When it’s rainy and cold outside, the trees have lost their leaves and the branches scrape creepily against the window, all I want to do is curl up next to a warm fire and sleep. But why do I find comfort in turning on a scary movie, listening to a spooky short story, or reading my favourite horror authors? Apparently I am not alone — as it turns out, many of us love horror and sometimes prefer it over cozier media.
Studies show that there are several psychological reasons for our interest in the grim and dark, one of which is our morbid curiosity. It’s what drives us to keep our eyes glued to the screen or page even during those really awful scenes. Dr. Coltan Scrivner argues that we use morbid curiosity to learn about dangerous situations, and with horror entertainment we can do that safely and without consequence. The same study revealed that morbid curiosity and an interest in horror may also be linked to personality traits such as rebelliousness and is more inherent in younger people. Some people like horror because of the rush of chemicals such as adrenaline, dopamine and endorphins that it triggers, making the rush of fear fun and addictive.
I am an avid horror fan, especially in video games and books. I think that they instill the dread I find so attractive better than other media. Dread is my main draw in horror content — a gradual increase of a creeping sensation in the back of my mind building up to something truly horrifying which is revealed at the end. I agree that morbid curiosity is definitely a driving factor in my search for scares, but I also love the adrenaline rush that hits during the experience. Despite being a certified chicken, practically jumping at the most basic nonsense, I still love it!
I also realized that horror is a great medium for delivering stories and conveying the pain that people have experienced in the world. On that note, I’m including some spooky reads for January, as it is one of my favourite months to read horror other than October.
Annihilation (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer has been on my mind recently. It follows the journey of a biologist into an eerie and unknown place called area X. It is one of my favorite horror novels because it really captures that feeling of dread. Furthermore, climate change and the environment is a key theme in the book, and it made me reflect deeply.
Another author I encourage everyone to read is Stephen Graham Jones, he is an American author and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe. His works are often brutal and touch upon themes such as colonialism, generational trauma (a big one), and Indigenous resistance. I recommend The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025) and The Only Good Indians (2020). These are great starting points and really capture the essence of Jones.
So whether you are an experienced horror fan or just a casual enjoyer, I hope you learned something from this tidbit of information! And if you rarely or never go out to read, watch, or play horror media, I encourage you to try it. There is a variety of horror out there and while the violent stuff can sometimes soak up too much limelight, there’s so much more to the genre than blood and gore.
