I remember I hated tag, the default game of every elementary schooler, because I was always caught first. Horror movies often portray disabled people as the horror, but the true horror is the inaccessible world. “What if TSA confiscates my medication? What if the environment there drives me to sensory overload and there’s no way to leave? What if I don’t “look” disabled enough to receive the accommodations I asked for?” I find myself constantly in a state of what-if when dealing with aspects of my disability in an inaccessible world: Being disabled can be incredibly anxiety-inducing.
However, I think horror movies can hold a certain allure for disabled viewers due to their relatability.
This could be because my mother has always been opposed to horror, gore, and movie violence in any form-except for distinct comedic effect. The portrayal of disability in horror films is often very problematic-think of mental illnesses such as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in the 2016 movie “Split.” Yet, horror movies hold a special allure to me.
