Why do we even like this stuff?

Hi fellow horror nerds!

I'm on a bit of a streaking reading up on the paradoxical appeal of the horror genre, a form of entertainment that paradoxically aims to make its audience feel bad. I think that, whatever explains why people such as myself would want to engage with horrific entertainment is bound to tell us a lot about human psychology. Whatever else you may think of the genre, you have to acknowledge that people's attraction to it is kind of weird.

Are you familiar with the work of horror researcher Mathias Clasen, for instance? He has a new TED video in which he addresses these questions. I find his evolutionary approach fascinating and even compelling. In a nutshell, he argues that horror represents a kind of danger simulator within which people can acquire adaptive experience with the dangerous and the unknown:



If you're familiar with his approach, what do you think about it? Are you persuaded? If not, what do you think accounts for the appeal of the genre?

Hoping to get a bit of a discussion going :)

Comments

  • I think he sounds very short sighted, and pretty much like an idiot if his perception of horror media doesn't grow away from this

    While we do seek more and more 'extreme' stories, they don't always scare us, and the fact that people have favorite sub-genres disprove all most all he has to say. If he was right, the sort of horror genre wouldn't matter in the slightest.

    Not do long time horror fans, with tons of scenario experience become automatically more adapted to fear in other areas of life. Simply put, horror fans as a group are not less fearful of public speaking more immune to phobias than non horror fans

    It was the cow...

  • I get a kick out of horror the same way some people do on roller coasters (and I hate those!) - the thrill of being scared whilst knowing that I'm actually pretty safe.

    Having said that, I thoroughly enjoy all types/sub-genres of horror even if I'm NOT scared.

    I did some digging into this when I wrote a dissertation on the genre at Uni - I read the works of writers such as Carol Clover and Julia Kristeva, who writes about human beings' fascination with the 'abject' - that which is horrifying/disgusting. It's fascinating, but sometimes they stray too far away from what is really going on here - it's a form of entertainment. You can't look too deeply into it IMO - I watch horror movies because they're fun.
  • Yeah, agreed

    And another thing, if there was any merit to what he was saying, most horror, especially early horror would have to be about sabertooth tigers, and more "real" scary creatures even if they were just fiction creations, like vampires and werewolves, and yet, it's just a subgenre, not a majority of horror stories

    It was the cow...

  • Thanks for the link! I read your OP and thought of my reaction to the most recent horror movie I watched that affected me a lot vs a highly acclaimed TV series that left me cold.
    You're Next just knocked it out of the park as a home invasion thriller. A good horror movie takes a regular situation (squabbling family gathering), then takes it to places you'd never want to go IRL.
    Black Mirror, otoh, just left me unaffected. It was very well made and I can see why it's so acclaimed. But for me it was cold, clinical and detached.
    Maybe liking horror is a bit like reading murder mysteries. Mysteries are very popular, and read by people who (most likely), won't encounter that situation in the real world.
  • The Genre is a test.

    Fans of the most extreme joust are true to themselves. . .

    Why should we defend this..? True horror fans have nothing to worry about.



    ~God of the fly.. release your seed of filth, to grow and conquer, on death, on myself..~
  • It's just a genre

    Why are we attracted to sappy love stories? Sentimental nostalgia? Shit blowing up?
  • I have mixed feelings on this Ted Talk.
    I started watching "monster movies" at a young age. My first being Universal's Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff. I progressed to "scarier" things (Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween,Etc.)
    Then at the age of Twelve, I discovered so much more could be done with the film genre. I happened upon David Lynch's Blue Velvet and was off to the races with seeking out the off beat and bizarre.
    I currently am more attracted to some of the more extreme and thought provoking films in the genre, which are coming out of Europe (ie. Eden Lake, Martyrs, Frontiers, The Inside, Rec) while I do believe I have become a tad desensitized to realistic gore, I have found this to be rather beneficial in emergency situations that life sometimes throws at an individual.
    These movies can really put us more in touch with our humanity and breed more compassion and understanding for our fellow human beings....
  • I've seen things like this before, and when I think about how young children who have not yet watched scary/horror movies often seem to gravitate toward things that are thrilling (albeit from a safe distance away!)

    Watch young kids at a zoo. A good many of them run straight to the lions, tigers, and bears because those creatures are dangerous. They can watch them in awe but still feel safe behind the glass or bars. Go to a big aquarium and the sharks will likely be the highlight of the day.

    I can't help but think that it's the same for horror movie fans. We know we're safe at home or at the cinema house, and we're watching stories about dangerous people or situations. Perhaps it is the same type of thrill?

    I used to work at a haunted house attraction and noticed the same thing there. People of all ages gravitated toward it, and one of the most common questions they asked the ticket counter was "Will anyone touch me?" Of course, the answer was no... actors were forbidden to physically touch the visitors. Feeling reassured by that, people bought tickets and seemed to have a blast screaming at ever creak and chain rattle as they went through. A "dangerous" situation with guaranteed safety.





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