involving evil horses. There have been evil bunny movies (Night of The Lepus), Evil Frogs (Frogs), Evil Sheep (Black Sheep) as you mentioned and even an Evil Turkey (ThanksKilling) just to name a few. Maybe horses are too hard to control for a horror movie or maybe no one ever thought of a good idea or maybe there are some i've never heard of. Maybe you should go make one yourself.

Blood Horse, Dark House, Night of The Stallion. Something lame and dark like that.

I kinda like the title "Rein of Terror" myself! :D

Horses could be scary. I think it'd be a fun ride!

[Angra]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450336/

[ManchestrMorgue]

What are you talking about? There have been heaps:

Last Horse on Dead End Street
Last Horse on the Left
Horse By The Cemetary
The Old Dark Horse
Horse of 1000 Corpses
Horse on the Edge of the Park
Horse of the Dead
Horse of Fear
The Horse that Dripped Blood
The Horse of Frankenstein
The Horse of Dracula

Just to name a few...

[TheWickerFan]

I suppose all a horse could do is trample. They don't really have mouths made for ripping into meat. The times I've seen horses in horror films they're usually there to get spooked by things humans can't sense.

[ZombieDrone]

When I was fifteen I spent some time working at a stable.


The reason was that in England we have (I believe it still goes on) a period around that age where you go into work experience (which is you go out of class for a period of three weeks and into some unpaid work).

I got lumped with a stable because I was running out of options and I said that I liked animals. I am quite short and physically rather weak and so whilst I like horses in theory, I don't like getting too close to them.

They can be very vicious creatures. They can have a remarkably short temper, massive teeth, very large and devastatingly powerful kick.

You're right that there aren't many horses in horror and that seems a little odd considering horses have long been used in films (imagine a western without a single horse). I've seen clips of Tombs Of The Blind Dead where there were cloaked zombies riding them across fields in slow-motion. That looked pretty cool.

[ZombieDrone]

Well, I did forget about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YivhhrYmRY&feature=fvst

[Tangleduponblue]

The short story Metzengerstein is about a demonically possesed horse.

My most vivid memory of a horse from horror movies has to be that scene in 'The Ring' where the horse gets possessed and runs off the ferry into the water.

[roshiq]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450336/

Yeah...that's a good example.

Though may be sometimes they even caused human deaths but in the course of human civilization, animals like Horses, Elephants & cows most of the time have been seen or treated as very helpful & harmless animals as we found themselves very useful in mostly traveling, sports/entertainment or even domestic household or agricultural purposes. From their physical outlook even a child find them pretty interesting or beautiful as an animal; and most of the time they never appears or seems threatening for us. Moreover, unlike dogs & cats, they (very) hardly sounds creepy. Even if we consider the incidents or accidents where they (intentionally or not) killed their handlers or others, we would see a common pattern which is somewhat less horrifying, chilling or gruesome in compare to other crazy or man eating animal attack. May be the problem is there is very few (or no) records where they killed a human or other animal through bites instead of kicking or beating badly.


And then there are the frightening steeds of legend: the biblical Four Horsemen, the Headless Horseman, and the Nazgul riders in the Lord of the Rings, to name just a few. But the horses themselves are not the main focus, scary as they may be. The riders are the real agents of terror.


That's a good point you added. Actually by nature, we mostly don't like to see or think of horses without a rider. Even we think or dream of an unicorn we wish to ride it later on. To most of the people, Horse is an animal that needs to get a rider; without a rider a horse seems unfulfilled as a living thing on earth. It's born to have a rider.

Now, for the sake of a concept for a horror story/film I'm not sure but it may be turn out interesting to see a deadly or evil horse as the main threat. But to do so the writer or director needs to show or have a good deal of creativity to raise the terror in reader's or viewer's mind. Otherwise the reader or the audience would hardly buy it unless the whole thing is treated as comedy like Black Sheep.

But yeah...may be in a western scenario it'd be 'interesting' to see a vengeful horse who stalks & kills the killers of his mater or the bad guys who caused the wrongful death of its rider. But the question is how interestingly all those killings by that horse can be shown or described?

Otherwise, an evil or deadly horse we can easily be portray in a bizzaro scenario...where we can borrow some disturbing physical features from other animals or insects and give it a horrifying or weird outlook...for example, a horse with 8 or more than 4 legs (like spiders) and a venomous scorpion tail.:D

[crabapple]

In addition to Horse at the Edge of the Park, there is also Horse at the Edge of the Pork, which is the horse/pig horror film. Sort of the barnyard version of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

And let us not forget Bad Horse, the Thoroughbred of Sin...!

[NightmareBreath]

I suppose all a horse could do is trample. They don't really have mouths made for ripping into meat.

Neither do sheep. In fact, sheep don't even have any upper incisors, so the idea of "killer sheep", even as a joke, is plain ridiculous. And yet there is a movie about that.

[MichaelMyers]

They stab horses in horror, don't they?

[ManchestrMorgue]

I just remembered, Emanuelle in America features a horse.

[Fearonsarms]

When I was fifteen I spent some time working at a stable.


The reason was that in England we have (I believe it still goes on) a period around that age where you go into work experience (which is you go out of class for a period of three weeks and into some unpaid work).

I got lumped with a stable because I was running out of options and I said that I liked animals. I am quite short and physically rather weak and so whilst I like horses in theory, I don't like getting too close to them.

They can be very vicious creatures. They can have a remarkably short temper, massive teeth, very large and devastatingly powerful kick.

You're right that there aren't many horses in horror and that seems a little odd considering horses have long been used in films (imagine a western without a single horse). I've seen clips of Tombs Of The Blind Dead where there were cloaked zombies riding them across fields in slow-motion. That looked pretty cool.

You beat me to it-I was going to say Tombs Of The Blind Dead-it's the blind dead who do the killing though-I would have liked to have seen the horses go for it too-maybe they do in it's sequel Return Of The Evil Dead which I haven't seen yet?

[Ferox13]

The William Hope Hodgson story, 'The Horse of the Invisible' has a malevolent ghost horse in it (sort of anyway). It was adapted for the small screen as part of the 'Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' series..

[Bizarre]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm_%28video%29

[ZombieDrone]

My brain:

Remembers hearing things about this video and certain...ummm...desires about animals.

Considers that it may be the animated version of the George Orwell book.

Dismisses this idea.

Decides to definately avoid clicking the link

[Bizarre]

My brain:

Remembers hearing things about this video and certain...ummm...desires about animals.

Considers that it may be the animated version of the George Orwell book.

Dismisses this idea.

Decides to definately avoid clicking the link

Haha! Good call! Orwell this ain't! ;P

[The Villain]

There's a scene in War Horse that was like something out of Saw

[Angra]

There's a scene in War Horse that was like something out of Saw

But did the horse do it?

[The Villain]

But did the horse do it?

No but that would be awesome