“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers. ’tis near Halloween.” As Halloween is approaching there is nothing better to talk about than horror. But what triggers people to love horror to an extent to make a whole season to celebrate it?
Since I was 9 years old, I fell in love with horror, and the rush it gave me. Ever since, this genre made a loving home within my horror-loving heart. However, I never asked myself why I love horror so much, and what is so entertaining about horror movies, shows, books, and video games? So, I went and asked myself, family, and friends. This is what I got:
Horror has been identified in Cambridge Dictionary as “an extremely strong feeling of fear and shock, or the frightening and shocking character of something”.
The adrenaline rush you feel when a horror movie goes complete pin-drop silent for a few moments, only to reveal a loud jump scare is one of the reasons people turn to horror. Other than mere jump scares, the plot of the supernatural and psychological abnormal topics fuels the hunger for excitement and intensity. We can say it is almost similar to waiting in line for a thrilling roller-coaster. Only in horror movies, the thrill creeps deep in your mind. Moreover, when watching a slasher movie, some like to play the detective and find out: Who is the killer? And others like to play the psychologist and find out: Why they did it? Furthermore, another reason to love such a frightening genre is because, horror illustrates a variety of characters. This is beneficial, because some people like to detach themselves from reality. Thus, they watch a horror movie/show or read a book. This allows them to enter the realm of witches/warlocks, vampires/werewolves, and ghosts/genies. At the end, the reasons on why people love horror varies from one to another, but what unifies us as horror-fans is the love we have to keep our minds occupied for a new thrill.
Here is a list of horror movies/shows recommendation, categorized based on the type of horror, which I find to be perfectly splendid!
- Supernatural
- All 6 paranormal activities movies: Individual movies seem to be boring, but when viewers understand the storyline of possessed and missing young boy, the mind gets hungry for more.
- Devil: When stuck in an elevator, the devil choose who to punish.
- The Haunting of Bly Manor: This series is a (perfectly splendid) way to thrill the mind with wild jump scares, and an even wilder plot.
- Psychological Thrillers
- The Boy: The fact that a boy is trapped by his own parents showcase the severity of the loss of mental control people have other their lives
- Ratched: With a nurse out to save a serial killer, the gruesome plot makes the viewers want more.
- American Mary: A feminist horror film, depicts the true power women hold, when tested by the harshness of society.
- Werewolves and Vampires:
- Underworld Franchise: When a vampire that’s professional at killing werewolves falls in love with one, be ready for the plot-twist.
- Blade: A half-vampire and half-mortal becomes a vampire hunter to protect human beings.
- Van Helsing: The most famous vampire hunter is on a mission, is there anything more intense?
- Here are a bunch of questions to discuss with your friends:
- What makes you love/hate horror?
- If you get to be on a horror movie, which character would you play?
- Does horror negatively influence the way people perceive the world?
aaaahhh i cant stand horror, I hate it it! 🙂 i can’t imagine getting pleasure from fear and disturbing imagery.
But to answer your question about its negative impact on our perception, I think it increases the stigma around people with mental illness. Being someone who lives with mental disorders myself, I know what people say about them and other disorders. They think “murderer”, they think “psycho”, “evil”, “dangerous”. It’s all wrong, derogatory, offensive, and the movies do it gratuitously. People find pleasure in watching these things, and I believe movies facilitate the stigma and the hate.
I feel that after watching a horror movie/show, it does affect the perception of the world around them negatively in a sense like for example, after watching the “Devil” one may never be able to see an elevator as they would have before.
Loved your post btw!