Ready with your Halloween 2024 watchlist? Understanding why we can't get enough of horror & scary movies

Halloween is here and it is the perfect excuse to grab that bucket of popcorn and line up your favourite scary movies for the ultimate binge session. But before you board the spooky train to horrorville, take a moment to understand why you actually love horror movies. Not you per se, but why do we all love horror movies and what is our weird fascination with this genre?

While horror is meant to induce fear, and it does, but even more than fear it induces a thrill. From whispering urban legends and myths during a sleepover with our friends to telling spooky ghost stories while sitting around by a bonfire at an outdoor camp, there is something about the mystery of the occult that gets our hearts racing.

You can trust scientists and researchers to find out! keep scrolling to understand the science behind our love for all things uncanny as per the revelations of a recent study!

Credit: financebuzz.com/Pinterest | Horror movies on Halloween

According to a study published in the Scientific Reports, researchers found that there are three main reasons why people find horror content thrilling and captivating even if they are fearful of it - morbid curiosity about terror-related topics, a sense of reality in the scene and higher levels of perceived fearfulness.

Since most of our horror literature and cinema portray a dark setting with a gloomy ambience, they somehow inculcate a feeling of telling a tale of the unknown! And the more you watch or read about a tantalizing terror tale, the more you feel that you are closer to finding answers or finally being able to solve the mystery of the unknown occult world. The higher the realness of the movie scenes, whether through acting or graphics, the more your curiosity is satiated which leads to more enjoyment.

Credit: Pinterest | Horror movies on Halloween

While the study elaborated on the mysterious conundrum of finding enjoyment in spooky things, it also highlights the precarious balance between horror and disgust, postulating that while people crave the adrenaline kick they get from watching horror movies the enjoyment is hindered if they find something more disgusting than scary.

Since realism plays a huge role in capturing the attention of the viewers, the movie has to find a balance between how far it can go in terms of the content and the display. For instance, this is why slasher movies are such a tricky piece of content to make. While a serial killer stalking and murdering people is a thrilling watch, too much gore at people are put off by it!

So now, that you do have a clearer idea of your love of horror movies, it's time to hit pause on your life, dim the light and get busy watching your favourite scary flick.

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