Horror Hub: Can Horror Be Therapeutic?

Hey y'all let's see what's up today! For this week's Horror Hub I wanted to keep it simple, because I am currently still fighting allergies and an ear infection like my life depends on it, that is also why this is a day late. This question in particular is one that I've covered on the Horror Hub a couple times but I wanted to share some definitive thoughts on this and give it is own post so that you guys can weigh in on it. Because I feel like this is a topic that can get pretty deep, we're going to try to keep it as short as we can while still giving this question the attention that it deserves. That being said, let's get into it!

Horror and Emotions

As I've mentioned before, horror has long since been a genre that turns the general anxieties and fears of the populace into monsters that the final characters are able to defeat in some way. Because of this general set up, the genre is often used to help people face their fears and anxieties in a controlled environment, and it comes highly recommended by some therapists for this reason. However, our fear is not the only thing that horror can touch on. We know that camp horror appears to our joy in its own weird and twisted way, it's funny and its designed to make us laugh, but what other emotions does horror tap into?

Splatter horror is the first thing that comes to mind when discussing this topic, because it's meant to disgust you. Films like Terrifier even use multiple different methods aside from the over the top gore to elicit these responses of disgust, including having the main villain Art the Clown write things in feces or urinate on other characters. The overwhelming display of just how gross people can be is one of the many ways horror preys upon other emotions that we might be feeling. Another good example of how horror can prey upon your feeling of disgust is the book The Slob which is a horror novel that has filth as an overarching theme to play on your disgust.

Another perfect example of horror utilizing emotions, not just within the viewer but within the characters as well is The Babadook in which the character of the Babadook symbolizes grief and learning to live with those emotions. Though the theme is not blatantly obvious at first it's something that is touched upon and also why the Babadook goes after the mother and not the son in the film. Coffin Moon also utilizes grief in order to both strengthen the protagonists and weaken the antagonist in the novel, showcasing how grief can both strengthen bonds and cause people who are in the midst of grief to engage in incredibly reckless behavior.

Even video games can turn feelings like our nostalgia into weighty and substantial horror. Games like Five Nights at Freddy's and Poppy Playtime are perfect examples of this. They use familiar art styles, settings, and color palettes from our childhood and turn out some pretty interesting horror stories with them. This may just be personal opinion, but I find it fun when horror creators take something like Welcome Home that looks nostalgic and innocent on the surface and then leave hints for the viewers about something dark and sinister lurking beneath the surface.

There are just a few examples of how horror plays upon our other emotions, however there are many more that are equally fantastic at making the viewer or the reader feel so many things on top of the horror aspect. That is, if they choose to look past the horror aspect at all. I find the best characterizations of the characters in horror media typically come from those in the fandoms that center themselves around picking apart these characters and these stories. 

What Does Psychology Say About Horror?

According to studies conducted by Harvard, horror as a genre elicits 2 types of stimulation at once. You get both your negative (anxiety/fear) stimulation as well as your positive (excitement/joy) stimulation at the same time. This is because when you're scared your brain will release adrenaline similar to that released when riding a rollercoaster and horror can provide that same thrill along with a little bit of dopamine for the spookier folks out there. Because of its design to play on the anxieties and fears of the audiences, horror has a lot of subgenres for people to engage with. This amount of variety allows the viewers to live through experiences and face these anxieties head on in a controlled and safe environment which is a leading reason in the popularity of the genre and why it is sometimes even recommended to engage with horror.

Beyond the benefit of getting to face our fears and live vicariously through the bravery of final girls, horror allows us to really see how depraved the human mind can get. This ability to look through a lens into the mind of a fictional monster satisfies a morbid curiosity for the audience that they may not feel comfortable researching on their own in a real world scenario. Ultimately this ability to approach topics in a fictional sense protects the audience while answering some of their questions.

Personally, I also find that horror brings together people with the same weird fascinations and niche interests. That's why it's really important to engage with the fandom side of horror just as much as it is to engage with the media itself. We all interpret things differently, and being able to discuss these interpretations with others and gain other insight can help improve media literacy and comprehension, something that has seen a drastic decline in recent years. You may also find that someone in your group is studying psychology and can break down certain aspects of films that you may have missed which is what happened to me when I watched the Babadook and shared my thoughts with my horror fanclub. That additional insight helped me to really understand the film better and brought to light so many details I would have missed otherwise.

Can Horror Be Therapeutic?

Now that we've laid out some facts, I want to know what you guys think. Do you think horror can be therapeutic? Do you think that there are any psychological benefits to engaging with the genre? 

Personally, I believe that horror is very therapeutic to some people. However, I do think that some people probably couldn't handle it at the rate in which I and many other people consume horror and that's okay too. So, it entirely depends on the person I think, but I also think that there's a horror movie for everyone and you have to give a few different ones a try before you find what you like and what you find to be therapeutic.

Closing

That's all that I have for you guys right now, I'm so sorry for the inconsistent posting schedule but I am really trying not to let this ear infection get me down because we have things to do this month! That being said I hope you all are having a great weekend, I'll be back on regular schedule as soon as possible. If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by! 

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