Gore Go-Getters

WHY PEOPLE ARE SO ATTRACTED TO HORROR MOVIES Written by Kora Quinn, Arts Editor

As someone who would rather watch hours of Disney over a scary movie any day, I’ve always been fascinated with how many people are truly attracted to horror. It’s a genre built on fear and the uncanny, two things most people want to avoid in their personal lives. But when it comes to entertainment, people eat it up. As it turns out, psychology has an explanation for that. What we know as the horror genre today didn’t exist until the 1930s, but “spook films” have been around since the late 1800s.1 The first ever spook film, “House of the Devil,” was a three minute silent film released in 1896 by Georges Méliès, a French illusionist turned filmmaker. Méliès is known for pioneering many special effects in the earliest stages of silent film, when everything appeared in blacks and whites and gave off an eerie shadow effect. Karina Wilson, who works in television and feature film development, writes on her website, “Pioneers like the Lumière Brothers and George Méliès learned how to tweak and manipulate images on film. They created special effects on screen, such as spirits, dancing skeletons, giant creature and sudden appearances and disappearances. The supernatural could now appear in the same frame as the natural—and entertain an audience like nothing before.”2 As spook films and horror movies started to gain traction, so did public outcry. The genre started to unnerve viewers, and censoring became more common with each release.3 The first adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” in 1910 included a disclaimer from the Edison Company catalogue that read, “In making the film the Edison Co. has carefully tried to

¹ “How Horror Movies Have Changed Since Their Beginning,” New York Film Academy, 2015. ² Karina Wilson, “The First Silent Horror Movies,” Horror Film History, 2005-2020. ³ “How Horror Movies Have Changed Since Their Beginning,” New York Film Academy, 2015. eliminate all actual repulsive situations and to concentrate its endeavors upon the mystic and psychological problems that are to be found in this weird tale. Wherever, therefore, the film differs from the original story it is purely with the idea of eliminating what would be repulsive to a moving picture audience.”4 Despite this early hesitation, horror movies continued to grow in popularity among audiences. Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, filmmakers tried anything and everything to scare audiences. These became known as the “gimmicky” years of horror, as modern audiences tend to find them funny rather than scary. Gimmicky or not, from the late ‘60s onward, American audiences were so hungry for gore that horror movies and slasher films continued to find success.

The question is, why have horror movies gripped audiences so successfully since their creation in the 1890s? The straightforward answer is that they’re entertaining for the same reason roller coasters are entertaining: it’s the thrill and adrenaline that comes with being scared. But there are psychological explanations for why people are attracted to horror movies, too. Søren Birkvad, a film scholar interviewed by Science Norway, lists a couple reasons for this, the first being that horror is a way of unraveling evil.5 Unless you move within deeply religious circles, discussions around true evil are becoming increasingly rare. Birkvad says, “We simply do not believe in the demonic as a force in itself . . . However, in popular culture—and especially in the world of film—evil is presented as an independent phenomenon through the horror genre.” The second reason why people are attracted to horror is that it teaches us

⁴ Karina Wilson, “The First Silent Horror Movies,” Horror Film History, 2005-2020. ⁵ Sigrun Dancke Skaare, “Why do we like watching horror films?” Science Norway, 2017. how to handle our own anxiety through a process called “emotion regulation.” Emotion regulation is the ability to exert control over one’s own emotional state, usually practiced by rethinking a challenging situation to reduce anger or anxiety, or focusing on reasons to feel calm.6 Birkvad points out, “In this perspective, the horror film becomes a way to test our personal and collective limits in a safe environment.”7

That being said, for those who suffer from anxiety or high sensitivity, it’s recommended to avoid the horror genre, or limit your exposure to it. For those who can process horror movies for what they are, an illusion, there’s no harm in watching them. However, horror movies are intentionally designed to provoke tension, fear, stress and shock responses.8 This can negatively affect wellbeing if images from horror movies are internalized into your dreams, potentially triggering nightmares and disrupting REM sleep.9 Furthermore, those that suffer from anxiety sensitivity—the fear of bodily sensations associated with anxiety and a misinterpretation of these sensations as being real threats—are more likely to experience intrusive thoughts and unwanted feelings when watching horror movies.10

That is not to say that horror movies are bad for you, or should be avoided all together. In fact, for those that can take them for what they are, these films can be helpful in managing personal anxiety and negative emotions. The important takeaway is to know yourself, know what affects you in negative ways and take breaks from this kind of content when you feel it’s necessary. ■

⁶ “Emotion Regulation,” Psychology Today. ⁷ Sigrun Dancke Skaare, “Why do we like watching horror films?” Science Norway, 2017. ⁸ Marnie Vinall, “Are Horror Movies Bad for Your Mental Health?” Healthline, 2020. ⁹ Ibid. ¹⁰ Ibid.