For whatever reason, today my mind was led to ponder on the subject of horror movies and the vicarious thrill many people receive from watching them. I have never seen the appeal of horror movies myself, and I have never gone out of my way to watch horror movies. One time when I was on break from college I went out on a date with a friend of mine who is a couple of years younger (but who attended high school with me) and we watched What Lies Beneath on a date, where I had my arm clutched pretty tightly during some parts of the film. Another time I tried to watch a French horror movie called Frontiers with my brother and one of his former roommates and a friend of mine, and I had to leave the room because I was about to throw up from the queasy subject matter and awful cinematography. To put it mildly, I don’t seek out horror movies.

I have never seen the reason to do so. Many people, it would seem, seek out horror movies out of a vicarious enjoyment of being scared, knowing that one is safe but at the same time feeling it desirable to explore one’s paranoia and fears, be it less developed countries or foreigners/aliens in general, the monstrosities of nature or technology, the trustworthiness of loved ones, the spirit world, and other common fears. I suppose that as someone who has spent a great deal of my life fighting fears in order to be a fairly normally functioning human being, given my nervousness and anxiety, I have never seen it worthwhile or useful or profitable to cultivate additional fears beyond those I have in too large a degree to begin with.

It appears that some people get enjoyment out of feeling afraid. Horror movies, despite their generally poor quality as a whole and indifferent writing and acting in particular, are enduringly popular. This is difficult to explain without having some understanding that people like to be scared from the safety of movie theaters or their own homes. Apparently there is quite a rush about feeling danger vicariously while knowing one is safe. I say apparently, because this trend is both very old (Shakespeare’s play Titus Andronicus, for example, was an early example of horror within English language works), and one that I do not understand, for reasons that ought to be very obvious. Specifically, as someone who has a difficult time feeling safe (something that my life and personal experience has not greatly aided), it is difficult for me to enjoy the feeling of fear, as fear without safety is merely terror and there is nothing particularly enjoyable or fun about panic attacks and feeling trapped in a situation one cannot escape from. Trust me on that.

Why do we need to feel afraid in the first place? Obviously, it is cheating a bit if one gets the sensation of excitement while one knows one is safe. We feel disgusted at atrocities, but will often go out of our way to be titillated by something that is shocking to us. There is a careful balance, and I suppose that it is a thrill to many on the level of adventure traveling, or skydiving, or the like. Of course, before it can be enjoyable one has to feel safe. As someone who has spent a great deal of time examining real life horrors from history (like slavery and warfare and massacres and genocide), I find it more profitable to examine the darkness that lies inside of each and every one of us, whether in our anger or in our experiences, than it is to waste my time playing pretend. There is enough real evil and darkness that no one needs to make up horror stories–there are enough real horrors that real people have to endure on a regular basis. I only wish we were braver people–ready to face down the real evils of our world rather than amusing ourselves with playthings. But we must all be responsible for our own entertainment.