According to one expert, why fear can be so fun

Every Halloween season people turn up horror movieVenture into haunted houses, wearing costumes scary Halloween costumesand otherwise dare to embark on various goosebumps-inducing experiences. And of course, many of us, myself included, love a good horror movie no matter the time of year.

But why do we try to experience fear – exposing our psychology to serial killers, demons and death in the process? Why would we want to be shocked, scared, fooled or tricked, especially in a world with so much to fear?

As it turns out, there are actually a lot of psychological and scientific reasons why many of us like to be afraid and terrified. (For some of us, Halloween can even make us horny!) Ahead of the spooky holiday, we’re exploring why many of us long to escape our fears instead of just watching a romantic comedy and calling it a night.

Experts featured in this article

Robi LudwigPsyD, is a psychotherapist and frequent contributor to Nightline, CNN, Headline News and Fox.

Why do we like feeling scared?

Fear can spark joy in our brains

It turns out that brain chemistry may be at the heart of why fear is so appealing to some people. Fear is processed by the amygdala, which are clusters of nerve cells deep in the center of our brains. When we feel afraid, The amygdala stimulates the hypothalamusactivates our sympathetic nervous system and adrenal system, sending adrenaline and endorphins throughout our bodies.

All this leads to a physical fever. Our heart rate increases, we start to breathe harder and send more oxygen to the brain, our blood sugar spikes and we often feel stronger and more alert – a feeling that some people have. can be described as “feeling alive”. However, not all types of fear are created equal when it comes to how they take place in the brain and body, and there are big differences between the fear we feel when a threat The threat is real versus when we know that it is not.

“There’s something fun about feeling scared and getting that adrenaline rush while also knowing we’re safe,” Robi Ludwig, PsyD, tells PS. Many recent studies discovered that although a surge of fear of any kind may initially be registered in the body as a sign of danger, as soon as we remember that the threat is not real, Our brains can release floods of dopamine. This can produce a feeling of relief, reducing the intensity of the amygdala’s response and allowing us to feel a pleasant sense of excitement without suffering the more unpleasant consequences that fear has. can cause.

Fear can be a learning experience

All of the above explains why some of us enjoy the feeling that fear creates, but they don’t explain exactly why so many of us are attracted to true crime. , horror movies, and other stories that focus on behavior we are likely to do. never want to interact in real life. It also doesn’t explain why people who don’t like adrenaline rushes still seek out scary experiences. Turns out, according to one series of recent studies conducted at the Danish Fear Entertainment Lab at Aarhus University, many of us may be attracted to fear, horror movies, true crime and the like because subconsciously these can help us feel like we are preparing and learning about ourselves and the world.

By learning as much as we can about how our bodies react to fear and about how other people behave in scary situations, our brains can feel like they’re researching what to do. What if something really bad happens to us? So the next time you go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole to research Jeffrey Dahmer, remember that your brain is probably trying to protect you, in its strange and roundabout way.

We may also be attracted to fear and terror for evolutionary reasons. After all, we are hardwired to focus on threats because tigers often lurk at the edges of our caves. Aarhus University researcher Coltan Scrivner, whose research mainly focuses on the concept of “morbid curiosity” – which he describes as “a common psychological trait” in a general world: “Humans, in general, are designed to be attracted to and alert to potentially dangerous situations.” 2021 research published on ScienceDirect – said Time. “We’re curious about threats in our environment. So whenever we get a hint that there might be information about a danger out there, the attention mechanism in our minds I will activate and guide us to that information.”

Fear can allow us to expose ourselves to negative emotions and taboos

In particular, our passion for horror can actually run deeper than our love of adrenaline or our desire for self-preservation, extending into the shadier aspects of our psyche. According to Dr. Ludwig, another reason we may be drawn to disturbing and twisted stories is because they allow us to get in touch with repressed and taboo aspects of ourselves.

“There is something incredibly thrilling about seeing someone act in a primal way, because these are thoughts and feelings that almost everyone has had,” she explains. “When you’re really angry with someone and you want to see them walk in front of the bus, that feeling may not be permanent; it might just be the fantasy of being able to harm someone and feeling omnipotent rather than vulnerable. But when we look at crime or true crime shows, this allows us looking at very dark emotions and actions that we don’t necessarily own as our own.”

Engaging in terror and fear can also be a way to process and cope with emotions that we often suppress in everyday life. On the other hand, it can also act as an escape from negative emotions. “Fear locks you into the present moment,” says Dr. Ludwig. It is a distraction from other concerns we may have in life, especially when it is for entertainment purposes.” A good fear, she added, can sometimes even “bring us out of feeling depressed or out of a depressive disorder.” Fear can also help some people on an existential level; there’s nothing like watching a victim in “Saw” go through hours of torture to remind you that your life isn’t so bad after all.

Fear can have a cleansing effect on communities

I probably fall into each of the three categories a little bit. I’ve bungee jumped to experience the thrill, researched serial killers for hours trying to understand their motives, and certainly felt very grateful for my own life after watching “Midsommar.” .

But the truth is, the time I enjoy being scared the most (in safe settings) is when I can experience it with someone else. Growing up, I often watched horror movies with my brother, cousins ​​or group of friends and I have fond memories of all of us screaming together, making jokes about their absurdity or otherwise. somehow try to have a great time watching the slashers. , the devil tears apart the screen.

There’s always been a kind of universal thrill to those experiences, and strangely enough, these days, horror movies remind me of home – and by that I mean they remind me of good times that dared each other. into spooky basements, clinging to each other as we got on and off roller coasters or screaming “RUN!” at the TV while watching “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

Of course, everyone experiences fear differently, but one thing is clear: there’s nothing wrong with people wanting to turn on “The Shining” and then hold a seance in an abandoned mansion , just as there is nothing wrong with those who want to cozy up and watch “Hocus Pocus.” We’re all just humans trying our best to live in a scary world and sometimes, a little fear in a safe box seems like just what we need.