CREDIT: CANDIS BROSS
Fear can force your body to create chemicals that have a positive effect on your brain.

Why is it that some people enjoy being scared? In a word: hormones.

There are some who say that the adrenaline rush, racing heart and sweaty palms that come with feeling afraid cannot be matched, even by sex. In an article in the Atlantic called Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?, research from Dr. David Zald of Vanderbilt University says that this is because certain people are more receptive to the release of dopamine than others.

Dopamine is responsible for reward- based stimuli in the brain, as well as being the precursor for the production of adrenaline and noradrenaline. These chemicals are produced in the body during the fight or flight response we experience when faced with danger, and subsequently trigger reward receptors. The varying affinity to dopamine release in people could be responsible for their varying interest in horror movies.

While cinema has been rampant with technological innovations, our brains have not evolved alongside it to distinguish between the fiction on screen and what is real. This slow development of our brain is the key secret behind the horror genre’s effectiveness. On a subconscious level we actually think that we are in mortal danger.

Even though viewers are terrified, they’re often morbidly fascinated with what goes on in horror films. They’re intrigued by bizarre situations that they would not encounter in their everyday lives, and want to see how the characters will react. Some also just enjoy the relief they feel once the film is over, or enjoy the bragging rights that come with enduring a stressful situation. This is also a factor with haunted houses.

Our bodies have also developed a reaction that makes us feel closer to the people we’re with when we go through an exciting or frightening experience. The strong emotional response involved with a traumatic experience projects onto the people around us and builds stronger bonds than meeting someone in a relaxed environments, which in turn can build stronger relationships.

The hormone oxytocin is also in play. While the role oxytocin plays in romantic relationships is unclear is has been suggested that oxytocin may help with romantic bonding. In other words, taking your sweetheart up on a roller coaster, into a haunted house, or out to a scary movie is a great date night plan.

In 1998, Purdue University conducted a survey of 200 people, and found that there were seven movies that people found most frightening: Scream, Friday the 13th, The Shining, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist and Poltergeist. Through the paranormal theme in all of these movies it is clear that the most common fear is still that of the unknown.