Attraction to Horror

Horror has been a popular genre since the day it was created, yet through the recent years it has become more and more extreme.

   People now crave to be scared as audiences go to a film to create emotions, such as a tragedy is meant to make you sad and a comedy makes you happy. Other feelings that arise while watching these sort of films include an adrenaline rush such as an increase of the heart rate, faster breathing and muscle tension. We also get the fight or flight response which gives the body a natural high as we question our next step. On top of these we as an audience enjoy experiencing such horrors from a safe distance. The film takes away from the social norms and we use this as a distraction from our own lives. Finally from watching horror movies we are given a sense of achievement and confidence, if you go all the way through a horror movie without turning it off it gives you a self esteem boost. 

  Scientist have proven that our brain is much more advanced than animals, for instance because we are constantly creating scenarios and delving deeper into situations we are more prone to worry which can lead to the feeling of fear. 

  Although there is also a chemical factor to the reason why some people enjoy fear while others don’t. When our body finds something scary the hormone dopamine is released, however some enjoy this more than others. 

Barry, J. (2015) Watch Movies Online Free: Why Do People Love Watching Horror Films?. Available at: https://viewlorium.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/watch-movies-online-free-why-do-people-love-watching-horror-films/ (Accessed: 3 May 2015)

References:

Anon. (no date) Horror Movies: Why People Love Them. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/7949-horror-movies-people-love.html (Accessed: 2 May 2015)

Anon. (no date) Why We Love to be Scared. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/4273-love-scared.html (Accessed: 2 May 2015)

The Atlantic and Ringo, A. (2013) Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?. Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/why-do-some-brains-enjoy-fear/280938/ (Accessed: 3 May 2015)