Why Wax Is A Creepy Horror Theme

Why Wax is a Creepy Horror Theme

There are many horror themes and tropes out there. It could be monsters and haunted houses to skulls and psycho killers, but then there's the simple, normal things we put into horror to make it scarier than it is. In this case, I'm talking about wax. Now, what makes wax scary right off the bat? Well, nothing unless you're afraid of burning yourself with hot wax. However, a deeper examination shows that not only is wax used in the horror world as an element to scare, but you've probably been scared or at least unnerved by a certain piece of wax.

So what is the one-way wax that can fit into horror? Why wax figures, of course, or turning people into wax. Wax figures creep some people out because of their ridiculous likeness to real people, and also because there are times when you just get a weird feeling about them. Wax figures are, for the most part, meant to honor people but knowing they aren't people and that sometimes wax creations of bad people exist, well it doesn't help put you in the mindset that wax is an evil vice.

Turning people into wax is another creepy thought and idea that has been placed into horror with the film House of Wax. In the original, a man murders people and turns them into wax figures he lost in his first place due to a fire. In the newer version, a whole town is abandoned, and a group of teens sees wax figures who were once people but made into wax using a machine. Tell me that's not creepy, heck, that's scary and downright terrifying. From those two examples, you can see how wax can be turned into a scary horror theme. Using the idea that people can be turned into wax figures creates the illusion in our minds that wax figures are creepy because maybe there's more to them than just wax sculpted into the likeness of real people.

Now, of course, these are just two mainstream examples of how wax has been incorporated into horror to make it scarier, but there are others, not only in cinema but in literature as well. When it's not being used as a way to scare people in horror, wax is mainly used in horror when shown as a candle to shine a light in the darkness. So ironically, wax can be used for both good and evil, good as a candle and light to help a character get out of a dark situation, or evil as an element and theme to make people think that people are made out of wax. Wax is very much an underrated theme in the world of horror. When it's used as a small theme, it tends to go unnoticed, but when it's used as the main theme, it can really make you think and, perhaps as it's intended, scare the living hell out of you.

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