"my monster is a heating bill in winter, not a boogeyman under the bed." - Allana Shewfelt

Horror movies, haunted houses, true crime novels, scary stories in the dark– Halloween is a time where many people look to scare and be scared. We seek out the unexpected, look for the unsettling, and find a feeling of unease. But why?

There are already plenty of scary things in our everyday lives: dangerous drivers, surprise bills, medical emergencies, or a stranger at the door…

Around Halloween a few years ago, a client of mine had a similar observation:

“Why do people read horror novels? They’re so gruesome! Don’t you think people who like that stuff are kind of disturbed? I hate horror movies. Seeing people being attacked, monsters and murderers chasing them– It’s awful!”

As a horror-lover myself, I could understand the disgust. Horror as a genre is not for everyone. Personally, I’m not a fan of slasher films, (blood, guts, and knife-wielding killers). And yet, I adore cosmic horror, girlhood metamorphosis, and infested apartments. There are levels to fear, and I believe that excitement and thrill often fall on the same spectrum.

In talking with this client, I challenged them to think of other reasons why people might like horror. “Maybe they’re planning something?” he said.

At that time, I let slip that I was a spooky fan, and he was absolutely floored by this disparity. My role as his support person– someone who is bubbly and kind, and tries to help him feel comfortable, safe, and calm– was contrasted with the idea that I spent my evenings watching people suffer in various ways.

I assured him that liking horror movies doesn’t make someone deranged, and together we came up with a few reasons why people intentionally seek out scares.

What’s There To Fear?

As ancient humans, we adapted the ability to spot danger. Our earliest ancestors managed to persist by keeping their guards up. Those who were quick in noticing something stalking out of the woods, and those who listened to the feeling of ‘something here isn’t quite right’, were the most likely to survive life-threatening events.

We still have these instincts in our modern day– a quickened pulse as something darts towards us at lightning speed. But now, we are more likely to spot a fast approaching car, rather than a fast approaching tiger.

There are still dangers in the modern world, but there are also many times where we misinterpret being uncomfortable with being unsafe. Our ‘Fight-or-Flight’ brain moves to action at the smallest thing. Like, an email isn’t going to jump out and grab you, but the body doesn’t always have a way to signal concern without raising all the alarms.

Plus, our ability to reason can create a train of worries that lead to genuine fear: I made a mistake, my boss is angry, he will fire me, without a job I won’t be able to afford food, I will starve. Death = ALERT!

We have these fears, (both real and imagined), so why add more fuel to the fire?

Ready Or Not

One psychological theory on why people enjoy horror is that we are attempting to prepare and plan for any future dangers.

This makes sense for horror enthusiasts, as we know the golden rules:

1. Never go off alone

2. Stay connected with others (by phone or car)

3. Don’t go into a place where you haven’t been welcomed

4. Don’t get ~distracted~ 👀💋 while there’s danger

5. Listen to your elders’ warnings

Seeking out media where things go horribly wrong helps us to imagine and plan for similar situations. Although, in the movies, taking home a mysterious device might bring a curse upon you, in reality, taking home a mysterious device might just give you a computer virus– it’s still scary!

Let The Right One Out

Another reason why we might seek out fear is for the catharsis. That is, intense feelings of worry and danger often have no release in our day-to-day life, (because my monster is a heating bill in winter, not a boogeyman under the bed.) So, by intentionally being scared, we have the chance to finally release all that pent up energy. Scream it all away, and start the next day a little lighter.

We know that living in a state of constant fear or having persistent anxiety can contribute to health issues such as heart disease (Song, et al., 2019) as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's (Song, et al., 2022). So, it might seem counterintuitive, but we like to be scared in a safe way. Getting the pants scared off of you, while you know there isn’t any real danger to your body or mind, might actually help you stay safe in the long run!

Whose Hand Am I Holding?

Finally, some experts believe that being scared in a group setting helps us form tighter bonds. Specifically, in one study pairs of people who already had a close relationship, showed their heart rates synchronize, (beat together with the same rhythm), when they experienced a thrill together (Andersen, et al., 2025).

Heart rate synchrony is one way that people co-regulate; meaning we rely on each other in order to feel better, safer, and more connected (Coutinho, et al., 2021).

Besides the obvious opportunity of getting to hold your lover’s hand, haunted houses and other scary situations bring benefits by helping us learn who will stick with us in times of stress and panic.

Have A Freaky Friday

This Halloween falls on a Friday, so take the chance to get freaky, get scared, and get out there! Wanting to find thrills doesn’t make you weird, in fact, there are many benefits to horror and fear.

Still, if you find that the morning comes, the unease is still there, and it feels like Halloween never ends– reach out to us! There are supports available. Connect with us by phone, text, or email.

Don’t let fear and worry rule your life.

Have a Safe and Spooky Halloween!

Recommendations:

For additional info, check out what Americans were most afraid of in 2017 and compare that to What Americans are most afraid of in 2025.

Learn about the science of Creepiness in the Ologies Podcast by Alie Ward

Find the Line Between Terror and Delight

References

Song, H., Fang, F., Arnberg, F.K., Mataix-Cols, D., Fernández de la Cruz, L., Almqvist, C., Fall, K., Lichtenstein, P., Thorgeirsson, G., & Valdimarsdóttir, U.A. (2019). Stress Related Disorders and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Population Based, Sibling Controlled Cohort Study. British Medical Journal, 365, 11255. 10.1136/bmj.l1255 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Song, H., Sieurin, J., Wirdefeldt, K., Pedersen, N.L., Almqvist, C., Larsson, H., Valdimarsdóttir, U.A., & Fang, F. (2020). Association of Stress-Related Disorders with Subsequent Neurodegenerative Diseases. JAMA Neurology (in press). 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0117 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]

Andersen, M. M., Rosas, F. E., Schjoedt, U., Mediano, P. A. M., Price, H., Konvalinka, I., & Clasen, M. (2025). Scared together: Heart rate synchrony and social closeness in a high-intensity horror setting. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 10.1037/emo0001556. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001556 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40720311/

Coutinho, J., Pereira, A., Oliveira-Silva, P., Meier, D., Lourenço, V., & Tschacher, W. (2021). When our hearts beat together: Cardiac synchrony as an entry point to understand dyadic co-regulation in couples. Psychophysiology, 58(3), e13739. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13739https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33355941/