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Why Do You Love Horror?
I was reading “Finders Keepers”, a fairly recent Stephen King novel, and there is a scene where a very timid woman admits to enjoying horror films — if she is watching them on her computer, where she can pause the image any time she wants, walk around the room to cool of, and then come back to it.
Fear, in controlled doses.
I think this is the secret to the popularity of horror. Science Fiction is a literature of ideas: what if, if only, if this goes on. Horror is a literature or cinema of EMOTIONS. It can be defined as a series of images designed to elicit the emotion of fear. SF can be emotionally sterile, but if it says something interesting about the universe, it is gladly accepted. The articles on science in popular SF magazines run right next to the stories, and are of equal interest. Classically, SF asked you to engage your mind.
Horror, like romance stories, seeks to engage your heart. But…everyone wants to feel love and sensuality. Who the @#$$ wants the emotions of being chased by a razor-fingered, disfigured monster? If human beings do what they do to AVOID pain and fear, what the heck is the motivation to deliberately embrace them?
Some thoughts on different motivations to seek out movies that trigger these emotions and sensations.
- Pure Thrill. Just the adrenaline of near-death gained by empathizing with a hero in danger. A “Nightmare on Elm Street” type movie does this.
- Warning. To keep our egos in check: “Don’t do that” sort of…