One of the most noticeable side-effects is sleeplessness. Horror movies can cause a wide variety of side-effects, depending on the individual. And those who find them terrifying would experience distress.
However, those who find horror movies enjoyable would just compare the movie to a roller coaster ride: just an adrenaline rush. So most people experience the rapid heartbeat and increased breaths. “The Emotion Theory states that our interpretation of these same physiological cues can be different depending on the individual,” said Mathers. The reason why some people find horror movies fun, while others find them absolutely terrifying, can be attributed to the Emotion Theory. She compared watching a horror movie to riding a roller coaster people’s heart rates and respirations increase. “What happens for most people is that you have an arousal of your sympathetic nervous system and an activation adrenaline,” said AP Psychology teacher Heidi Mathers. Let’s first explain what our mind does when watching a horror movie. Horror movies are ingrained in our culture is this healthy? With Halloween comes scary movies such as the cult classics “The Exorcist,” “Saw,” “The Ring,” and “The Shining.” Ghosts and murderers fill our screens and dramatic music rings in our ears.