Humans are an incredibly multi-faceted species, with incredibly varying cultures, identities, and beliefs. The full range of human experience is so widely encompassing with every person in the world having their own unique background. Fiction, as a reflection of the real world, should be able to depict the vastness of humanity no matter how disturbing it may be, whether it's to tell tales of valiant heroes and kidnapped princesses or violent cannibals and disturbed necrophiliacs. Because fiction is another facet for people to explore reality, depicting horrific and taboo topics within fiction is simply examining the darker sides of society and can allow people to examine how these topics impact their real lives. By giving fiction the space to explore darker topics, it creates a more fully developed and honest depiction of humankind.
A popular show that focused on the darker, more frightening aspects of the world is NBC's Hannibal. Hannibal is a TV show that aired between 2013 and 2015 based on the book the Red Dragon by Thomas Harris which was originally published in 1981. The TV show follows Will Graham, a psychologically unstable man who works with the FBI as he helps analyze crime scenes and tracks serial killers. He is originally unaware that most of the crimes he's analyzing are being committed by Hannibal (the Cannibal) Lecter, his psychiatrist. Both Hannibal and Will spend the majority of the show focused on, and manipulating, each other. At the start of the show, Will is unaware of Hannibal's sadistic and cruel tendencies, but slowly Hannibal clues him in on his true nature as part of his plan to make Will appear more unstable. The show ends, however, with Hannibal and Will embracing as they fall off a cliff after running away together and killing the man who was hunting them (The Wrath of the Lamb). Hannibal is a character with little moral grayness, he knowingly commits many murders throughout the show, and he knows this and the show knows it too. The show does not try to convince the audience that he is the good guy because the show does not try to justify Hannibal's actions, it is not a redemption story or a cautionary tale. The show set out to tell the story of a cruel and calculated character and that's what they did. The character that holds the most moral grayness on the show is Will Graham. The show starts out with the belief that he is the 'good guy' because he is on the side of the law enforcement and working to catch 'bad guys' but the show quickly subverts this expectation with the reveal in the first episode during a conversation between Will and Beverly Katz, a Behavior Analysis agent, that he is not an actual agent due to his instability, “BEVERLY. Never been an FBI agent? WILL. Strict screening procedures. BEVERLY. Detects instability. You're unstable?“ (Aperitif). As the show progresses and Hannibal spends more time manipulating Will in their therapy sessions, Will's instability becomes exacerbated and the audience is unsure how well he can be trusted. By the second season, Will has killed two people, once while on the job and another time in self-defense. However, after his second kill, he poses the body by combining the human remains with the skeleton of a cave bear in an attempt to appeal to Hannibal and it's revealed that Will enjoyed killing him (Naka-choko). The dramatic posing of the victim's bodies on the show is a prominent component of its horror, from the first episode where the body of a young girl is found nude and mounted on the antlers of a deer (Aperitif) to the second season when Beverly Katz is discovered cut up in long, full-body layers and displayed standing up (Mukōzuke). The level of violence seen in the show is important because it emphasizes the lengths the characters go to display their victim's bodies in a horrifyingly artistic way. This level of visual horror, mixed with the many scenes of Hannibal slowly and carefully preparing fanciful meals made with human meat, work together to establish the horrifying world the characters live and engage in, and without it, the show would lose a lot of its weight and impact. The phrase “I couldn't even begin to imagine“ is often used when talking about real-world horrors and Hannibal the show proposes an answer, it may not be what people want to see, or hear, but it offers up a visual for the levels of cruelty humans can stoop to, whether they're fictional or not.
Another area of taboo that fiction allows people to explore is necrophilia. An example of this would be the book Necrophilia Variations by Supervert. Necrophilia Variations is a book composed of many small, connected, contemplative stories told from the perspective of a necrophile. The main character is easily dislikeable and impossible to agree with, but that's the point of the story. The reader is not supposed to like him and that's what the writer wants. The main character frequently justifies his actions not by saying that it's the right thing to do, but that he could be doing much worse. The book is not trying to convince the reader that there's nothing wrong with necrophilia or that the main character is right in his actions but instead gives a fictitious insight into the mind of someone most people are disgusted by. When compared to cannibalism or murder, necrophilia is typically less depicted in fictional spaces, and maybe it's because of the vulgarity of the topic or the lack of humanity in the act but it's not that dissimilar when compared to the cruelty and violence involved in killing someone. The main character is a relatively 'bad' person but the writer challenges the audience to determine how bad he truly is with the main character arguing that he could also be sending people to their graves rather than just taking their bodies after they're in one (Supervert 1-2). The book proposes this middle ground of 'well, I suppose it could be worse' combined with 'yes, but it's still bad' which is an extra component of the storytelling that makes the reader have to be engaged in what they are reading and makes them form their own opinions. If fiction could only be used to tell stories about morally just people, it would become monotonous and would feel unrealistic because the real world is not full of only 'good' people and it wouldn't make sense to limit fiction to an idealistic version of the world that closes off so many different story-telling devices. The main character of Necrophilia Variations has depth like a real person, even though he often commits and enjoys grotesque activities, he is not an entirely immoral character either. When his girlfriend asks for a real, used coffin to sleep in, he gets her one because he cares about her (Supervert 9), not despite of his horrible actions, but alongside them, because like real people, committing bad actions does not negate someone's ability to also commit good ones. The book plays into some stereotypes and diverts others, ultimately leading to a juxtaposed version of a character that is more three-dimensional because of his conflicting nature which alters the reader's expectations as they progress through the book. If a book like this was not allowed to exist because of the nature of the topics it discusses, it would be denying the full range of human nature and sanitizing the human experience that is not always clean or normal.
Some people may argue there is no place for the depiction or discussion of violent or crude topics like that of murder or necrophilia in fiction. However, while I believe that choosing individually to engage with taboo media should be left up to each person, this type of media should still be allowed to exist because people have the freedom to create and consume the types of content that they are interested in. Horror doesn't exist just to gross people out, horror offers a safe space for people to engage with their traumatic experiences, complex emotions, and fears. In an article published by National Geographic titled How horror movies can help people over-come real world trauma, the author discusses how horror movies have brought her comfort throughout her life and talks to several specialists regarding why horror can bring about such positive emotions and how it can help people cope with their fears, such as in the quote, “Psychiatrist Leela R. Magavi, regional medical director for the California-based Community Psychiatry, is a horror movie fan who has experienced the genre's cathartic effects. 'Horror films could be used to desensitize individuals with phobias and various forms of trauma,' she says“ (Johnson). Because watching a horror movie or reading a scary book is something you can do in a controlled environment, it gives people the space and time to think through their emotions. Fictional media can also act as a starting point for more in-depth conversations that reflect on the real world. Having in-depth discussions on difficult topics, especially during youth, is crucial to creating more understanding regarding these matters as well as increasing awareness and giving people the ability to develop their own opinion on the subjects at hand. In an article published by the Crisis Intervention Services, they stress the importance of discussing current events, especially violent or drastic ones, with children so they can grow up knowing what kind of behavior is wrong and what to do if they see people reacting in aggressive ways in their day to day life. A quote from this article that stood out is, “Social Violence is a topic that is often passed up, until it actually happens. If your child starts asking questions about what they saw or heard, don't ignore it or brush it off. You don't want to sugar-coat the subject, but rather discuss it in a more direct tone. Take this opportunity to have open conversations with them and discuss how seeing those images made them feel. By allowing them the opportunity to express their feelings verbally, they're far less likely to physically exhibit those actions on someone else“ (Slone). This quote emphasizes the importance of discussing violence and appropriate reactions to it because having an open conversation about it better prepares someone for the future possibility of having to engage with violence, whether it be witnessing it, preventing it, or being physically involved with it. Because of the violent nature of most horror media, it can be used to lay the groundwork for these important discussions about violence. If a child watches a horror movie with their parents and has questions about what to do in case they were ever in a similar scenario, it gives the child a safe space to explore their fears and be more aware of how to respond in a dangerous situation. It would be undermining the genre's purpose to say that it goes too far and therefore should not be allowed to talk about these intense topics at all. Every form of media has its drawbacks, but they all also have their positive aspects too, and horror is no exception. The horror genre specializes in looking at society's fears, and even when it may be too horrific for some, it may be just the kind of fear someone else needs.
Stories like Hannibal and Necrophilia Variations that portray messed up or horrible people should exist because real people like this exist and it allows creators to explore the darker parts of humanity in a more fleshed-out and in-depth way. Both of these works ultimately reflect some of the worst sides of humanity, but it's important to note that depiction does not equal condonement and instead offers a deeper look for the sake of society and curiosity. The world is a very diverse place and the fictional world should reflect that, whether for the betterment of society or to stir up conversations about acts going on in the real world.
“Apéritif.“ Hannibal, created and written by Bryan Fuller and directed by David Slade, season 1, episode 1, NBC, 2013.
Johnson, Nicole. “How horror movies can help people overcome real-world trauma.“ National Geographic, 30 Oct 2020,
“Mukōzuke.“ Hannibal, written by Ayanna A. Floyd and Steve Lightfoot & Bryan Fuller and directed by Michael Rymer, season 2, episode 5, NBC, 2014
“Naka-choko.“ Hannibal, written by Steve Lightfoot and directed by Vincenzo Natali, season 2, episode 10, NBC, 2014
Supervert. Necrophilia Variations: a literary monograph. Supervert 32C Inc., 2006.
Slone, Danielle. “The Discussion on Social Violence- Why Our Kids Need to Understand What’s Happening.“ Crisis Intervention Services, 5 June 2021,
“The Wrath of the Lamb.“ Hannibal, written by Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot & Nick Antosca and directed by Michael Rymer, season 3, episode 13, NBC, 2015.