Why Do People Like Scary Movies? Halloween, Horror Films & The Science of Fear | Explained

Why do people like being scared?

There’s plenty to love about horror films: interesting stories, iconic characters, great visuals & soundtracks. Even the terrible films are plenty of fun.

But when you think about it, all of these things can be found in less stressful kinds of movies. So why do people keep going back to horror?

To figure that out, I decided to go to the experts. Sociologist Dr Margee Kerr wrote a book on fear. It’s something she’s been studying for more than a decade.

While most people think of fear as a negative emotion, Dr Kerr says it can actually be a good thing.

Specifically, Dr Kerr says there are 3 main reasons why.

The ‘Fight or Flight response’ is what happens when our brain thinks we’re under threat.

Chemicals are released into the body to help us ‘fight our way out’ of the situation, or ‘take flight’.

When our body releases these chemicals, it can feel great. Not only that, but our focus turns to survival, instead of worrying about other things that might be stressing us out.

The other big reason that we have found is that we still feel a sense of accomplishment, even though we’re not in danger.

It might seem crazy, but getting through a stressful movie or game can give you a similar feeling to completing a 5km run.

Also, horror films can also be a really positive social experience that brings people together.

They’re serving to create an experience that is bonding people closer to us. With friends & family, it creates those memories that you talk about years later.

So, if watching horror films is so great, why doesn’t everyone love them?

Enjoying fear is a very individualised thing - a lot of people have a specific type of content they enjoy engaging with.

That could be physically engaging stuff, like thrill rides or more passive activities, like watching scary movies.

But some people don’t like either - that can be based on a combo of their genes and their experiences.

This leads me to my final question. Why do our bodies have such a strong reaction to things that obviously aren’t real?

According to Dr Kerr, we have the ability to think ourselves into different states of emotion. We can think ourselves into a state of fear - once we start thinking of a scary situation, it starts snowballing and our imagination starts building a narrative which has an impact on what our body is doing. In the past we’ve linked scary stories to threat - so our bodies are going to act as if there’s a real threat.

- Nicholas Maher
__

For the past 50 years, Behind the News has been helping to break down current issues and events for young people all around the world. The program is a high-energy, fun way for people to learn about the stories we see in the news, while providing background information that isn’t usually given by other news bulletins.

We have over 1000 stories on all sorts of topics - everything from politics & volcanoes, to online security & fortnite. If you're looking for help to understand something, you'll probably find it on BTN.

Make sure to like & subscribe our videos if you want to stay in the know!

Follow us on Social Media: