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Originally Posted by Jenslyl87
Hi fellow horror nerds!
I'm on a bit of a streaking reading up on the paradoxical appeal of the horror genre, a form of entertainment that paradoxically aims to make its audience feel bad. I think that, whatever explains why people such as myself would want to engage with horrific entertainment is bound to tell us a lot about human psychology. Whatever else you may think of the genre, you have to acknowledge that people's attraction to it is kind of weird.
Are you familiar with the work of horror researcher Mathias Clasen, for instance? He has a new TED video in which he addresses these questions. I find his evolutionary approach fascinating and even compelling. In a nutshell, he argues that horror represents a kind of danger simulator within which people can acquire adaptive experience with the dangerous and the unknown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6St5R2bYMOY&t=
If you're familiar with his approach, what do you think about it? Are you persuaded? If not, what do you think accounts for the appeal of the genre?
Hoping to get a bit of a discussion going  |
Honestly -- I always thought that's what the main "attraction" to horror was (prepping for future dangerous situations), and discussed that with others long ago. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's certainly not a new concept. In fact, at root, I'd say it predates Origin of Species, to simply saying it's prep work.
Cool stuff, Jenslyl, I look forward to checking it out. In particular, love to see what research may back up the theory.