In a word, the answer is horror. But that simple word does not cover everything that we hope to explore, any more than it, in itself, conveys the complex ranges of emotions and reactions to that which is horrific. The frightening, the unsettling, the disturbing, that which makes us long for the pale light of morning and the end of the long night. That which makes us lock the door against the darkness and huddle close to those we love, in hopes of taking some small comfort from the warmth of another human presence. It is that which causes our minds to create for us monsters out of furniture in a darkened room, or see faces in the frost of a windowpane in the blackened depths of winter. In short, it is all that we fear.

But why do we WANT to fear? Why do we watch horror movies or read Stephen King before bed? Why do millions play terrifying video games in the dark, and tell ghost stories around the campfire in the woods at night? It is because fear is amongst the finest and most real of the emotions. It is one of those emotions, like love, that creates a palpable sensation in our minds and hearts. In our terror, or minds race, our hearts pound, or breath becomes short; in the heights of our distress our bodies remind us that we live. In the world that we live in, truth of emotion has become a rare commodity. We pass the days of our little lives in an ordinary fashion, loving and learning and breathing and dreaming, but the moments that define us are those to which we have attached the strongest and most visceral of our emotions. And the strongest of these are love and fear. In the end these are the things that define us, that which we will remember at the end of our days: that which we love, and that which we fear.

Unlike love, fear can be artificially reproduced. And that is where horror stories come in, in whichever form they take, be it a book, a story, a game, or a movie. Vicariously witnessing the terror of fictional characters can, in its most effective instances, create a sympathetic sort of mirroring terror in ourselves. Psychology tells us that the strongest and most basic instincts in the human creature are those of fight or flight; basic survival. Above and beyond anything else that we feel, if our minds perceive danger, we attack or we run. Rationale, logic, and all other human emotions fall away, and those two reactions are all that is left. Attack or run. That is why, when something in a horror movie bursts from the underbrush or attacks from a shadowed doorway, the audience jumps and screams, even though it is a two dimensional fiction on a distant screen. The movie has artificially tricked our animal instincts into near action; the jump is your body trying to get away from that instant of perceived danger, a precursor to running away, and the scream is to warn others of your imminent danger. Of course you were not in any real danger, but for that split second your mind failed to perceive this. The palpable dread that one feels as horror builds in a story or movie is your body anticipating these moments. As the protagonist walks slowly through the shadow-haunted mansion, looking for his missing friend, your body is winding up for the emotional punch line; your stomach muscles tighten, your breath comes short, your nerves are on a hair trigger...all in preparation for the instinctual fight or flight that your brain knows is coming. It is simulated emotion, one of the few that can be reproduced merely by the power of suggestion. There is no other form of entertainment that can induce such a purely physical and psychological reaction in its audience. The monster strikes, the audience jumps, their hearts pound...and in their pounding remind us that we live. What more could you ask for from entertainment than that?

Within you will find the best that the horror field has to offer. In the "Movies" section, you will find reviews, articles and previews from horror movies past, present, and future. In the "Literature" section you will find information on books, short stories, comics, non-fiction articles, and more, from the entire history of the written word. The "Games" section you will find information video games, Role Playing games, board games, and more. This section will include previews, reviews, editorials, interviews, walkthroughs, plot guides, and anything else you can think of. The "News" section will be the most important bit of the site, keeping you informed of anything new on the horror horizon, as well as what is New and Cool here at A Darker Vision. Eventually, there will be Message Boards, a section for artwork and amateur fiction, and much more, a place for fans of the horror field to connect and share their visions. There are also plans for a horror writing online workshop, and even rumors of a funny/horrific/disturbing web comic. Let us know what you want to see, and we will see what we can do. This is your place as much as ours.

So turn off the lights, stoke up the fire, and see what the darkness has to tell you...
-Collin