Love this! I am a sensitive little bean, and had some bad experiences in childhood with watching scary things and not feeling in control, and not having adequate emotional support to process those things afterwards, so I've watched very little horror (even though I would love to be able to watch A Quiet Place and Get Out).
However, I'm obsessed with Dimension 20, a DnD Actual Play anthology TV show, and their most recent series, Burrow's End, has some horror elements. I love the players and the GM, and I really want to watch this with fans as it's being released, so I've been stretching my horror-watching muscles. Your reminder that horror is fun because you are in control of the experience at all times is exactly the tool that I needed to help me through this. I'm an adult now! I have access to resources to process things that I didn't have before. I am in charge of the play button. I can make changes in my environment to make the story more or less immersive depending on what I need and want in that moment.
And I discovered that I was pretty ok with that form of body horror, actually, it was theatrical enough that it didn't bother me as much as I expected.
Such a good article - like all movies, the horror genre is about knowing yourself and how you relate to movies, just as you say and in keeping perspective. I can enjoy An American Werewolf in London or Gothic horrors such as Sleepy Hollow, The Wolfman and Crimson Peak, mostly because it's all so OTT and the blood is so obviously fake that I can disconnect from being too scared.
However The Sixth Sense was too much for me - it stayed in my head for days purely because of the psychological build up. I was imagining things ten times worse than actually appeared on the screen; thus you can become your own horror movie! Nor can I cope with slashing/skewering of the Freddies/Saws/Blair Witches of this world or the next! But Dracula or The Lost Boys is fine!
It's intriguing how horror has been used smartly to point to wider social themes, such as in Get Out or The Quiet Place. But one person's fun movie can become another's horror - a poor friend of mine was traumatised by part of The Beach and had to leave the cinema. I was traumatised by being forced by friends to watch The Notebook and wanted to leave - but couldn't! The horror...
Are you listening to Christianity Today's new podcast on horror films...Be Afraid? Kutter Callaway, a prof from Fuller is the host. He interviews directors of horror movies, talks about the psychology of watching horror, and even features an old interview with Wes Craven, who grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist home and went to Wheaton College. I appreciate the hand-holding because I love suspense and even some paranormal and spooky stories, but horror is a little, well, scary for me. Maybe I'm a fan but just of certain types (NOT slasher films!)
I love this welcoming guide to horror! I've never seen someone tackle this from a faith perspective. Thank you! As someone whose journey started with Jason Takes Manhattan (not exactly Oscar material) and now includes films like Hereditary, I can testify - everyone starts somewhere, and that's okay.
Speaking of faith and horror, it's interesting how The Conjuring series actually centers on Christian paranormal investigators. Ed and Lorraine Warren brought their faith into their work, showing how spiritual conviction and horror storytelling can actually complement each other rather than conflict.
And talk about storytelling - John Carpenter's original Halloween (1978) remains one of the tightest, best-crafted films I've ever seen. It changed everything about how we tell scary stories on screen. That same masterful storytelling shows up in Stephen King's work - he's not just trying to scare us, he's showing us truths about ourselves through these tales. And now we've got Jordan Peele carrying that torch, using horror to shine a light on social issues while still giving us those spine-tingling moments we crave.
The best way I can describe horror's appeal is like the old joke about the man banging his head against the wall. When asked why, he says "Because it feels good when I stop." That's horror in a nutshell - the sweet relief after the tension breaks. Maybe that's why we keep coming back for more.
Thank you for this guide, it's helping explain some of the horror phenomenon for me. I'm not sure that I can do it, though, because even Wikipedia summaries scare me! I read the summary for Inheritance and was scared for months! I think my issue is that I just don't feel any relief when it's over. The movie just adds one more thing on the pile of semi-permanent fears. Have you encountered anyone with that situation before?
Yeah so, there are DEFINITELY people who just don't do well with violent or scary media at all. Could be something in their past, could be dispositional - doesn't matter, that's the way they are and there's nothing wrong with it.
I find a lot of people enjoy it more than they think they do and I think that a lot of genres are full of people who love to share their stuff. Romance readers are definitely like this, and horror fans are DEFINITELY like this -- part of being a fan is loving sharing your stuff. That's absolutely how I feel about it.
But as with all sharing, it's only sharing if someone wants it. Otherwise it's a burden.
The other situation I've seen that really takes horror of the table for people is anyone who's prone to nightmares. Because that means the movie actually does keep coming back for you. I don't have them so it's not a big deal for me, but I would definitely not recommend horror if you're prone to that.
Love this! I am a sensitive little bean, and had some bad experiences in childhood with watching scary things and not feeling in control, and not having adequate emotional support to process those things afterwards, so I've watched very little horror (even though I would love to be able to watch A Quiet Place and Get Out).
However, I'm obsessed with Dimension 20, a DnD Actual Play anthology TV show, and their most recent series, Burrow's End, has some horror elements. I love the players and the GM, and I really want to watch this with fans as it's being released, so I've been stretching my horror-watching muscles. Your reminder that horror is fun because you are in control of the experience at all times is exactly the tool that I needed to help me through this. I'm an adult now! I have access to resources to process things that I didn't have before. I am in charge of the play button. I can make changes in my environment to make the story more or less immersive depending on what I need and want in that moment.
I wrote a Tumblr post with the tools and strategies I used to help me through an episode that had particularly intense body horror, sharing it here in case anyone might find the tools useful: https://www.tumblr.com/lyndentree63/731050577552965632/ok-so-i-watched-episode-2-of-burrows-end-and-it?source=share&ref=lyndentree63
And I discovered that I was pretty ok with that form of body horror, actually, it was theatrical enough that it didn't bother me as much as I expected.
Such a good article - like all movies, the horror genre is about knowing yourself and how you relate to movies, just as you say and in keeping perspective. I can enjoy An American Werewolf in London or Gothic horrors such as Sleepy Hollow, The Wolfman and Crimson Peak, mostly because it's all so OTT and the blood is so obviously fake that I can disconnect from being too scared.
However The Sixth Sense was too much for me - it stayed in my head for days purely because of the psychological build up. I was imagining things ten times worse than actually appeared on the screen; thus you can become your own horror movie! Nor can I cope with slashing/skewering of the Freddies/Saws/Blair Witches of this world or the next! But Dracula or The Lost Boys is fine!
It's intriguing how horror has been used smartly to point to wider social themes, such as in Get Out or The Quiet Place. But one person's fun movie can become another's horror - a poor friend of mine was traumatised by part of The Beach and had to leave the cinema. I was traumatised by being forced by friends to watch The Notebook and wanted to leave - but couldn't! The horror...
Are you listening to Christianity Today's new podcast on horror films...Be Afraid? Kutter Callaway, a prof from Fuller is the host. He interviews directors of horror movies, talks about the psychology of watching horror, and even features an old interview with Wes Craven, who grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist home and went to Wheaton College. I appreciate the hand-holding because I love suspense and even some paranormal and spooky stories, but horror is a little, well, scary for me. Maybe I'm a fan but just of certain types (NOT slasher films!)
I love this welcoming guide to horror! I've never seen someone tackle this from a faith perspective. Thank you! As someone whose journey started with Jason Takes Manhattan (not exactly Oscar material) and now includes films like Hereditary, I can testify - everyone starts somewhere, and that's okay.
Speaking of faith and horror, it's interesting how The Conjuring series actually centers on Christian paranormal investigators. Ed and Lorraine Warren brought their faith into their work, showing how spiritual conviction and horror storytelling can actually complement each other rather than conflict.
And talk about storytelling - John Carpenter's original Halloween (1978) remains one of the tightest, best-crafted films I've ever seen. It changed everything about how we tell scary stories on screen. That same masterful storytelling shows up in Stephen King's work - he's not just trying to scare us, he's showing us truths about ourselves through these tales. And now we've got Jordan Peele carrying that torch, using horror to shine a light on social issues while still giving us those spine-tingling moments we crave.
The best way I can describe horror's appeal is like the old joke about the man banging his head against the wall. When asked why, he says "Because it feels good when I stop." That's horror in a nutshell - the sweet relief after the tension breaks. Maybe that's why we keep coming back for more.
Thank you for this guide, it's helping explain some of the horror phenomenon for me. I'm not sure that I can do it, though, because even Wikipedia summaries scare me! I read the summary for Inheritance and was scared for months! I think my issue is that I just don't feel any relief when it's over. The movie just adds one more thing on the pile of semi-permanent fears. Have you encountered anyone with that situation before?
Yeah so, there are DEFINITELY people who just don't do well with violent or scary media at all. Could be something in their past, could be dispositional - doesn't matter, that's the way they are and there's nothing wrong with it.
I find a lot of people enjoy it more than they think they do and I think that a lot of genres are full of people who love to share their stuff. Romance readers are definitely like this, and horror fans are DEFINITELY like this -- part of being a fan is loving sharing your stuff. That's absolutely how I feel about it.
But as with all sharing, it's only sharing if someone wants it. Otherwise it's a burden.
The other situation I've seen that really takes horror of the table for people is anyone who's prone to nightmares. Because that means the movie actually does keep coming back for you. I don't have them so it's not a big deal for me, but I would definitely not recommend horror if you're prone to that.