As it’s the beginning of Hallowe’en month, it seems appropriate to talk a bit about the horror genre. I’m not into the hack and slash variety (they bore me with bad storytelling and repetitive, unrealistic effects) and anything overtly fake is just tedious to sit through. I prefer the more real world paranormal movies and shows, the creepy things that make your skin crawl. And I find one of the most overlooked (but, thankfully, increasingly popular) branches of the genre is tech horror. 

I recently binged the entirety of Black Mirror (what’s available on Netflix, anyway). It’s a British anthology drama with each episode being self-contained, but all are related with the overarching “evils of technology” theme. Some stories are pretty much present day while others are in the far future or perhaps an alternate world. There are some recognizable faces too, including Hayley Atwell, Lenora Crichlow and John Hamm. And the stories are so well written and engrossing. They can also be very shocking – not even I was prepared for the first episode of the series!

Tech horror is the sort of thing that makes you think. The plots are based on extensions of our relationships with technology as we currently know it. Since the idea of robots, androids and AI was born, people have wondered “what if” – What if something goes wrong? What if they take control? What if they start thinking for themselves? What if they decide we’re not needed anymore?

If you want another current take on this, check out the new series Westworld on HBO. Based on the movie from the 1970s, it revolves around a wild west “theme park” resort staffed by androids. There’s only been one episode so far, but not surprisingly there’s already some things going wrong. The show has a freaky overall feel as it moves between its real world and the theme park. Androids attempt to fulfill their programmed storylines, but there are glitches and the unpredictable nature of the resort guests. So what happens when the tech begins to question its existence?

Tech horror typically has well thought out, well written plots. It’s not a genre where you can simply create a setting and throw in a monster. And that’s why I enjoy it so much. The slow build, the relationship to the real world, the consequences you may never have considered – so much more satisfying than any jump scare.