Picture the last time you watched a horror movie. Did you feel scared? Enthralled? Fascinated? Even disgusted? Many people enjoy watching horror movies for the sole purpose of getting scared. There are so many ways horror movies can affect us mentally and physically. Many movies are filled with graphics that are unsettling to some. That brings up the question of why people love horror movies so much.
According to Harvard Business Review, watching horror movies can negatively affect people by giving them fear and anxiety, but for some, it can actually have a positive effect by bringing excitement and joy. Watching a horror movie can trigger both these positive and negative emotions. With these emotions that become triggered, you may also experience the release of adrenaline.
Horror movies allow you to experience a stimulation that differs greatly from your real lives. You are so used to your everyday life that you become bored of that normal and desire to find something different from that norm. We watch horror movies to gain that experience that can allow you to live out different realities.
Sofia Almeida, a junior, enjoys watching scary movies.
“I get excited to watch them, because I love horror movies. I like the adrenaline rush. I get really shaky in my hands, but it is just the adrenaline that comes along with watching the movie,” Almeida shares.
According to Everyday Health, the sympathetic nervous system can trigger someone to go into ‘flight or fight.’ This can cause a release of adrenaline which can actually increase your survivor instincts. The effects can improve your verbal and cognitive performance.
Another thing someone experiences is a release of dopamine that sends pleasurable messages across the body. Studies have shown that an increase of dopamine into the bloodstream can actually lessen one’s overall reaction time to these scary situations.
Shayden Tuttle, a senior, also likes watching scary movies.
“I like to watch to see if they scare me. I feel like I have watched too many, that I am pretty much numb to it all,” Tuttle explains.
Scary movies are something that we are all exposed to at some point in our lives. Some people avoid them like the plague, and some enjoy the feeling that they have when they watch them. Who knew that actual science is behind the reason why so many people love horror movies?
According to Rotten Tomatoes, “The Exorcist,” “Hereditary,” “The Conjuring,” “The Shining,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Ring,” “Halloween,” “Sinister,” “Insidious,” and “IT” are the scariest movies one can watch.
Will you test this and watch them yourself?
