Selin Hekimoglu/Staff reporter

When you picture yourself fully engaged in a movie, what genre might the movie be? Ideally, for everyone, the genre is horror. Out of every genre, horror is surely the best and most enjoyable. Horror films always have a perfect balance of suspense, creativity, and uniqueness. These traits make it easy to evoke intense feelings in the viewers. Some people are good at containing these emotions, while others may have much stronger reactions. Either way, everyone experiences the same feelings when watching a good horror film, and these films always do a great job at keeping their audience interested.

For example, the suspension is enough to fully grab the audience’s full attention. Notice how when a viewer is still completely terrified by the movie, they can’t help but continue watching. Even if their eyes are closed, they may still ask the person next to them what’s going on. When watching scary movies, it’s easy to become heavily drawn to it. This is because throughout the movie you are stuck in a state of wondering what will happen next, which also helps us use our critical thinking skills.

Horror movies are so great because they allow us to think on a deeper level. We spend a lot of time throughout the movie contemplating potential outcomes. Other movies are usually more predictable, and don’t require that extra thinking step. Because of the uniqueness that comes with horror movies, we don’t know what to expect. This makes it more interesting for the viewer, because plot twists usually have a lasting impact on the viewer. When you can easily guess what’s going to happen in a movie, it becomes much less interesting to watch. Luckily with horror movies, you never have to worry about predictability, because there always something new going on.

Horror movies also bring out a lot of raw emotions from viewers. Many times, the body physically reacts to scary scenes. For example, our heart rate increases and we scream when we see jump scares. Many other movies are not impactful enough to have this kind of effect on the viewer. Our body even releases dopamine and adrenaline, two hormones that are associated with happiness, excitement, and anxiety. Another thing to keep in mind is that the feelings of fear and pleasure are very closely related. Dr Bryan Roche, a psychologist from Maynooth University in Ireland claims that our bodies react the same way when experiencing fear and pleasure. From heart rate, to the dilation of pupils, the effects that the two emotion have on the body are indistinguishable. This goes to show that horror movies are extremely enjoyable to watch, despite how terrifying they can be.

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