In the latest oddly specific case of studies on horror films done by companies that have nothing to do with horror films, yet another cable and internet provider has now graced the world with its list of the most popular horror villain in each U.S. state. Why is a telecommunications company running this sort of investigation, and how is it not the first? At this point, the only appropriate answer is “because 2020.”
Frontier Communications released the results of its third annual survey concerning each state’s favorite freaky fiends, and the results are about as erratic as one would expect from the same year that birthed Tiger King. From Norman Bates to the alien from that one movie, plenty of classic villains got their time to shine in this extremely important educational study. Granted, it was less of a “bring people into a room and ask them stuff” type of deal, as the results were determined by Google search trends.
Frontier’s method of gathering info involved checking Google trends for the past 12 months around 15 classic horror films. The results were pulled on September 4th, 2020, so to be fair, each state’s winner can’t be entirely explained by the madness of 2020. Only mostly.
And what were those results? Well, step on up and find out. While old favorites like Dracula and The Shining‘s Jack Torrance took a surprising place at the bottom of the list with one state apiece, Frankenstein’s Monster reigned supreme as the most popular in a whopping 11 states. Scream‘s Ghostface also ranked impressively at 2nd place with 8 states, which seems a bit unexpected given Hannibal Lecter’s spot near the bottom with only 2. Others like Leatherface, Pennywise the clown, and the devilish doll Chucky took their own modest victories, winning the popularity contest in anywhere from 3 states all the way to 7.
Notably, Frontier reports that Jack Torrance from The Shining topped the list in their 2018-2019 study, while Norman Bates took the crown in the previous year. It’s a surprisingly far cry from their 2020 rankings of 10th and 5th, respectively. Other results seemed to fit in well with the well-known “trends” of certain states. For instance, Washington lived up to its reputation as one of 5 states to report a UFO sighting when it gravitated towards the xenomorph from the film Alien as its favorite. Meanwhile, Count Dracula enjoyed only a single win in Wyoming, whose ballet and theater companies both adapted the famous vampire’s story in 2019.
While this is hardly some certified scientific study, it’s still interesting to see how trends have changed over the past few years. Frankenstein’s Monster topped the listing this time around, but there’s no telling how audiences will feel next year or the year after. However audience sensibilities evolve over time, though, that desire for a good scream won’t be going away anytime soon.
Source: Frontier Bundles
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