Embracing Fear: Our Spooky Season Cravings
Author: Yumnah Jafri
Fall brings all our favorite things: cozy sweaters, autumn-inspired shows like Gilmore Girls, pumpkin spice lattes, vibrant red-orange leaves, and the excitement of starting a new school year surrounded by friends. Many individuals also look forward to getting into the Halloween spirit by carving hair-raising faces into pumpkins, dressing up as frightening characters, hunkering down with their family and friends to watch horror movie classics like The Shining, or by visiting spooky theme parks like the Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland. This begs the question, what drives some people to seek out horror, and others to be terrified instead?
To answer this question, we’ll have to look deeper into what emotion is expressed when experiencing something scary; fear. Fear is characterized by an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. For example, think of how your heart jumps out of your chest when Valak, from the Conjuring series appears on screen. Fear is defined as the motivational state that is aroused by specific stimuli, which causes your body to react defensively or find ways to escape.1 The stimuli that triggers fear may vary across individuals, but there are also some universal triggers that can be traced back to our cave-dwelling ancestors. Think of your reaction to a big, scary, sharp-toothed animal snarling at you, which may include running as fast as your feet can carry you, Or, peering out to a huge drop from cliffs high above and freezing in place. Fear is an essential emotion that was programmed into our DNA to keep us alive. It allowed our ancestors to run or hide from bigger animals, avoid interpersonal conflict, and other dangerous situations so that we, as a species, could survive.2
When expressing fear, your body reacts by activating the fight-or-flight response. In other words, it gets ready to face potential threats or escape. The activation of this system leads to a variety of downstream effects, such as an increase in breathing and heart rate and the dilation of blood vessels to provide our organs and muscles with more oxygen and nutrients.3 Glucose levels in the blood also spike, which provides a ready source of energy so that our muscles can act quickly and fight or guide us to escape.
Our response to fear begins in the brain in a little, almond-shaped structure also known as the amygdala. This small cluster of cells plays an important role in emotional processing for fear. The amygdala then indirectly signals the adrenal glands (which are two small blobs that sit on top of your kidneys) to create and release hormones such as epinephrine, more commonly known as adrenaline, and cortisol. These hormones help prime our bodies for action.
Does this response change whether we are facing actual threats or simply being chased around in haunted houses by actors in Jason masks? The answer is yes. Other parts of the brain such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which handle memory and decision making respectively, can help deduce if the fear response triggered by the amygdala is overly exaggerated.4 During a horror movie, for example, these parts of the brain can communicate with the amygdala to help conclude that what you’re watching is not real, that you’re actually sitting in a movie theater, and reduce some of the body’s physiological responses to fear.
Your body experiencing spikes of stimulatory hormones such as adrenaline during a horror movie can also lead to a feeling of relief or emotional release following the scary scene. This is known as excitation transfer.5 The accelerated heart rate and other physical reactions (caused by fight-or-flight) wearing off leads viewers to experience relief and other positive feelings through the brain releasing positive chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin afterwards.
Our brains are also wired to pay attention to what’s new to us. For example, seeing a zombie invasion on a closely-packed train like in Train to Busan or imagining living in a world where even making the slightest sound could get you killed by hellish creatures like in The Quiet Place. Movies with these plots help us safely explore our curiosities about how we, or those around us, would react to experiencing the darker side of humanity or life-or-death situations. Scientists believe that those who enjoy horror entertainment have a psychological “protective frame”, or way of thinking, that allows them to understand that what they’re watching on a screen is not real.6 This requires a sense of detachment which allows you to recognize that the movie you’re watching has actors and actresses, along with special effects. For example, viewers being able to appreciate the artistry put into making Regan’s head spin and spew green vomit in The Exorcist. Lastly, people with higher sensation seeking behavioral traits also tend to feel more comfortable watching scary movies or putting themselves in potentially dangerous situations, and those with higher empathy reacting more adversely to what they see on screen.
Before you don your horns, wings, or ghoulish makeup for a Halloween night on the town, tune into how your body reacts to the spooky situations you experience, as well as the rush of positive emotions after you chuckle with your friends after a scare and realize you’re actually safe. With enough patience, you might even learn to conquer your fears and finally visit that haunted house that you’ve been terrified of your whole life.
Steimer, Thierry . 2022. “The Biology of Fear- and Anxiety-Related Behaviors.” Cerebral Aging 4 (3): 231–49. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2002.4.3/tsteimer.
Newman, Tim. 2021. “Fear: What Happens in the Brain and Body?” Www.medicalnewstoday.com. October 30, 2021. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323492.
Newman, “Fear: Brain and Body”.
Newman, “Fear: Brain and Body”.
The Psychology of Fear: Exploring the Science behind Horror Entertainment.” 2020. CSP Online. July 13, 2020. https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/pyschology-of-fear/.
Yang, Haiyang . 2023. “Why Do We Enjoy Horror? Science Explains.” Carey.jhu.edu. October 19, 2023. https://carey.jhu.edu/articles/research/why-we-enjoy-horror-science-explains.