Horror monsters come in various forms but common to them is the fact that they're all created to evoke negative emotions, such as fear, disgust, and anxiety. A tour through the history of horrifying baddies reveals how they reflect society's fears, from the threat of communism and consumerism to sexual promiscuity.
Brandon said that horror films play a positive role in shaping many aspects of life and society. “Horror has the ability to comment more profoundly on the human condition and humanity as a whole than any other film genre,” said Brandon. “Horror confronts society through metaphor and reflection.”
Cinema serves as a mirror to society, reflecting its joys, struggles, and complexities. Through films, we witness stories that resonate with our own experiences, making us feel connected and understood. It portrays diverse cultures, lifestyles, and issues, promoting audience empathy and understanding.
Horror movies help us gain coping skills and boost resilience. Facing your fears and being aware of your emotions are the first steps in learning how to navigate them.
What horror films reveal about society's deepest fears?
Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist (2015) offer deep insights into the representation of societal fears—more specifically, into America's fear of lack of privacy and control as a result of technological advancements.
What horror films teach us about ourselves and being human | Dr. Steven Schlozman | TEDxNashville
How do horror films reflect society?
Horror monsters come in various forms but common to them is the fact that they're all created to evoke negative emotions, such as fear, disgust, and anxiety. A tour through the history of horrifying baddies reveals how they reflect society's fears, from the threat of communism and consumerism to sexual promiscuity.
What does psychology say about people who like horror movies?
Numerous studies have demonstrated that those high in the trait of sensation seeking tend to enjoy horror. 5 Sensation seeking is the tendency to look for novel, risky, or intense experiences.
Those experiences inform the way we behave, think and form social circles.” And the course reveals universal antidotes to horror: empathy, compassion and love. “Horror is a disruptive force that emphasizes the positive forces we value: coming together as a community, putting others first or self-love,” says Fletcher.
Scary stories can show children that it is okay to be afraid and that they can use their brains to solve problems, even when they are frightened or use their natural survival instincts to safely escape from dangerous situations.
They are designed to frighten, shock and disgust while evoking our worst hidden fears, ironically captivating and entertaining us at the same time. Horror films are centered around the dark side of life, the forbidden and strange, unexplainable events.
Movies can evoke powerful emotions in viewers. For example, a 2011 study showed that watching a horror film resulted in an increase in feelings of fear among viewers. A similar effect was also noticed with watching a sad film, which led to experiencing sadness and aggressive movies, which led to experiencing hostility.
Cinema is an edited reality and a mirror of society. While society decides morality, films are desperate to connect with the audience and fulfil what the society fancies.
Horror entertainment can trigger the fight-or-flight response, which comes with a boost in adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine. The brain can then process surroundings and conclude that the experience is not a genuine threat. This knowledge of personal safety is one reason horror fans habitually watch scary movies.
What role do you think horror stories have in today's society?
Reading and writing horror also often serves as a form of emotional release, in which people can confront and process their own fears in a controlled and safe environment. In other words: we can experience danger from a safe distance.
Scary movies, books and podcasts can help people think through how they would respond to threats and prepare them for worst-case scenarios, say experts who study the psychology of fear.
Maybe it's the opportunity to feel part of a frightening situation while taking comfort in the safety of home. Maybe horror allows us to explore darker parts of ourselves. Horror can convey social commentary, as well.
Horror stories show readers the need for safety, spanning life and damnation and the gradations in between, including injury, illness, unconsciousness, and death. Damnation is a fate worse than death, which looms large and lurks around every dark corner in all horror stories.
Horror is a genre of literature, film, and television that is meant to scare, startle, shock, and even repulse audiences. The key focus of a horror novel, horror film, or horror TV show is to elicit a sense of dread in the reader through frightening images, themes, and situations.
Learning how to handle our fears, that it's okay to be afraid and that everyone is afraid at some point, are important life lessons for children. Scary stories, like dangerous circumstances, trigger an emotional response in the amygdala that releases adrenaline, a chemical that stimulates people to fight or flee.
We watch scary movies because they help us to release our anxiety and fears deep inside our conscious. The Greek Philosopher Aristotle introduced “catharsis,” which is a process where we release our negative emotions by watching violent or scary movies. In other words, they help us to “purge” our aggressive emotions.
Research suggests that those who enjoy horror have a psychological “protective frame” that falls into three categories. First is a safety frame. Watching a horror film or show means we have to know for sure that we are safe, and that the evil entity is distant and cannot hurt us.
“Horror shows us what we're afraid of,” CU Boulder Sociology Professor Laura Patterson said. “As society changes and we have different prominent fears, you definitely see that reflected in different horror films.” For example, she said, science fiction monster films from the '60s show a clear fear of nuclear fallout.
People with anxiety are more likely to be negatively affected by horror movies. Chronic anxiety increases sensitivity to startle stimuli, the researchers explain. As a result, it makes people who are already stressed and anxious more likely to react negatively.
One reason we consume horror is to experience stimulation. Exposure to terrifying acts, or even the anticipation of those acts, can stimulate us — both mentally and physically — in opposing ways: negatively (in the form of fear or anxiety) or positively (in the form of excitement or joy).
