Horror Movies Addictive or Atrocious

By: Sarah Vandermolen Editor-in-Chief

What is there to like about horror movies? With all the blood, guts and gore, how can someone find anything enjoyable? Truthfully, you couldn’t pay me to sit in a dark room, alone, and watch a horror movie.

The nightmares alone would keep me up for weeks, not to mention the sheer amount of anxiety I would have during the day. I would find myself thinking that I was being followed, or that one of my peers is a student during the day and a serial killer at night. My overactive imagination would take control and I wouldn’t be able to return to normal for several days.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would find a horror movie to be enjoyable, let alone be able to say that a horror movie was their favorite movie. I decided that it was crucial for me to investigate this. I simply had to know what it was about these slasher films that kept people coming back. Be warned, there will be spoilers ahead!

One of the obvious answers from www.health.com that I found was, “Being scared can give you a thrilling rush.” Of course scary movies give people a “thrilling rush!” Getting caught up in figuring out who the killer is and why they’re doing what they’re doing can be exciting. Even more thrilling is thinking you have everything figured out, only to find that you’re completely wrong. Talk about a mind-blowing experience.

For example, in the blockbuster hit “Scream”, the film leads the audience to believe that a random stranger is going around killing the students of Woodsboro High. In reality, the killers are actually Sidney’s boyfriend Billy and his friend Stu. Although the movie leads people to believe this, they then convince the audience that the killer is actually someone else. However, when the truth is revealed, you wonder why you trusted the film in the first place!

On the other hand, www.tufts.edu had a completely different idea, The Beast Within Theory, stating, “...although we consciously disapprove of what the monster is doing, deep down part of us enjoys seeing the murder and mayhem the monster unleashes—because if we could, we would do that.” Essentially, people like horror movies because they believe that, deep down, we’re all savages that would do evil, terrible things if we could get away with it. Although I agreed with the last point, this one I simply cannot get behind.

If you watch horror movies because you wish you could do what the killers and the monsters on the screen are doing, maybe you shouldn’t be watching horror movies. The last thing this world needs is a serial killer on the loose. University of St. Francis junior, John Raspante, explains, “Of course I’ve thought about what it would be like to be a killer in a scary movie. But I wouldn’t actually go on a murder spree if given the chance!” What a relief!

Eventually, I decided that if I wanted a solid, realistic answer, I’d have to look at this from a different point of view. I decided that the best way to think about this was from a psychological perspective.

According to www.bustle.com, “A study published in the Journal of Media Psychology found that people watch scary movies for three main reasons: tension, relevance, and unrealism.” Watching horror movies to experience tension touches back on the idea that we watch horror films to feel a thrilling rush. The mystery and the shock of a scary movie gets our blood pumping and our palms sweating.

However, watching a horror movie for relevance seems strange to me. What about a scary movie is relatable? Personally, if I found a horror film that I could relate to, I would stay as far away from it as possible. Why would I want to relive something so traumatizing and disturbing? If I had a psycho-killer stalking me no matter where I went or what I did, I would not be tuning in to watch “Halloween.”

In contrast, I can say that I understand people that watch horror movies for the unrealisticness of it all. Sometimes it’s nice to dissociate from this world and enter another. Although I wouldn’t do this with a horror movie, I guess there are people out there who would. I can safely say that one of the last movies that I would want to get lost in is “Child’s Play,” but suit yourself.

After going over all of the information that I found and really trying to put myself into a horror movie lover's shoes, I finally came to a solid and absolute conclusion.

Fact: I will never like horror movies, ever. However, I now see why someone could find horror movies to be enjoyable. Scary movies offer people an outlet to get lost and away from this world. They can give people a rush so addictive, that they can’t help but to come back for more. Some horror movies can be so strange, twisted and unique that they can’t help but become your favorite.

Although I’ll never relate to horror movie fanatics, I can now say that I understand them.