Every Batman fan knows who the Joker is, and even if you aren’t, you’ve probably heard his name somewhere before. His sociopathic tendencies, insane laugh, and disturbing smile have captivated audiences for many years. Still, however iconic he is, that smile is the one thing that has stuck with us; after all, he isn’t the Joker without that happy, gory grin on his face. 

But it isn’t just the Joker; characters such as The Crow and Mark Hoffman all have the same smile plastered on their faces. It’s that very smile that has haunted fans for so long, to the point where it has solidified its place in the horror genre. As writers, we’ve endeavored to recreate such terrifying smiles through gory descriptions, writing as fast as our nimble fingers would allow.

But why? Why is the Glasgow Smile so disturbing? What is it about its unnatural appearance that makes us turn away?

One reason could very well be its history. Also known as The Anna Grin, the Glasgow Smile can be achieved by cutting from the edges of the victim’s mouth all the way to their ears. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, the smile gained infamy in America when the body of Elizabeth Short was found mutilated and drained of blood. She had a large Glasgow Smile on her face, which very well contributed to her death. To this day, no one knows who her killer was. 

Another reason could be the fact that we don’t associate happiness with horror. We think of screams and agony and painful deaths. We think of people running for their lives, trying to avoid the monster and doing whatever they can to survive. What we don’t think about is smiling, or anything joyful for that matter. We don’t think about laughter resounding through the corridors of a friend’s house, or the soft giggle from a child’s action figure. As humans, we aren’t conditioned to feel that way, especially in life-threatening situations. 

Thus, the smile brings a level of dissonance that seems so surreal. Our brains are trying to make sense of what our eyes see. But with our instincts screaming at us to get away, we fail to do so. As I’ve stated, we don’t connect happiness with horror, so it makes it all the more terrifying when a person wearing that wide smile comes towards us, blood dripping from his mouth. We can’t just compromise our own selves with whoever is wearing that smile, so we do the first thing that comes to mind; run.

That smile has been used to convey a certain type of fright that has intruded upon what we consider normal. The polite smiles of our acquaintances, the crazy grins of our best friends, and even the troubling beam of the Joker; there are different smiles used for different occasions. In this case, the smile has been used to destroy lives, whether or not we were prepared. We can’t reconcile the situation with our understanding, and it’s because of that element that the smile has gained such infamy in horror novels.