The Untold Horror Stories of the Middle East

In the wake of the Arab Spring, there has never been a better time for Middle Easterners to produce or indulge in horror as an art form and means of social commentary.

by Alexander Schinis

There has never been a better time for chills and thrills in the United States - at least where film and television are concerned. From the campy style of Drag Me to Hell to the slow build of the period piece The Witch, it is a tremendous time for that black sheep of entertainment, the horror genre. Film critics at the pop culture publication The A.V. Club have gone so far as to declare that the U.S. film scene is currently experiencing “a quiet horror renaissance.”

While U.S. horror junkies bask in the upsurge of chilling cinema, the genre has not been embraced, to the same degree, elsewhere in the world. In the Middle East, audiences have yet to appreciate the power of horror. This is a missed opportunity. In the wake of the so-called “Arab Spring,” there has never been a better time for Middle Easterners to produce or indulge in horror as an art form and means of social commentary.