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Why horror is so popular

#1
C C Offline
http://sciencenordic.com/why-horror-so-popular

EXCERPT: Imagine you’re an alien anthropologist sent to Earth to document the behaviour of the strange bipedal mammals who inhabit the planet. You stumble into a movie theater that’s showing the latest Hollywood horror film. [...] What on earth is going on? Why do these humans voluntarily expose themselves to what appears to be a deeply unpleasant experience? [...]

I am fascinated with the paradox of horror -- the strange fact that many people seek out scary entertainment. It’s the topic of my new book, *Why Horror Seduces*, and also of my TEDx talk [...] which you can see at the top of this article. [...] My research suggests that humans evolved to find pleasure in situations that allow us to experience negative emotions in a safe context. You can see these element of horror in children’s games. Take hide-and-seek for example, which is a simulation of a predator-prey interaction. [...]

Horror is pleasurable to many people because it lets us play with negative emotions and develop coping strategies. We learn what it feels like to be truly afraid, and we learn how to handle negative emotion. [...] My research suggests that horror works by exploiting an ancient set of biological defence mechanisms -- an evolved fear system.That system evolved to protect us from danger, and we share it with other animals....

MORE: http://sciencenordic.com/why-horror-so-popular
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#2
Syne Offline
I doubt it has as much to do with "experienc[ing] negative emotions in a safe context" as it does having evolved to handle real threats on a regular basis. Like any adrenal response, manageable threats are life-affirming, and the reward for overcoming threats is a greater survival potential. In our largely safety-padded world, those instincts don't get much stimulation. But I don't think anyone develops any real coping strategies from horror movies...insulated from the real, visceral reaction to imminent threat. Nor do I think hide-and-seek has any predator-prey element of terror.

Personally, I've never quite understood the appeal of horror movies. They just don't really provoke the response they seem to in others.
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#3
Magical Realist Offline
Horror done well creates a sense of the uncanny or eerie--of a consciousness where we weren't expecting one. C.S. Lewis talked about this. It's like children playing at burglars with a long rope, and then suddenly they feel a firm tug from the other end. That's the chilling grip of the Other manifesting it's presence in our mundane and peaceful little world. I think of Cronenburg's remake of the Fly for example. This is also why horror is so often linked to the supernatural, which doesn't of its nature even require a malevolent intent. It is the horror of something in its very being, and not in its actions. We are horrified by the walking corpse, the ghost, the demoniac, the monster, or the old witch, because of what they are. What they do is ancillary and more alligned with terror and being terrorized.
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