Hannah Hecht's Blog

Here’s the audio file for the whole story: Science Broadcast

Script: With the release of Paranormal Activity 4 and Halloween just around the corner, many people begin to wonder just why do we enjoy horror movies? Here’s ­­­­____ with the story.

(Cut to a different reporter)

They make you cringe, jump, and scream. Sometimes you have to cover your eyes. And yet, you keep coming back. What is it that makes scary movies so fun?

Psychologist and writer for Psychology Today Norman Holland thinks he has the answer. For him, the key to enjoying horror movies is knowing that you are not part of the onscreen terror.

(Cut to quote from Holland)

“I think we turn to literature, to stories, poems, plays, or movies, in order to have our emotions stimulated, even in unpleasurable ways. We know before we enter the movie theater that we will feel unpleasurable fear during the movie or the story, but we also know that we will feel pleasure (even during that fear) because we know we won’t have to do anything about it.”

So when you’re watching scary movies this Halloween, remember it is just a movie.

Click here for the article.