The Role of Technology in Sci-Fi Horror Shows: A Double-Edged Sword

Science fiction and horror might not be a match made in heaven, but they’re meant for each other, just like the way Mary Shelly intended when she wrote “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” over 200 years ago. Many agree that the novel became a turning point for sci-fi and horror as a true mixed genre, rather than a typical blend where their expected elements are presented as different plot devices. In Frankenstein, you cannot possibly separate the science fiction part from the horror aspect because one wouldn’t exist without the other. Here is a deeper look at the role of technology in Sci-fi Horrow shows.

The novel tells a story where a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, discovered a method to create a living human-like figure from non-living matter. The resulting creature is about 240 cm tall and nameless throughout the novel. When his experiment is done and actually successful, Frankenstein is terrified by his own creation and flees in horror. As for the creature itself, there’s nowhere in the world that normal human society can accept its existence. It harbors hatred toward humanity and seeks revenge on its creator.

Released in 1818, the novel remains today a prime example of how science fiction and horror can merge into a single subgenre; the works of sci-fi (in this case, the fictional scientific principle where Frankenstein creates an emotional monster out of dead body parts) turn out to be the root of all horrors that follow. You can almost say that every sci-fi horror show and film you have today uses the same basic formula as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Well, perhaps not all of them, but you get the idea.

Sci-fi horror often takes contemporary societal concerns and fears as its primary subjects. Back in the days of Frankenstein, some of the most exciting scientific discoveries took place in the medical world, in which our understanding of the human anatomy and physiology and medicines and treatment methods, including surgery, just improved. As with other seemingly unlikely scientific discoveries, our perception changed; many people remained skeptical at first, and Frankenstein simply intensified the fear through fiction.

Fast-forward to the 20th and 21st centuries, the landscape of sci-fi horror is also morphing, with technology playing the role of the new boogeyman. Flickering lights and creaking doors are still used here and there to build suspense, but most of the terrors now come from smartphones, social media, the dark web, robots, and artificial intelligence. Our constant entanglement with the digital world along with excessive reliance on technology deliver a large chunk of inspirations for imaginative fears, and actually fueled by true horrifying stories of how lawless (sometimes immoral) uses of the Internet, surveillance cameras, AI, and malware (including spyware and ransomware) put people through sufferings and misery.

Take the 2006 novel “Cell” by Stephen King as an example, where an unknown signal broadcast turned every single cell phone user into a mindless murderer. Mobile phones were already ubiquitous at the time of the release, and the novel turned them into a conduit for horror. Not that phones suddenly came to life and began attacking people, but the signal broadcast through the phones affected users’ brains and forced them to change into zombies. Films like “Unfriended” and its sequel “Unfriended: Dark Web” bring horror from the online world. The entirety of those films unfold on computer screens, making use of the fear surrounding online privacy and the concept of cyberbullying into sources of terror. British anthology series “Black Mirror” mostly portrays how technology can be both beneficial and detrimental to human lives. Certain episodes like “Shut Up and Dance” and “White Bear” focus on how modern technology might intensify societal fears and amplify human shortcomings through horrifying scenarios.

Sci-fi is all about exploration into the unknown and speculation about its outcome, sometimes by direct confrontation or subtle investigation. One of the main points of sci-fi is the journey to uncovering the mystery with ingenuity and yes, technology. Horror is all about an ever-present mystery; the things you know nothing about might just come and get you when you’re most vulnerable. The intersection of science fiction and horror in modern TV series, films, and novels often takes advantage of the fact that technology is omnipresent, and some of them probably aren’t as harmless as they may seem.

We think the only contradictory part between science fiction and horror is the way they present and solve the mysteries at hand. In sci-fi, even if the science is fictional, as the name implies, there needs to be an explanation for every single thing. Even when something appears to be entirely supernatural, sci-fi doesn’t hesitate to delve deeper into the matter to look for answers that make sense, or at least satisfyingly plausible. Horror almost always relies on the presence of the unexplainable.

Some X-Files episodes are categorically horror because Mulder and Scully do not know what’s really happening; in contrast, Star Trek boldly goes where no one has gone before to discover new mysteries. If you have to explain everything, you may lose the “mysterious” appeal from a horror story. Unless the writers and directors tread carefully in their craft, the mixed genre may easily turn out to be a double-edged sword that cuts each other short.

Apart from sci-fi horror, what do you think is the best mixed genre for TV shows or films? Do you think modern sci-fi horror shows focus too much on technology as the source of horror? We’d love to hear from you.

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