Why Do We like Horror?

To some people, horror movies and stories are silly and unbelievable pieces of fiction that are there for entertainment purposes only. However, there are others out there absolutely love the horror genre, and still others that seem infatuated.

I'm sure we have all experienced that 'post horror movie' feeling - the one that has you looking over your shoulder for zombies and demons, and jumping at every sound. It is a scary, uncomfortable feeling, to be sure. So why do some of us seem to thrive on it?

Possibly for the same reasons that someone wants to jump out of a perfectly good airplane and drift to the ground using only a parachute, or hang glide off of wonderfully sturdy mountains. It is a thrill, plain and simple, and so is the paranoia we feel after watching a good horror flick or reading a scary book.

Horror gets in touch with the raw, core anger and fear that we as humans have to deal with in life. Understandably, some folks will wish to avoid purposely putting themselves into that situation, but others see the horror feeling as one of pure exhilaration.

While we trudge through our day to day existence meeting deadlines, visiting relatives, and shopping for essentials, it is easy to forget that we are alive at times. Sinking into a good horror book or movie can provide us with that reminder, double-time. They have the power to literally wake us up, even if only for a few hours.

For the same reason that tragedy can sometimes make a love story good, the macabre and twisted happenings in a horror story affect us in a way that is hard, if not impossible, to experience in our every day lives. Horror takes us on a scary journey, if you will, in which we have complete control but experience the illusion of helplessness.

H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, John Saul, Dean Koontz, Rob Zombie, Clive Barker and myriad others know what the limits are, and they push them every day. To them, horror is not only a genre, but a way of life. Of course, it is what pays their bills, but it is more than that.

Horror is able to tap into places that only we know about, and exploit them. A horror book or movie can be an extremely personal thing, and depending on our feelings, fears, experience, and personality, horror can mildly amuse us or scare us so bad that we are frozen where we sit, unable to move.

Have you ever seen an auto collision on the highway? Did you notice that everyone slows way down to look at it? People want to see and experience the morbid things they do not understand, and horror can take us there safely. Whether the horror tale involves ghosts, zombies, an axe-murderer, or simply a loved one who has gone insane, we get a peek into a side of life that we do not usually get to see.

Simply put, horror is a roller-coaster ride into the unknown. It jump starts our senses, it speeds up our heartbeat, it gives an excuse for young couples to cuddle at the theater. Horror is an encapsulation of things that exist just around the corner, beyond our view. Go ahead, take a ride, you can come back. You may not be the same, but return you shall. When a horror tale drops you off after a tour of its inner workings, you will be affected one way or another, and that's really the point of it all, isn't it?