Daytime Horror Canon

Summer is just around the corner, and although I couldn’t be happier to be embracing the triumphant return of longer days and hotter nights, I can’t help but think about the dread of it too. The eerie stillness of an August afternoon, a lazy fly buzzing by an ear. The inevitability of the end of it all, eventually. Summer might have a reputation as a season of cheerfulness, but there’s something off about it too. Horror has always understood this unsettling truth: horrible things can happen at any time — especially in broad daylight. I’d like to humbly present a canon, or at least the start of one, for the subgenre of Daytime Horror. Bright skies, bloodied earth, and burning bodies abound.

The Wicker Man (1973)

Probably the most iconic example of Daytime Horror, The Wicker Man is full of the hallmarks of the subgenre: a bright setting, horrific acts happening in broad daylight, and the power of nature overpowering everyone in its path. It is the story of a (frankly annoying) Puritanical policeman investigating the disappearance of a young girl from the island. The residents claim she doesn’t exist, despite her presence everywhere, and the stakes only ramp up from there. Come for the titular wicker man, but stay for the surprising amount of musical numbers, colorful production design, and May Day celebrations of course. Blessed Beltane wouldn’t be the same without a searing sun observing the festivities from above.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Anyone who’s traveled across Texas on a hot summer day can tell you — there are parts of the state where the road stretches out forever, and you can’t help but wonder if there are others out there, watching and waiting. Maybe even revving up the barbecue pits just in case you want to stop by for dinner. Tobe Hooper’s classic is all about a summer trip among friends gone awry in the worst way possible. The Texas sun burns across the faces of Sally Hardesty & company as they try to outrun Leatherface and his family. It’s a movie that just wouldn’t be the same without the backdrop of a bone-dry Texas summer.

Possession (1981)

[Spoilers ahead!] Andrzej Żuławski’s iconic tale of a failing marriage, female rage, and Lovecraftian fuckmonsters set against dreary Berlin is another worthy addition to the Daytime Horror Canon. It’s not as sunny or warm as others on this list, but the overcast city skies and cold daylight still add to the unease of the film. It’s even more eerie to see Anna reveal her tentacled lover writhing in an oozing bed in broad daylight, to see her bloody lip in the starkness of day after a fight with Mark, to see the pair bleeding on a staircase with the sun pouring over them as a doppelgänger watches on. These unflinching moments in broad daylight lay bare the awful, raw heart of Possession. 

Midsommar (2019)

When we meet Dani and Christian, it’s clear their relationship is halfway in the grave. When we follow them, along with their fellow grad student friends, on a research trip to a Swedish commune called Hårga, it’s clear that one of them will be fully in their grave by the time the movie is over. Midsommar is a must-see movie on this list, simply because it takes the foundation laid out by The Wicker Man and doubles down on it. It’s crueler, colder, and yet stylistically much brighter than its predecessor. The blue of the Hårga sky is garish as it sits as a backdrop to the horrors our protagonists endure throughout the movie. The flowers enveloping Dani as she becomes the May Queen are stunning and suffocating in turn. This movie doesn’t work any other way. 

Some of the best horror movies, like the ones I’ve outlined here, understand that the terrors of our world can come barreling in at any time and use that knowledge well. Here’s to the start of the sunnier seasons, and the harrowed daytime nightmares that come with them. Happy viewing!