WVU pop culture expert explains draw of scary movies

WVU communication studies professor Elizabeth Cohen explains why audiences seek out horror films, from morbid curiosity to the comfort of familiar scares.

From blood and gore to psychological distress and artificial intelligence taking over the world, a West Virginia University expert delves into the darker side of human curiosity and what makes fear so fascinating on television and film.

Elizabeth Cohen, a professor in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of Communication Studies, examines the psychology behind our fascination with fear in media and pop culture, and why some audiences willingly seek out their worst nightmares on screen.

Quotes

“Horror has always been a vehicle for exploring different issues that society is wrestling with. Precisely because these things in science fiction, fantasy, and horror are inherently unreal, or supernatural, they provide a nice platform for us to imaginatively play around with issues we are dealing with in real life. I think we are and will continue to see similar themes and cautionary tales about artificial intelligence.

“Some people are high sensation seekers. Some people have nervous systems that just require a little more stimulation in their environment to feel good. They seek out risky situations or thrills. These people are also more likely to enjoy horror films, which they have learned can provide a rush of arousing emotions like surprise, or shock and terror.

“Horror appeals to people because it taps into our morbid curiosity. 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. But to learn the lessons that our disgust is trying to teach us, we need to pay attention to those things that gross us out. It’s that feeling of being so repulsed by something and yet not being able to turn away. It’s normal and it keeps us interested in things that are gory and profane.

“Excitation transfer theory posits that when we are watching something suspenseful and worrying about the characters’ safety, those feelings of dread build up, and they keep building as the action progresses. But then, all that excitation that we have built up while we are feeling fearful jumps over to our feelings of relief and happiness when there is a positive conclusion. So, it’s kind of like we get a boost for our positive emotions because of all the negative energy we built up watching. Of course, this explanation doesn’t really work for explaining why people would watch horror films when they aren’t sure that they will have a happy ending.

“Both identification and parasocial relationships can occur while you are watching a film. These experiences can increase suspense when you’re watching horror. If you don’t care about the characters, then you won’t care what happens to them. There will be relatively little suspense. So, any good horror film should work to make the audience invested in the characters.

“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 response to some trauma. 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. But these films also all have a lot of the same tropes, like a lot of jump scares, so they are somewhat formulaic. And even though they are scary with twists and turns during the film, there’s some comfort in their overall predictability.” — Elizabeth Cohen, professor, communication studies, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

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