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What do horror movies and comedies have in common?

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The two genres might seem totally different,

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but the reason they're both so popular

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is perhaps because what they have in common:

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their use of dramatic irony.

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First, let's clarify.

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There are three types of irony out there.

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Situational irony is when you expect one thing,

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but get the opposite.

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Verbal irony is when someone says something,

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but truly means the opposite.

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Dramatic irony, though,

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is what we will be looking at right now.

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Dramatic irony is when the audience

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seems to know more about an event,

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a situation,

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or a conversation

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than the characters in the movie,

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on the show,

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or in the book do.

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The audience is in on a secret

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that the characters have missed.

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This is a great story-telling device

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that creates tremendous emotion within that text.

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Think about it for a moment.

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How does it feel when, in a horror film,

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you know that the scary villain is hiding

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behind that door in the darkened room.

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The music becomes eerie,

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the lighting creates complete shadows,

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this has to be bad for the hero!

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Of course, though, that hero must enter the room

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to find the villain.

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You feel tremendous tension and the suspense

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of knowing that someone will jump out and be scary,

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but you just don't know when.

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That tension is dramatic irony:

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you know something more than the characters in the film.

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Now, take the typical comedy.

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There will probably be some type of "misunderstanding".

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Again, we know more of what is going on

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than the characters do.

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Picture two characters making a plan

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for a birthday surprise for their roommate

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while that roommate overhears

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the entire conversation from the hallway.

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From there, confusion and misunderstanding occur,

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and the tension builds.

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This isn't the same tension as the horror film

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since it is probably pretty funny

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as the character tries to figure out the whos and the whats,

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but it serves as a great example

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of the tension and suspense of dramatic irony.

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This tension or suspense in both genres

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drives the story and keeps the plot progressing.

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The audience wants, no, needs,

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to see the tension of the dramatic irony broken

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either by the scary person jumping out of the shadows

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or by someone finally revealing someone's true identity

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and clearing up the confusion.

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So, when you feel like you are in on a secret,

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that is dramatic irony,

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a hallmark of all the great writers,

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from Shakespeare to Hitchcock.