Chosen Legend: "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn on the Light? "

I have chosen to base my Gothic Horror project with a basis on the Gothic Horror urban legend "Aren't  You Glad You Didn't Turn on the Light?". I have chosen this legend as it has the ability to let me research and create my own designs for the final looks without being restricted to specific details of a character attribute.  

As is often the case with "cautionary tales" which these Gothic Horror legends there is a warning to portray.  These are a couple of adaptations to the story:

Two dorm-mates in college were in the same science class. The teacher had just reminded them about the midterm the next day when one dorm-mate - let's call her Julie - got asked to this big bash by the hottest guy in school. The other dorm-mate, Meg, had pretty much no interest in going and, being a diligent student, she took notes on what the midterm was about. After the entire period of flirting with her date, Julie was totally unprepared for her test, while Meg was completely prepared for a major study date with her books.

At the end of the day, Julie spent hours getting ready for the party while Meg started studying. Julie tried to get Meg to go, but she was insistent that she would study and pass the test. The girls were rather close and Julie didn't like leaving Meg alone to be bored while she was out having a blast. Julie finally gave up, using the excuse that she would cram in homeroom the next day.

Julie went to the party and had the time of her life with her date. She headed back to the dorm around 2 a.m. and decided not to wake Meg. She went to bed nervous about the midterm and decided she would wake up early to ask Meg for help.

She woke up and went to wake Meg. Meg was lying on her stomach, apparently sound asleep. Julie rolled Meg over to reveal Meg's terrified face. Julie, concerned, turned on the desk lamp. Meg's study stuff was still open and had blood all over it. Meg had been slaughtered. Julie, in horror, fell to the floor and looked up to see, written on the wall in Meg's blood: "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights!"

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As told by Jon Little...

I heard about a girl who went back to her dorm room late one night to get her books before heading to her boyfriend's room for the night. She entered but did not turn on the light, knowing that her roommate was sleeping. She stumbled around the room in the dark for several minutes, gathering books, clothes, toothbrush, etc. before finally leaving.

The next day, she came back to her room to find it surrounded by police. They asked if she lived there and she said yes. They took her into her room, and there, written in blood on the wall, were the words, "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" Her roommate was being murdered while she was getting her things.

(I've heard this several different times. Each time it was at a different university.)

One consistent theme in these teenage horrors is that as the adolescent moves out from home into the larger world, the world's dangers may close in on him or her. Therefore, although the immediate purpose of these legends is to produce a good scare, they also serve to deliver a warning: Watch out! This could happen to you!

Through these adaptations I have discovered that the main plot to the story is that someone is killed right under the nose of an unsuspecting protagonist, who is often female, but because the lights are out, the victim's body isn't discovered quickly, and often not until the next morning. 
As the story is sometimes told, the protagonist hears suspicious noises but is afraid to investigate because she thinks it could be an intruder coming after her.

What is Gothic Horror?

Gothic Horror fiction is catagorised due to by the features in the stories of; fear, horror, the supernatural and darkness, but also due to involving characters such as vampires, demons, heroes/heroines and villains.

What differs it to horror fiction is that it contains other elements such as the a plot based on mystery, romance, lust and dread.

Originating in the late 18th century, this type of fiction was a sub-category of the larger ‘Romantic Fiction’ movement that wanted to stimulate strong emotions in the reader, often lust however this adaptation of the writing style instead focused on the reader relating though fear and apprehension.

The name of the genre is believed to have come from the medieval architecture often used in the description of the stories settings.

Gothic Horror Subject’s

This style places a strong emphasis on making the audience understand and feel the atmosphere of the story; it succeeds through using the detailed setting description and specific adjectives to help build suspense and a sense of unease in the audience. Commonly stories describe; a supernatural being, family curses, mystery or madness. Gothic Horror fiction often involves a romantic plot or subplot, particularly in later tales dating from the Victorian era and the 20th century.

Although the novel is often considered the best example of this genre, some poetry and short stories can also be characterised as Gothic Horror.

Times and Places

Gothic Horror fiction often is set within the past, sometimes romanticizing them however primarily to aid the story to seem more dark and apprehensive.In its early days, this writing style was often anti-Catholic and so used medieval settings to show-what their authors believed to be-abuse and opposition of Catholic power.

Modern examples of this type of fiction have continued the tendency to look to past eras, often using such settings as colonial America, Victorian England or even as recent as early 20^th century to set short stories in.

This new and more recent use of 20^th Century settings gives, like the medieval period of the 18th and 19th centuries, many writers the use of the settings to help portray the romanticization and moral criticism and doubt needed for the genre.

Unit Brief

As the second part of the unit MFS109: Styling for Stage, Television and Film I am required to create two individual fashion-focused images created with for the use of using contemporary media technologies for a music video, which are represented from the theme of one of these following gothic horror urban legends:

• The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs.

• The Fatal Hairdo.

• The Clown Doll/Statue.

• The Killer in the Backseat.

• The Hook.

• Human's Can Lick Too!

• Bloody Mary.

• Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn on the Lights?

• The Boyfriend's Death.

• Buried Alive!

These urban legends are all popular stories that are alleged to be true and passed in from the teller to audience continuously as a form of warning as well as for entertainment. They often end with a concerning, humorous or humiliating event, which will always have happened to someone else rather than the teller, with a lesson learnt by the audience which they will remember and understand in a relatable real-life situation.  

Through this blog I will be recording all of my research an initial idea's that build up to the final designs and images that are specific to the fashion related unit brief. As part of this I will be displaying; research into my chosen legend, previous use of gothic horror in fashion and film/media as well as design development and the compulsory general moodboard and two story boards for each look as specified in the unit brief. This will allow me to look back on my previous research easily and also prove to readers through the documentation how i have reached the final designs and images needed for the fashion-focused looks. 

I intend to create and show as part of my final images and sense of both beauty and fear for these horror-fashion based images.