Applying Steve Neale’s Genre Theory

What is Steve Neale's Genre Theory: 

We used a combination of comedy and horror in our first film, The Whispering Nightmare.

Even though the story is only getting started, we wanted our audience to recognise the genre right away and experience a mixture of amusement and unease.

According to Steve Neale's theory, which we examined, genres are composed of elements that the audience anticipates, but to keep things interesting, you also need to add something new.

This implies that to keep the audience interested, we should incorporate elements they are accustomed to seeing in the genre (repetition) as well as something novel and unique (difference).

What We Reenacted (Familiar Comedy & Horror Elements): 

● A haunted place with a dark past (Ethan Graves) 

● Teens playing Truth or Dare, which culminates in a spooky dare

● A final moment of suspense and silence before a cut to black 

● Jokes and teasing at the beginning — a typical comedy tone in horror openings.

What We Changed (To Make It Our Own): 

We place the story in a contemporary Indian school rather than an old home or forest. Our characters speak like actual teenagers rather than the cliched horror tropes

Instead of relying solely on horror cliches, we created mood shifts by fusing genuine humor with growing fear. We also let the audience imagine what might happen rather than showing a ghost or jump scare.