The Science Behind Our Love for Horror

I’ve been a lifelong horror movie fan. My husband, not so much.

When we watched our first scary movie together — after much protesting from him — he thought it was hilarious that during the scariest scenes, I covered most of my face and watched with one eye through a crack in my fingers — a technique I had perfected through years of horror movie-watching.

I, on the other hand, was very amused as I watched him develop his own tactics to feel safe through the movie: a mix of yelling expletives at the ghosts on the screen and using our sofa cushion as a pretend gun to keep him safe.*

So, why do we do this to ourselves?

Why do we scare ourselves shitless, especially at the cost of needing all the lights on for the rest of the night, talking loudly when we’re alone in the bathroom, and being a little jumpy when someone is behind us?

Well, turns out, some of us do it because we get a natural high from it.

When humans are in danger, our bodies go into a fight or flight response and our brain releases chemicals that help us put up our best fight or sprint away faster. One of these chemicals is dopamine and research shows that, depending on how you process it, you may get a kick out of this dopamine rush in your body.

So, for some people, watching a scary movie (or walking through a haunted house or riding a rollercoaster) is a way to enjoy the high they get from this fear — even though their body feels like it’s in danger, their brain knows that they are actually safe.

But enjoying doing something scary can be for more than just neurological reasons. Psychologists posit that the sense of accomplishment we feel for facing our fears is additional motivation. Keeping your eyes open through all the scary scenes is definitely something to be proud of.

And then there’s also the general curiosity that humans have with death and possible afterlife — a mystery yet unsolved. Our desire to find a way to explain the unexplained makes these stories captivating, especially if the supernatural can help us understand what comes next. Of course, watching Paranormal Activity will tell you little about life after death and maybe more than you wanted to know about supposed demons and possession, but viewers are drawn to it nonetheless.

A last, and maybe the most interesting explanation for our need for thrills, is that participating in something stressful together bonds people emotionally.

When we feel fear together as a group, it triggers the making of a strong, shared memory. This may be why we still vividly remember those nights sharing stories around a campfire — or as is the case for me, some very memorable walks through haunted houses with friends.

When we trace this thrill-seeking human nature back intro history, it’s clear that humans have been scaring each other with imagined monsters (from the Loch Ness to the Yeti to rakshasas) for a long time now.

But it’s only in the last few centuries that we’ve begun to set up an industry around it.

In the mid-17th century, people invented Russian ice slides, a predecessor to modern day rollercoasters where riders would ride on sleds and speed down a snowy mountain, with some manmade bumps along the way, screaming as they went. Over time, these rides grew scarier, with dark scenes painted on the walls to shock the riders along the way.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, we saw scary stories emerge through gothic poems and novels (think Edgar Allen Poe) and the beginnings of “freak show” attractions where people came to feel frightened and startled by the “oddities” they saw there. Today, this industry has ballooned into everything from books and movies to events and experiences.

So, there you have it! Maybe now you have a better understanding of why you like (or hate!) all things horror.

And maybe you might consider a fear-inducing activity for your next hangout with friends?

For me, I think this just made my case for horror movie date nights a little bit stronger.

*As of our latest horror movie viewing on Halloween last night, we can now add loud declarations that Krishna will save him to this list, lol.