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The Psychology of Horror Movies: Why We Either Love Them or Hate Them

The deeper reasons behind your reaction to this genre.

Ghostly female face with transparent reflections behind her
CREDIT: ELÍNA ARÁJA/PEXELS

Why do some people crave the surge of fear induced by on-screen horror while others painstakingly avoid it? Great thinkers have been investigating the human fascination with horror since ancient times and with all the modern advancements in film technology, this fascination is only growing. Still, there are those of us who consciously avert our eyes from the lifelike visions of horror directors. While there is no definitive explanation for why a person falls into one category or the other, experts have concocted plenty of plausible theories. See which one makes sense to you…

Is Our Reaction Hardwired?

Glenn Sparks, Ph.D., a professor and associate head of the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, says that “some people are simply wired to enjoy higher levels of physiological arousal”. Naturally, these people seek out activities that cause an adrenaline rush. When I talked to my horror-loving friends, Dag and Amy, they both compared their experience of watching horror movies to the thrill of riding a rollercoaster.

“I like the thrill… you never know when something will try to scare you, it’s like a rollercoaster. Most of the time I don’t get scared but when I do it’s so fun, I love it haha.”

Dag

This reaction to horror relates to the Sensation Seeking Theory proposed by Marvin Zuckerman in 1979. In short, people who score high on the Sensation Seeking Scale tend to have “a greater interest in exciting things like rollercoasters, bungee jumping, and horror films”. However, even Zuckerman recognized that it’s misleading to focus on only one trait when there are so many reasons why someone might be drawn to horror.

Interestingly, brain scan research shows that scary movies don’t actually activate fear responses in the amygdala (“the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli”). This means that we’re not truly being scared by the movies, at least not in terms of brain chemistry. So what exactly are horror fans experiencing?

Studies suggest that in order to find delight in being “horrified” we must possess a psychological “protective frame”. In other words, we need to believe that we are physically safe and that the people we see on screen are just actors. With this “safety frame” in place, many people can enjoy having vicarious experiences of “excitement, danger, or fear”, things that they wouldn’t experience in everyday life.

As Amy explains:

“There’s something about putting yourself in a scary situation but you’re in the comfort of your own home. You’re experiencing fear but it’s not directly impacting you.”

Screenshot from Jordan Peele's Us showing a young boy with a white mask standing in a fire
CREDIT: US/MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS

For me (and apparently 64 percent of people), most horror movies are still too scary to watch even if I’m in the comfort of my own home… surrounded by friends, in broad daylight! So, are we just wired differently? Well, it’s been shown that individuals with variations in the COMT gene (which influences how our body processes dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) “actually startle faster and calm down slower when viewing unsettling images”.

According to a 2009 study, highly sensitive individuals may also “be more likely to have intense physiological reactions to horror films”. As this genre centers on extreme human suffering, it makes sense that people with higher levels of empathy don’t enjoy it as much.

To be honest, I am capable of watching and even enjoying some milder horror movies. It’s more so the aftereffects I am concerned about: the creepy psychological elements and visuals that I just know will show up in my brain when I’m trying to fall asleep. A couple of years ago I watched Jordan Peele’s Us because I was intrigued by its deep symbolism. Though I was not disappointed in that regard, there were some scenes that stayed vividly in my mind for months afterward, unsettling me from time to time. This is in direct contrast to the experience of my friends who generally forget about the scary parts as soon as the movie ends.

Overlapping Experiences

Like a good horror movie, our relationship to this genre is more complex than it seems. For Dag, the positive parts of the movie are actually more memorable than the scary scenes:

“Once the movie is over I don’t really think about it or remember the scary parts. But if something cute or happy happened I remember it and rewatch it on YouTube. In one of the Conjuring movies, the guy played guitar with the kids and I loved the scene so much I would go back to rewatch it.”

Her experience correlates to the Excitation Transfer Theory which suggests that “the negative feelings created by horror movies actually intensify the positive feelings” you feel later when the victim triumphs or when you’re having fun with your friends after the movie.

Though most of us claim to either love or hate watching scary movies, there are many different categories of horror watching. If you engage in “Independent Watching” you have “high empathy for the victim with a high positive effect of overcoming fear”. If you engage in “Problem Watching”, on the other hand, you still have “high empathy for the victim” but it’s “characterized by negative feelings of helplessness at the end of the film”.

According to a 2007 study, “horror seekers” and “horror avoiders” actually experience similar negative emotions when watching a movie but their positive emotions are different. While the positive emotions of horror seekers actually grow in proportion to their fear, it’s the opposite for the other group. Horror avoiders only feel happier when the scary parts are over.

Some of the best horror movies are also amazing comedies.

Center Row

Sometimes these movies can elicit an even more joyful response which my friend Logan, who is also a film student, can attest to:

“I like watching horror movies usually because they feel like watching a comedy but it’s clear everyone creating it had no intention for the film to be comedic, and somehow that makes it even funnier. It’s one of the most hilarious experiences when there’s a poorly thought out buildup of suspense for some cheap stupid gag to come out at the end. The way characters behave is also funny because they act in a way no ordinary person in such a scenario would act.”

Nevertheless, he still prefers the movies that cause him to feel uneasy:

Midsommar and Last Night In Soho are my favorite horror films because they make me feel impressed by how on edge they make me feel. It’s rare for a piece of fiction to do that for me so when it happens it amazes me. Something these films do differently is they stray away from the typical dark lighting and spooky monster premise and instead focus on real ideas.”

Screenshot from Edgar Wright's Last Night In Soho showing a female performer in a frilly dress hanging upside down
CREDIT: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO/FILM4 PRODUCTIONS, PERFECT WORLD PICTURES, WORKING TITLE FILMS, COMPLETE FICTION PICTURES

Indeed, the more relevance a horror movie has, whether personal or cultural, the scarier it is. When horror directors present real-world issues on-screen, they also give viewers the chance to safely explore topics that are often avoided.

“I think it’s a really cool way to explore themes, especially taboo issues like sexuality and gender, female puberty and periods. It makes us question things like why are we demonizing female sexuality and pubescence when it’s completely normal? It’s a common theme in horror that a girl who comes of sexual maturity is a danger to herself and others, and becomes this evil thing. Carrie is a big example of that.”

Amy

Amy also appreciates how some horror movies not only stimulate us emotionally but also intellectually.

“It’s also like a mental work-out sometimes, the ones I watch anyway, because I don’t particularly love jump-scare horrors, like horror for the sake of horror. But with movies like Get Out and Us, you’re thinking the whole time “What does this mean? What’s going on?” and then when you figure it out you kind of have to decode it at the end. You know, even still, like two years after it’s come out, there’s so much more that you can get every time from watching Us. So I think there’s a lot of depth to be found in horror.”

As director John P. Hess notes, “there are many reasons why people watch horror and sometimes those motivations might change from day to day or from movie to movie”. While it’s fun to ponder different theories, horror as a genre is predicated on our fear of the unknown, so maybe it’s better that we don’t fully understand the effect it has on us.

Just graduated from UCC with a BA in music and English. My other passions include learning languages, astrology, and art.

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