{"id":37989,"date":"2020-10-26T14:25:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T14:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=37989"},"modified":"2020-10-26T14:25:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T14:25:51","slug":"oh-the-horror-the-effects-of-watching-horror-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/oh-the-horror-the-effects-of-watching-horror-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Oh, the horror!&#8217; &#8211; the effects of watching horror movies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With Halloween this week and Covid-19 halting all trick-or-treating plans, it\u2019s only fitting to stay in and watch a scary film. But what are the benefits of watching horror movies and what makes them enjoyable?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of the obvious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/how-do-horror-movies-affect-your-mental-health#physiological-effects\">effects<\/a> revolve around the release of adrenaline from feeling scared or threatened. Hearts beat faster, palms start sweating and minds begin to race with irrational thoughts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The majority will agree that horror movies bring the possibility for nightmares and sleepless nights. They\u2019ll say they see no benefits from watching and will believe those that enjoy horror to be insane.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there may be an explanation as to why some hide behind the sofa and others watch in fascination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of the effects of horror movies stem from the brain. It\u2019s our ability to deal with the \u2018fight or flight\u2019 response and rationalise reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This video explains the brain\u2019s reaction in more detail:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why certain brains love horror movies\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OAW_B4d3wRM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OAW_B4d3wRM\">USA Today, Youtube<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it can go even deeper than this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s been shown that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6813198\/\">enjoying a horror movie<\/a> can also be down to personal or emotional factors. For example, childhood memories, fighting fears and seeking escape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaking to horror fanatic, Stuart Noble, he opened up as to the reasons why he loves horror movies so much and how he came to enjoy them:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;My earliest memories stem from the age of three verging on four [<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">with my Dad<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">] sitting in my bedroom with an old audio cassette recorder, a packet of twiglets and his compulsory glass of whiskey. He was reading\/enacting the horror story \u2018The Graveyard Rats\u2019 by Henry Kuttner.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">&#8220;Rather than being scared witless and offended by scary subject matter (and of course, the growing level of gore on the show), I found the material extremely exciting to watch. I became fascinated and in awe of film, as a medium, in which to portray things so fantastical and other-worldly, and so far removed from what is the accepted norm.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s worth noting that although he was exposed to horror from a young age, BBFC ratings are there for a reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Much like Stuart, many horror fans also use these movies to benefit their mental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Horror fan Kylie Brennan said: &#8220;Watching horror movies helps my everyday anxiety.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes I put them on either because I want that focus shift or I know them well enough and generally enjoy them because I know what\u2019s coming.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alongside this, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/daviddisalvo\/2018\/10\/28\/why-do-we-crave-scary-movies-science-suggests-its-a-head-trip-with-surprising-benefits\/#6eb886f9644a\">Forbes<\/a> suggests that other mental health benefits include good stress release, elevating mood and creating a sense of accomplishment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For some, conquering fear through a movie brings a huge wave of satisfaction. It boosts their mood and makes them feel stronger mentally. For others, horror movies allow them to release stress by submerging themselves in the film. Or in other cases, switching off from reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, of course, it can go the other way. We are all different and our minds work differently. Watching a horror movie may cause stress and anxiety, resulting in long-lasting effects on associations with scary movies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, this shouldn\u2019t be a reason not to give them a go. If you\u2019ve never watched a scary movie then how do you know what effect you\u2019ll have?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">Horror fan Pierce Kelly said: &#8220;I think more people should give them a chance, it\u2019s always good to push your comfort zone and see what challenges you.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\"><strong>&#8220;As the old saying goes, a scare a day keeps the doctor away!&#8221; &#8211; Stuart Noble<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re a first-time horror viewer, the advice is to choose your film wisely. Maybe start with something tamer and watch it with other people in the room. If you jump in too deep, too quickly, you may find it overwhelming and be put off watching another one ever again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Watching horror movies can be hugely beneficial for your health, both physically and mentally. So why not have a scare or two this Halloween?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Words: Jessica Noble | Subbing: Warshma Chughtai<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Halloween this week and Covid-19 halting all trick-or-treating plans, it\u2019s only fitting to stay in and watch a scary film. But what are the benefits of watching horror movies and what makes them enjoyable?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":37991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,54,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-film-2","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}