Scared Today, Stronger Tomorrow: The Power Of Horror

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SCARED TODAY, STRONGER TOMORROW: THE POWER OF HORROR

by Nicole M. Wolverton

Horror fans everywhere have likely run into this at least once: “You must be a terrible, warped person if you enjoy horror.” There’s an even a Tiktok video currently making the rounds that warns us there’s something “very wrong” with consumers of horror films and books. It has prompted responses from lovers of the spooky, but no one yet has countered with one very important bit of evidence to the contrary.

Namely, we—horror fans—are going to outlast everyone else out of sheer grit and resilience. We’re built, dare I say, different.

This is not just a fear enthusiast and fellow horror traveler pounding her chest and talking trash. Last year I earned a master’s degree in horror and storytelling from an Ivy League university. My thesis explored the psychological benefits of horror and why more and more people from traditionally underrepresented groups are dipping a toe into the creepy waters as consumers and artists. I talk regularly to audiences about why being scared for fun is not just entertainment—it’s a way to walk boldly in a stressful world.

A study conducted by researchers from the Recreational Fear Lab in Denmark (published in January 2021) indicates that those of us who consume horror books and films regularly fared better mentally—and demonstrated more resilience—during the earliest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Why? The researchers argue convincingly that horror media serves as a low-risk disaster simulation, and “[e]xperience with these simulations may benefit the user through preparation and practice of both specific skills relevant to particular situations and more general skills associated with emotion regulation.”

In other words, practice makes perfect, and practicing fear prepares us to be calm when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

When the study first appeared, I thought about how I had reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Gen-Xer who came of age at a time of latchkey neglect, looming Cold War threats, and deadly sex during the rise of HIV/AIDS, I was raised on crises. I thought perhaps it was that preparation which left me calm even as friends, family, and acquaintances got sick or died. Even when I was hospitalized with silent hypoxia and double pneumonia at the end of 2020 after contracting a raging case of COVID, I mostly just made dark jokes about the doctors asking me whether I’d want to be resuscitated or put on a ventilator if things got any worse for me. I wrote a black humor creative nonfiction piece about talking to my husband about my potential Christmas-themed funeral.

Apparently, that was not a typical reaction. The World Health Organization reported a 25 percent global increase in anxiety and depression in 2022.[2] The U.S. Census Bureau’s first 2021 Household Pulse survey indicated an increase in anxiety of 6.1 percent.[3] Substance use increased in some populations during the earliest parts of the pandemic, as well.[4] The fall-out is understandable: it’s estimated that between January 2020 and December 2021, the death toll from COVID stood at approximately 14.9 million people.[5] We probably all know someone who died or was permanently affected. And so having the ability to go through that without losing one’s mind is a valuable attribute. If the Recreational Fear Lab researchers are correct, there’s nothing terrible, warped, or wrong with any fan of horror—it’s just that we’ve been preparing for scary moments our entire lives via movie monsters and jump scares and Stephen King novels. Our fight or flight muscles are well-honed. We are, generally, calmer and more emotionally resilient in the face of fear.

The Recreational Fear Lab researchers are not alone in suggesting horror has psychological benefits, of course. Certainly, exposure therapy has been around since the late 1800s; it’s not unheard of for this treatment technique to utilize fear to heal. For instance, a 2016 study looked at single-session gamified virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy for arachnophobia, wherein participants were embedded in a VR game in which spiders were featured, and found it beneficial,[6] while a 2018 study that investigated prolonged exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress syndrome in military personnel found that beneficial as well.[7]

There is even evidence that those with generalized anxiety disorders may be helped via horror film/book consumption: because horror can provide an identifiable source of a patient’s anxiety and makes it manageable (although a Recreational Fear Lab researcher warns that those with certain mental health disorders might be further psychologically damaged by such treatment).[8]

Perhaps there might come a day when a primary care physician or a mental health therapist may say, “Take one horror novel and call me in the morning” when our coping skills are flagging. In the meantime, we can self-medicate with books, films, and video games… and know that when push comes to shove, we—the horror fans—have the emotional resilience to withstand not only a zombie apocalypse or supernatural serial killer on the loose, but any disaster.

 

[1] Scrivner, Coltan et al. “Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Personality and Individual Differences vol. 168 (2021): 110397. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397

[2] World Health Organization. “COVID-19 Pandemic Triggers 25% Increase in Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression Worldwide.” www.who.int, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 2 Mar. 2022, www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide.

[3] “Mental Health Crisis during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The Century Foundation, 11 May 2021, tcf.org/content/report/mental-health-crisis-covid-19-pandemic/?session=1.

[4] Dodge, Kenneth A et al. “Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use among adults without children, parents, and adolescents.” Addictive behaviors reports vol. 14 100388. 21 Oct. 2021, doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100388

[5] United Nations. “14.9 Million Excess Deaths Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic In 2020 and 2021 | United Nations.” United Nations, www.un.org/en/desa/149-million-excess-deaths-associated-covid-19-pandemic-2020-and-2021.

[6] Miloff, Alexander et al. “Single-session gamified virtual reality exposure therapy for spider phobia vs. traditional exposure therapy: study protocol for a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.” Trials vol. 17 60. 2 Feb. 2016, doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1171-1

[7] Foa, Edna B., et al. “Effect of Prolonged Exposure Therapy Delivered over 2 Weeks vs 8 Weeks vs Present-Centered Therapy on PTSD Symptom Severity in Military Personnel.” JAMA, vol. 319, no. 4, Jan. 2018, p. 354, doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.21242.

[8] “StarTalk Podcast: The Science of Scary.” YouTube, uploaded by Neil deGrasse Tyson, 21 Oct 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_wv4CZ_kzE

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