You and I both know that horror memes, as much as they try, are never quite as terrifying as horror movies or chilling true crime stories. But that doesn’t change the fact that many of us are drawn to the scary and spooky.
On the surface, it might seem contradictory, but researchers Haiyang Yang, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and Kuangjie Zhang, an assistant professor at Nanyang Business School, have a pretty interesting psychological take on this fascination.
One reason we gravitate toward horror is to experience stimulation. According to Yang and Zhang, exposing ourselves to frightening things—like stories of demonic possession or alien infestations—can be both mentally and physically stimulating. These experiences elicit a mix of negative emotions, like fear or anxiety, and positive ones, like excitement or joy. And as it turns out, we often feel the most exhilarated when we’re feeling the most scared.
Horror also gives us a taste of experiences we wouldn’t normally have, like surviving a zombie apocalypse. “Some novel experiences can even contribute to our sense of accomplishment, like visiting a notorious haunted house. Being adventurous in this way makes us feel more worldly or daring—not to mention grants us bragging rights,” Yang and Zhang write.
On top of that, horror taps into our curiosity about the dark side of human nature. We don’t usually come face-to-face with villains or monsters in real life (thank goodness), but it’s natural to wonder about what people are capable of. As Yang and Zhang put it, seeing characters wrestle with their darker sides can be a way for us to explore that curiosity without the real-life danger.
However, while some of us are die-hard horror fans, others are repulsed by it. Yang and Zhang say it all comes down to something called a “protective frame,” which helps horror lovers enjoy the thrills without feeling overwhelmed. This frame has three key parts: feeling safe, staying detached, and having confidence in handling whatever comes your way.
The safety frame relates to our need to feel physically secure. For example, we can enjoy a horror movie about a terrifying evil entity as long as we’re convinced it’s confined to the screen. But if we start believing the creature might emerge from our TV, like Samara from The Ring, it’s a whole different story.
The detachment frame refers to our ability to psychologically separate ourselves from what we’re watching. It’s a reminder that the horror is fictional, full of special effects and skilled acting. Just because zombies are running rampant in a movie doesn’t mean they’ll be banging on our apartment door any second.
