The aspects of horror work by tapping into people’s primal fears, such as death, the unknown, and isolation. While using cinematic or literary techniques like atmosphere, suspense, and sound design to create psychological tension, emotional responses can occur in a safe and controlled environment, which gives the audience that false sense of security at the start.
The fear of what we don’t understand, or what lurks in the dark, is a powerful and innate human fear. The fear of the unknown is what brings out our natural human emotion of wanting to survive; that survival instinct is the main reason people yell at the TV screen when watching a horror movie. It also plays on our universal and primal fears, such as death, kidnapping, the supernatural, isolation, and being hunted or trapped, etc. The horror aspects of using people’s primal fear also subconsciously place them in said situations, making them question almost everything. What would I do if I were being hunted? Stuck in isolation? Dying?
The environment within horror movies is crucial for establishing the mood, setting the scene for their audience, to make them feel already tense and scared. An isolated cabin in the woods, a gas station in the middle of nowhere with a creepy worker inside, or a haunted house all create a sense of unease and vulnerability. Descriptive details, lighting (or lack thereof), and sound design immerse the audience, forcing their imagination to fill in the gaps with their own worst fears. Instead of constant scares, horror uses a slow burn to build dread and anticipation, punctuated by moments of intense, immediate fear. This manipulation of pacing and the use of cliffhangers and scene cutoffs keep the audience on edge, never quite sure when the next scare will hit them.
Personally, I am a huge fan of horror and gore, always have been since I was younger. It scared my parents when I would watch ‘Child’s Play’ alone in a dark room, which was my idea of fun at the time (still is), but nothing put fear in me more than watching a zombie-themed movie. Just seeing zombies puts fear in my heart and my subconscious brain, that I still get nightmares till this day if I watch something zombie-related before bed. I think it’s personally just the raw anxiety that a zombie apocalypse could actually happen, at least in my head. I think the zombie apocalypse will happen one day; just that thought sends panic and fear into my heart.
Why does horror work this way? When you think of horror, you think of your fears or the worst thing possible. There’s a major difference between horror written in a book and horror that you can see on the screen. When horror is in a book, you could still get scared, setting the scene in your mind, but never truly frightened by it because it’s written in a book. Horror books can be slow build and dreadful if written correctly. Horror movies, on the other hand, are something you can see, can hear, can feel. Scared of when the next jump scare will happen, or if the victims will ever get away from the killer. You can feel the adrenaline, the fear, and panic straight within your bones when you can actively see the scene play out in front of your own eyes. Of course, there are numerous psychological reasons behind why horror aspects work well, and many more in-depth articles and videos are available on the internet; even true crime podcasts can be frightening since they’re based on a true story, like some horror movies.
Featured Image made by Laika Horton via Canva
