Mary Ann Cleary has a repertoire of coping skills to keep her anxiety in check: Meditation. Journaling. Taking walks around her Chicago neighborhood.
And watching slasher flicks.
“Horror gets my mind off whatever I’m worried about,” says the 31-year-old therapist, who regularly curls up on her couch with her two cats after stressful days at work to watch movies such as “Sinister,” “Misery” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
“If I’m going to be scared, I might as well make it fun.”
Millions of people love to frighten themselves on purpose—with hair-raising entertainment such as scary movies and TV shows, spooky novels or videogames, true crime podcasts and haunted-house attractions.
Now, research on the phenomenon of chasing fear for fun, or “recreational fear,” is showing that it has significant benefits: It can help us bond with others, soothe our stress and anxiety, and maybe even become more resilient.
Fear, or the emotional response to a threat (real or perceived), exists to alert us to danger. When we’re scared, our sympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of our fight or flight response, floods our body with adrenaline and our brain with neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine, which can lift our spirits and energy.
This is why a good fright can boost our mood—as long as we know there’s no actual threat, says Margee Kerr, a sociologist at the University of Pittsburgh and author of “Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear.” Dr. Kerr’s research has found that people who visit “extreme” haunted houses (think actors grabbing participants, zapping them with shocks) often feel less stressed and tired, more competent, and that they’re in a better mood afterward.
And researchers at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark, founded in 2020 to study the positive effects of fear, have shown that horror movie fans exhibited greater psychological resilience during the pandemic than people who never watch scary movies. They believe that doing something scary for fun helps people manage their real-life fears by teaching them how to regulate their reactions.
“It’s similar to putting a fighter pilot into a simulator,” says Mathias Clasen, director of the lab and an associate professor of literature and media at Aarhus University. “You learn what the emotions feel like and how to control them.”
A scary experience doesn’t have to be violent or gory to produce emotional benefits. Entertainment can be suspenseful, startling or spooky without a drop of blood. A haunted house tour, late-night ghost story or a good mystery can all do the trick.
Who enjoys being scared? There’s no typical fear fan, although they tend to be younger and many report being anxious types, says Coltan Scrivner, a research scientist in the Recreational Fear Lab. Dr. Scrivner believes that anxious people enjoy a manufactured scare because it gives them a feeling of control over a fictional threat. They can manage their fear by closing their eyes or taking a break.
In a study published online in August, Dr. Scrivner and colleagues identified three types of horror fans: Adrenaline junkies get a thrill, and an immediate mood boost, from the intense experience. White knucklers are genuinely afraid: They don’t get a mood boost but say they learn something about themselves and grow as a result of pushing beyond their comfort zone. And dark copers, who use horror to work through their difficult emotions, get a mood boost and say they develop as a person.
(Dear reader, aren’t we all dark copers these days?)
If you’re up for a good scare, here’s how to boost the benefits of being frightened.
Start slow.
To reap the benefits of recreational fear, you must enjoy the activity, Dr. Clasen says. If you’re not a seasoned fan, don’t begin with the most extreme entertainment. “Try the milder stuff first—a kids’ horror movie or a neighborhood haunt where you can see the zipper on the monster’s back,” says Dr. Clasen.
A suggestion from Dr. Scrivner: Look for a scary version of something you already enjoy, such as books or podcasts.
Make it a group venture.
Scary pursuits are fun to do with others. And feeling vulnerable together can make us feel more connected.
Sharing the activity with someone close to us may also amplify the experience. In yet-to-be-published research, Dr. Clasen’s team found that people who went to a haunted house with someone close to them were less inhibited and more likely to copy each other’s emotions, something researchers call emotional contagion.
Aim for the sweet spot.
Scarier isn’t always better. Research shows that you want to be frightened enough to be stimulated but not so terrified that you don’t enjoy the experience.
Some will find the right balance on a midnight cemetery ghost tour. Others while listening to a true crime podcast in broad daylight on their couch.
You can stay in your happy medium by manipulating your fear—ramping it up by anticipating the next scare, or tamping it down by closing your eyes.
Skip it if you’re not comfortable.
It’s OK if you don’t like scary-themed entertainment, says Dr. Kerr. “Recreational fear is all about choice,” she says.
I was nervous to admit to Dr. Clasen that I gave up reading horror novels—the only scary-on-purpose activity I ever enjoyed—after Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” gave me the worst nightmare of my life, years ago. I felt relieved, and even a little braver, when he replied: “Well, that’s the scariest book of all time!”
Each year, Ms. Cleary, the frightening-film fan, goes to see the latest movie in the “Halloween” franchise with several friends. To amp up the fun, the pals watch trailers and read reviews of the flick beforehand, then discuss how terrified they expect to feel.
This year, they were thrilled that the film gave them plenty of frights. And Ms. Cleary says the experience made her feel closer to her friends.
“It’s bonding to feel so vulnerable,” she says. “Often, that’s not something you get to see in other people.”
Now, she’s trying to decide which horror movie she’ll watch next.
The only one she knows she’ll never enjoy? “Arachnophobia.”
“I draw the line at spiders,” she says.
