Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.dominionpost.com
Entertainment
WVU photo
Dr. Elizabeth Cohen holds a ghost mask outside of WVU’s Field Hall earlier this month.
Horror movies are synonymous with the Halloween season just like candy and pumpkins. But why are audiences drawn to entertainment designed to frighten them?
According to Elizabeth Cohen, a professor of communications at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the answer is pretty simple.
“Horror appeals to people because it taps into our morbid curiosity,” Cohen said. “We are all born with an innate sense of disgust that is our body’s way of keeping us away from things that could hurt us — including death.”
Cohen also noted that people who enjoy horror movies are called high sensation seekers, people who like to have a rush of adrenaline or enjoy heightened senses such as fear or adrenaline.
“There is research stating that those types of people are going to gravitate more toward entertainment that provides more exciting or thrilling experiences,” she said.
While horror movies can satisfy a desire for thrills or morbid curiosity, the genre also allows audiences to experience fear without facing the dangers depicted on screen.
“It’s like a little bit of an emotional training ground,” Cohen said. “But it’s safe because you can constantly reassure yourself it’s not real.”
Familiarity may also play a role in horror’s appeal, even when the films are designed to frighten audiences.
“Some films in this genre feature a killer that stalks a group of victims with the intent to murder them – usually to settle a score or in some response to trauma,” Cohen said. “I think one of the reasons this genre resonates with its fans is because they enjoy that the antagonists have clear identities and histories, which makes their bloodlust more frightening, dare I say, more human.”
Cohen added one of the other reasons watchers keep coming back to the horror genre is because they are formulaic.
“These films all also have a lot of the same tropes, like a lot of jump scares,” she said. “Even though they are scary with twists and turns during the film, there’s some comfort in their overall predictability.”
Although horror movies share the goal of frightening audiences, the genre offers different experiences depending on the type of story being told.
Slasher films often center on killers and physical threats, while psychological horror focuses more heavily on fear, tension and uncertainty. Cohen noted the subgenres can offer distinctly different experiences, even though both are designed to scare viewers.
“The only thing they have in common is that they’re designed to scare,” she said.
