Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

Blogging entry for Oct. 14, 2021

Prompt:
Let's talk about the psychology of fright. What do so many people enjoy about being terrified? Discuss the physical and emotional needs that are filled through this experience.


I personally don’t care for fright movies because they are usually so fake. Being in the medical profession, I tend to prefer reality detective and true crime documentaries.

I am, however, surrounded by family that loves “scary” movies. I understand the release of dopamine and adrenaline play into it. My grandkids love horror movies but they logically know it is a movie and not real life. A movie like “The Sixth Sense” is more intriguing and frightening than the “Halloween” movies. The kids love those and “Chucky” but they also laugh at them. I think they are a great tension reliever for my husband and older kids who just need to get out of the “real” world for a couple of hours. It is also a great way to spend time together as a family. One grandson loves nothing more than to come to our house and watch scary movies with my husband. I think they like that better than sports.

There is nothing quite like taking a date to a horror movie and snuggling etc. together. Since I am from the drive-in generation, that was always a sure thing for getting closer to someone physically. As a teenager, they were great fun. I don’t think you can beat the nail biting, heart racing suspense of Alfred Hitchcock movies. He was a master of the slow build up of suspense and then a great fright climax.

I found this in a magazine:
Horror movies are meant to scare you. But for some people with anxiety, they may find horror movies comforting. According to Brownlowe, there's a good reason why. "The experience of your brain calming itself down after watching a scary movie is actually neuro-chemically very pleasurable," she says. "That’s because the dopamine release related to the 'rest-and-digest' brain response causes an increased sense of well-being."

Happy Halloween!