Horror Effect:

Horror movies are among the most popular movies. The movie, I am
Legend has grossed around 340 million dollars; It has earned about
335 million; Hannibal, 265 million dollars; Scream and The Ring have
grossed around 200 million dollars (Nash information Services 2022)

 Researchers concluded that horror movie audiences tend to be

neurotic and anxious and obsessed with Death.
 Horror fans often mention how horror helps them deal with their
anxiety.
 They may be more of an anxious bunch than a fearless bunch.
 The role of the monster
 Scrivner (2021) argues that the central theme or character in
horror movies is the monster
 horror movies immerse anxious audiences in the plot.: horror
movie audiences are obsessively looking round the set trying to
see where the monster is lurking

 Finally, some factual evidence to back up claims that have been

circulating within the horror community for a while:
 Sometimes, anxious people enjoy films that make them feel
anxious.
 But why would someone experiencing anxiety want to watch a
movie that's primary goal is to trigger fear?

 Horror is great at involving the audience because threat is a key

element of the plot.
 Humans have a bias towards focusing on threats, and this bias is
present even in very young children. Threatening stimuli
emphasizes our visual attention as well as other cognitive
processes, such as:
1. Memory
2. education
3. and social transmission of knowledge
 These biases exist for a good reason—they helped keep our
ancestors alive.
 One of a number of neural systems that help animals, including
humans, survive to the greatest degree possible includes
examining the environment for potential threats and deciding the
best course of action.
 Horror films are incredibly effective at grabbing viewers' attention
because of the attentional preference that is placed on threats
and the fact that a threat is at the heart of horror plots.

Anxiety exaggeration:
 Someone who is feeling anxious will be more easily sucked into
the plot of a horror film, constantly examining the scene for the
threat.
 As a result of their increased alertness, they may become more
immersed in the story.

Being in control:
 One of the most uncomfortable aspects of anxiety is often the
feeling that you are not in control of the situation—whether that
 means control of the source of your anxiety, or in control of your
reactions to feeling anxious.
 Numerous studies demonstrate that increasing perceived control,
even if imaginary, reduces stimulation of brain areas that respond
to threat and reduces anxiety. Lack of control over a stressor has a
well-documented history of negative effects.
 In a nutshell watching horror films gives you a socially acceptable
way to express your anxiety.
 Horror can provide this sense of control by shifting the source of
your anxiety. Once a fictional world of horror has your attention
and you escape into the narrative, the source of your anxiety
changes.
 Your anxiety is now linked to the monster on the screen rather
than a social interaction gone wrong, upcoming deadlines, or any
other number of anxiety-inducing events in the real world.
 It's important to note that you are now choosing to experience
anxiety rather than having it happen to you for no reason at all.

The Roller Coaster:

 Some of the reasons are simple and obvious.
 To show that we can, that we are not afraid, that we can ride this
roller coaster.
 Which is not to say that a really good horror movie may not
surprise a scream out of us at some point, the way we may
scream when the roller coaster twists through a complete 360 or
plows through a lake at the bottom of the drop.

Therapeutically effective techniques:

  While there are several therapeutically effective techniques from
cognitive behavioral therapy that help control anxiety, the ability
to regulate anxiety with simple techniques like:
 covering your eyes
 Turning on the lights is unique to anxiety experienced in fiction.
 The ability to up-regulate or down-regulate arousal during
frightening experiences is key to enjoying the experience.

Scary-fun experiences:
 A study into the physiology, actions, and attitudes of visitors to
haunted attractions. We discovered that there typically exists a
"sweet spot" of fear or anxiety-induced arousal at which
enjoyment is maximized during the haunt using heart-rate
monitors, facial expressions, and self-report questionnaires.

 This aligns with earlier research that demonstrates how visitors of

haunted houses actively use a variety of cognitive and emotional
coping mechanisms to manage their fear. Many of these
conclusions, in my opinion, apply to scary-fun experiences in
general. You have much more control over the degree to which
your anxiety affects you when you project it onto a screen.

Positive effect:
 Horror movies allow audiences to control their anxiety by
transferring their anxiety to the movie-- good horror movies give
audiences the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild
 Horror movie audiences had a stronger resistance to the threat of
Corona (Scrivner 2021)