Every year, as Halloween approaches, I’m asked the same question: why do we love to watch horror films? And it’s true, horror films are growing in popularity. In 2025, box-office revenue for horror and suspense films in the UK and Ireland reached about £83.7m, up 22% from 2024. Several films performed particularly well, including Sinners, 28 Years Later, The Conjuring: Last Rites and Weapons, each earning more than £10m at the box office.
But why do we like to do scary things? Why do we actively seek to experience fear when it is usually something we try to avoid? My work as a belief psychologist may be able to shed a little light on this, but plenty of other psychologists have their own theories on why we love to be frightened.
It’s a scream
From a psychological point of view, it could be that certain activities can give us the illusion of fear and allow us to be scared in a safe, controlled environment. The implication is that we only enjoy being scared if, on some level, we know we are safe.
If we get too scared by a horror film, we have control over the situation and can turn it off. In real life, we can’t just turn it off. But if we know there is no real danger, why does a horror film still make our hearts race? To understand this, it helps to look beyond the cinema screen.
Don’t go into the cellar
Horror films are not the only way we seek out fear. Rollercoasters, haunted houses and extreme sports all offer opportunities to experience excitement alongside a sense of danger, although some activities carry genuine physical risks.
Why is experiencing fear something that we might seek out? Our ancestors needed to recognise and respond to threats to survive. Being cautious around a dangerous animal, for example, was likely to be more advantageous than approaching it without hesitation. So, it’s possible that our attraction to simulated fear could be connected to this survival instinct.
Some researchers suggest that frightening experiences can provide opportunities to practice responding to threats. Think of a child being playfully chased. It is real fear with no real danger, and horror films may work in a similar way.
Of course, this does not mean that enjoying horror films is necessarily an evolved survival mechanism. It is one possible explanation for why frightening experiences can sometimes be enjoyable.
And there may be a limit to how much fear we enjoy. In one study, people went round a haunted house while their fear and enjoyment were measured. At the scary moments, enjoyment rose as fear increased, then levelled off and dipped slightly when fear was at its highest. In other words, there may be a sweet spot. Too little fear, and the experience becomes boring. Too much, and it stops being fun.
Boo! The pleasure of a jump scare
Horror films are carefully designed to build suspense, and the payoff is the jump scare that offers a release. That sense of relief is when you can enjoy yourself and laugh with your friends.
The jump scare works so well because the threat feels real. We know it is coming, but the best ones in films are well timed, and can have multiple rises and drops in suspense.
Watching a horror film with other people can also change the experience.
If you have ever watched a scary film with friends, you may have noticed that the reactions can be as entertaining as the film itself. Someone jumping out of their seat can set everyone laughing, while knowing that a friend is about to be frightened can add another layer of enjoyment.
Research suggests that our emotional responses to frightening entertainment can be influenced by the people around us.
People know that going to see a horror film will scare them, some will enjoy it and some people will close their eyes or even leave, and yet they still go.
Who is it?
One reason could be our personalities. Personality has been used by psychologists to predict a whole host of things, voting behaviour for example.
An obvious personality trait to examine is sensation seeking and researchers found that people who scored high on this liked horror and watched it more often. Also, people who had a high imagination (and intellect!) were also found to like horror films more.
Our beliefs also play a part too. One study found people who believe more strongly in the paranormal tend to seek out supernatural horror, such as The Exorcist, while people with weaker beliefs tend to prefer horror with natural content, such as Psycho. Whereas some people watched it out of a morbid curiosity.
Age and individual differences also matter. Research has found that anxious children enjoyed horror films less, So, if horror is not your idea of a good night out, there is no reason to force yourself to watch it. We do not all need to enjoy the same things.
A film can’t hurt you
Personality might tell us who enjoys horror, but not why anyone feels afraid when they know they are safe.
One analogy for controllable fear is the glass walkway over a canyon in Grand Canyon West, Arizona. I am scared of heights, so I would find the prospect of crossing it rather daunting. Even if I knew that the glass was safe, I might still feel uneasy looking down. My knowledge of the safety would not necessarily stop my body from reacting to the apparent danger.
Horror films can create a similar conflict. One concept that might help explain this is alief, introduced by philosopher Gendler (2008). An alief is an automatic, often unconscious response that can conflict with what we consciously believe.
However, the concept of alief is debated by philosophers, and it is not the only possible explanation for this difference between conscious knowledge and intuitive reactions. Our emotional and physiological responses to perceived threats are complex, and knowing something is safe does not automatically prevent us from feeling afraid.
Perhaps, then, part of the appeal of horror lies in this very contradiction: we can know that we are safe while still experiencing the excitement of feeling otherwise.
Coming soon
We have looked at why we might enjoy horror films, and how it is linked to the psychology of fear. There is unlikely to be one answer. For some people, it may be the thrill of intense sensations. For others, it could be the suspense, the social experience of watching with friends or the curiosity to explore things that would frighten us in real life.
Psychological research offers several useful explanations, but, as with many areas of psychology, it is important not to mistake an interesting theory for a definitive answer.
Some people enjoy horror films, and whether or not this is healthy remains to be seen. As a belief psychologist, I suspect that what we believe about our own fear matters as much as the fear itself.
If you like them, watch them, but if they give you nightmares, and keep you awake at night, maybe steer clear. The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity gave me sleepless nights, and I’m supposed to the psychologist. But then isn’t that part of the fun…
Here are my top five horror films (subject to change weekly, or even daily)
The Haunting (1963, Robert Wise)
The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)
Event Horizon (1997, Paul W.S. Anderson)
Nope (2022, Jordan Peele)
Evil Dead II (1987, Sam Raimi)
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