Have you ever sat in a dark cinema or curled up on your couch watching a horror movie, only to find yourself laughing when everyone else is screaming?
Maybe you weren’t laughing, but you were completely hooked, eagerly waiting for the next jump scare, the next creepy whisper, the next blood-spattered twist.
While some people avoid horror films like the plague, others are inexplicably drawn to them, or even find them downright hilarious.
If that sounds like you, you’re not alone, and you’re not strange, either. Psychology has spent years trying to decode what makes horror fans tick.
Why do some people delight in being scared out of their minds, while others won’t even watch the trailer? Why do some chuckle through The Exorcist or grin through Get Out? What’s going on in the brain of someone who genuinely enjoys fear?
One of the most common explanations for why people enjoy horror is that some individuals are more biologically responsive to stimulation. Psychologists call this sensation-seeking behaviour.
According to Marvin Zuckerman, the psychologist who coined the term, some people have a higher threshold for excitement and novelty.
Horror films, packed with jump scares, suspense, and violence, offer the perfect cocktail of adrenaline, dopamine, and fear-induced arousal. And for high sensation seekers, that spike feels good. It’s not fear, it’s fun.
In essence, you may be hardwired to chase that thrill, and horror movies offer a relatively safe, controlled way to get your fix.
Fear as a controlled environment
Here’s the thing: horror films give your brain fake danger. Your rational brain knows you’re safe on your couch with popcorn. But your primal brain, your amygdala, reacts as if what you’re seeing is real.
That paradox creates a unique emotional high. According to Dr. Glenn Sparks, a professor at Purdue University who has studied the effects of media violence, the body goes into “fight or flight” mode, but you know it’s fiction.
So instead of fear lasting long-term, your brain gets a release of tension, which can result in laughter, even euphoria.
Basically, horror is a ride, and some people just enjoy roller coasters more than others.
Laughing during horror isn’t necessarily inappropriate, it might be your body’s coping mechanism. When you’re overwhelmed with fear or discomfort, the body sometimes responds with laughter as a way to discharge tension.
It’s like your nervous system saying, “Okay, I don’t know what to do with this panic, so I’ll laugh instead.”
This is known as incongruous emotion, responding to a situation in a way that seems mismatched, but actually helps regulate your emotional state.
Also, people with dark humour tendencies or high emotional intelligence might spot the absurdity or predictability in horror tropes, which makes it feel more comedic than terrifying. Slasher villains that never die? Haunted dolls? Creepy kids singing lullabies? For some, it’s not scary, it’s ridiculous. EXPLORE THIS: Ryan Coogler’s Sinners grosses over ₦600 Million in Nigerian cinemas, makes box office history
A sign of psychological resilience? maybe.
Interestingly, a 2020 study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that people who enjoy horror films reported lower levels of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The researchers theorised that horror fans may be better at coping with anxiety because they’ve practised emotional regulation in frightening fictional scenarios.
It’s the idea of “rehearsed resilience.” Watching horror allows you to experience fear, loss, and danger without the real-world consequences. Over time, that might make you more comfortable with difficult emotions, and even better equipped to handle real-life stress.
So yes, your love for Hereditary, Get Out, or The Conjuring might actually mean you’re emotionally tougher than you think.
Believe it or not, horror films can also enhance social bonding. Watching scary movies with others releases oxytocin, the bonding hormone, especially if you’re huddled together, sharing screams (or giggles). This shared experience creates emotional closeness, especially in romantic relationships.
There’s even a name for the phenomenon where fear increases attraction: misattribution of arousal. In short, when your heart is racing from fear, your brain might misread that heightened state as attraction.
So next time you take a date to a horror movie… just know, science is on your side.
