My relationship with horror films is one massive contradiction. On the one hand, I can’t peel my eyes away from the screen. On the other hand, I know that I’m surely going to be spooked in the aftermath (the more paranormal content, the creepier it is). And yet, I’m drawn to frightening movies anyway, in dark rooms and late at night. (Go big or go home, right?)
“Why do you do that to yourself?” family members ask, after it’s apparent that my vivid, disturbing dreams are probably a byproduct of the storylines I watched before sleep: John Cusack spends the night in a haunted hotel room and loses his mind. He escapes the room, physically, but does he ever really leave? The spirit of a murder victim lingers around the Yankee Peddler Inn — she’s seeking vengeance. Religion turns dark and exorcisms occur. Ouija boards just encompass freakiness.
Why are we so drawn to things that scare us?
Since I assume full responsibility for my viewing participation, this leads me to perusing psychological research to see what the experts say about being captivated by terror-filled flicks.
Leslie Fink’s article explains that there is a ‘desired effect’ that individuals who partake in the horror film genre wish to achieve.
Jeffrey Goldstein, a professor of social and organizational psychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and other social psychologists claim that we may watch horror for various purposes. It’s a distraction from the daily routines of life; we want to counter social norms; we seek an adrenaline rush; and we hope to voyeuristically glimpse fright from a distance. “You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you,” Goldstein said.
By Lauren Suval