Why Do We Like Horror Movies?
Not everyone enjoys them, and even dedicated horror fans sometimes need a break when a film lingers in their minds a little too long. Sometimes, life is too overwhelming already to give ourselves another thing to worry about. Yet, we’re still drawn to the unknown, that sudden jolt of fear, and the nightmares that follow. So why do we like horror movies? Data can help answer this question, often in surprising ways—sometimes with its own plot twists.
Why do we like horror movies, then? YouGov surveyed 1,000 American adults with the same question in 2022 and came up with surprising results that every horror fan must see. One of the survey’s least surprising but most revealing findings was how polarizing horror is. It is hated just as much as it is loved. This was not true for science fiction, western, romance, or any other genre. 25% of the participants love the genre, while 23% hate it.
By comparison, Westerns had a 17% love rate and a 9% hate rate, making them far less divisive than horror… Despite their suspenseful nature, thrillers had a 29% love rate but only a 9% hate rate, showing that they are much more widely accepted than horror.
As much as polarizing as it is, Data from Bo McCready shows that while interest in musicals, westerns, and war movies has steadily declined since 1920, horror has only grown in popularity. Thanks to tools like VPN for Mac, dedicated horror fans can access an even wider variety of terrifying films, including region-blocked classics and foreign horror hits, and sweetly terrify themselves to their core.
According to Greco (2020a), we love watching horror movies because they prepare us for real-life dangers. Our brain processes the experience as if we were facing a real threat and surviving it, triggering the release of dopamine and creating a sense of accomplishment. Even though we consciously know we’re just watching a movie, the brain still releases these hormones, increasing self-confidence in a controlled environment.
According to this hypothesis, horror fans consciously or subconsciously prepare themselves for dangerous situations by watching horror movies. It serves as a way to train their minds on how to react in negative environments and be prepared before they happen. Horror films can also evoke emotions a person has never experienced before, allowing them to process fear in a controlled setting.
A study by the University of Chicago and Aarhus University’s Recreational Fear Lab supports this idea. Researchers found that people who regularly watched horror movies showed greater resilience during the pandemic than those who did not. Why? Because horror functions as practice. While we may forget the physical sensations of fear, our brain retains the experience, helping us manage real-world stress more effectively.
We both love and hate horror movies. Some can binge Hereditary and The Exorcist in one night—at the expense of sleeping with the lights on, maybe. Others avoid horror entirely, but in doing so, they might be missing out on an unexpected benefit: preparing themselves for worst-case scenarios.