The indie-horror hit films Obsession and Backrooms opened this summer’s movie season with a bang, each grossing hundreds of millions of dollars and turning out legions of younger moviegoers. But there is also a functional reason: modern aesthetics lack the texture that horror movies need to thrive, texture that can be more easily found in past eras. Meanwhile, things get even more meta in Camp Miasma, which largely takes place on the set of a horror film – a campground full of empty cabins and even a cinema. Camp Miasma also literally opens with a montage of toys: trading cards, board games and other collectibles from the fictitious film franchise. But this also allows film-makers to explore other realities aspirationally, which may sound counterintuitive given the genre’s depravity.