Born to Love Fear: The Science Behind Horror Films

Have you ever wondered why some people absolutely adore horror films, while others jump at the sight of their own shadow? By constantly rewatching Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween, some people seem to be practically fearless from birth, like they have always been so intent on chasing thrills and terror. This question has led to a fascinating debate: does evolution have an effect on a person’s opinion of horror films? 

Fear is directly linked to the sympathetic nervous system, which activates when a person experiences fear, anxiety, or arousal. More commonly, this is referred to as the “fight or flight” response (Aziz & Rashid 2018, 1). These processes are a result of hormones such as epinephrine and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) which leads to a rush of emotions that can cause a type of “adrenaline rush” that no other kind of media can evoke (Asma 2014, 942). Additionally, the build-up of suspense, followed by a wave of relief at the end of the film, is a reason many individuals enjoy scary movies. As detailed by excitation transfer theory, when there becomes a resolution of tension during the event of a “happy ending”, the once negative emotions transfer to a feeling of euphoria and a rush of dopamine (Martin 2019, 6).

These theories explain why some people enjoy experiencing fear in the form of media but don’t cover why there is such a difference in enjoyment throughout individuals. Additionally, some people feel less sense of terror at all, independent of their urge to seek it out. Evolutionarily speaking, this is privy to an individual’s sex and ancestral background.

Firstly, females have been shown to be at a higher risk of anxiety disorders and neuroticism (Mclean & Anderson 2009, 498). There is data showing that the heritability of this anxiety-vulnerability is much more common in women than men, as shown in Figure 2. 

Furthermore, every human is affected by the evolutionary aspect of horror, meaning that ancient fears shape who we are today (Bishop et al. 2024, 6). For instance, theorists believe that, like all traits, fear is subject to evolution, and the personal level of fear between parents is heritable (Bishop et al. 2024, 6; Reale et al. 2007, 305; Asma 2014, 943). If an animal has a common natural predator, they will learn to fear them, causing the more timid animals to survive long enough that the trait will pass onto their offspring (Reale et al. 2007, 305). An example of this is with Darwin himself, as he tested multiple chimpanzees’ fear of snakes. By bringing these snakes into the primate zoo in London and recording their reactions, he concluded that the ancestrally rooted fear that the chimpanzees possessed caused this to occur (Asma 2014, 943). He assumed that the morphological traits of the snakes set off the chimpanzee’s recognition and induced this emotional response (Asma 2014, 943). This can be connected back to humans; are we more prone to fear or avoid scary movies if our predecessors did? If an individual despises horror and is easily frightened, this may be a result of their genetic origins.

Yet is evolution actually the result of a person’s love or hatred for horror films? Questions about Darwins’ theory have led to further research, and there is no direct evidence of genes that code a person to fear a specific type of creature, or that fear is heritable (Asma 2014, 943; Ohman 2001, 495). Such leads back to the debate: is an individual’s view on horror films the result of genetics and evolution, or rather their culture and experiences? 

Citations

Bishop, M., Servedio, M., and Lerch, B. 2024. “The Evolution of Fear-acquisition Strategies Under Predation.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2024.111949. 

Carmen P. McLean and Emily R. Anderson. 2009. “Brave Men and Timid Women? A Review of the Gender Differences in Fear and Anxiety.” Clinical Psychology Review 29 (6): 496–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.05.003.

Cummins, R. G., Wise, W. T. and Nutting, B. H. 2012. “Excitation Transfer Effects Between Semantically Related and Temporally Adjacent Stimuli.” Media Psychology, 15 (4), 420–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2012.723120.

Martin, Neil. 2019. “Why Do You Like Scary Movies? A Review of the Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films.” Frontiers in Psychology 2298 (10). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298.

Öhman, Arne and Mineka, Susan. 2001. “Fears, Phobias, and Preparedness: Toward an Evolved Module of Fear and Fear Learning.” Psychological Review 108 (3): 483–522. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.483.

Réale, D., Reader, S.M., Sol, D., McDougall, P.T. and Dingemanse, N.J. 2007. “Integrating Animal temperament Within Ecology and Evolution.” Biological Reviews (82): 291-318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2007.00010.x. 

Stephen T. Asma. 2014. “Monsters on the Brain: An Evolutionary Epistemology of Horror.” Social Research: An International Quarterly (4): 941-68. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2014.0055. 

Tashjian, S., Fredrigo, V., Molapour, T., Mobbs, D. and Camerer, C. 2022. “Physiological Responses to a Haunted House Threat Experience: Distinct Tonic and Phasic Effects.” Psychological Science 33 (2): 236-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211032231.