Bored & Confused: Why do people like watching horror movies?

Nothing is more exciting than watching, laughing and screaming at over-the-top horror movie scenes, from Samara crawling out of a well in "The Ring" (2002) to twins appearing ominously in "The Shining" (1980). But one thing may be even better (and more satisfying): forcing helpless friends to watch these movies while I cower behind pillows at slumber-parties-turned-murder-movie-marathons. Our own screaming may prove to be the scariest screaming of all, as we throw popcorn at looming villains and shriek at victims’ stupidity and their resulting demise. And while it’s all fun and gore, it’s time to ask: Why exactly do people like watching horror movies?

The answer lies in a variety of factors, explains psychologist Glenn Walters.Horror films engage viewers in three ways: tension, relevance and unrealism. The factor of tension, which is “generated by suspense, mystery, terror, shock, and gore” is a given, as movie-goers expect engagement and glamour.

Horror movies accomplish relevance through their break into the psyche, establishing “personal relevance, cultural meaningfulness, the fear of death.” At a macro level, horror movies reflect our own primal fears and trepidation about death and doomsday. At a more personal level, horror movies demonstrate relevance by posing a classic question to the public: What would you do? What would you do if you discovered that your newly-purchased house was haunted? What would you do if a serial killer rampaged about town? I’d cry in every situation.

Unrealism, the distinct departure from reality, also plays a role in horror movies’ popularity. Most events in scary movies are outside everyday drudgery. While audiences can relate to scary movies, they ultimately experience a sense of control and safety in acknowledging classic horror tropes and laughing at their innate outrageousness. Viewers can engage with outlandish images, achieve catharsis and leave a movie theater unscathed.

The best horror movies successfully balance relevance and unrealism. The acclaimed 2008 vampire horror film "Let the Right One In" is a perfect, albeit gory, example, depicting a tender friendship between a bullied boy and a vampire girl. The movie first accomplishes the factor of relevance in its focus on interpersonal relationships, from the victim fearing his bullies to the parent concerned for their child, to a boy seeking friendship in a girl (what would you do if your best friend were a bloodthirsty vampire?). The film addresses fears of rejection and isolation, tugging at heartstrings and causing Empire to laud it as a “devastating, curiously uplifting inhuman drama.” While it is “curiously uplifting,” "Let the Right One In" has equally established its unrealism as “simply bizarre: part of a constellation of freakiness and fascination,” according to The Guardian. The audience still feels safe and in control, comforted by the certainty that such “freakiness” isn’t feasible in the real world, but is entertaining in film. This symmetry between relevance and unrealism drives audiences to see horror movies, even at the risk of sleepless nights.

And while slumber-parties-turned-murder-movie-marathons leave us tossing and turning at night, we always come back for more: more frights, more thrills and definitely more screams.