Why Some People Enjoy Scares More Than Others

A behavioral-psychological explanation describes how the appetite for fear develops over time. When people repeatedly seek out frightening situations, they may learn that the fear or suspense they anticipate subsides. The reward then lies not only in the thrill but also in the experience of having overcome a dreaded situation.

Mathias Clasen of Aarhus University points to mechanisms that may underlie the entertainment industry. Horror and other suspenseful formats rely on recognizable patterns while simultaneously creating the sense of experiencing an unusual or dangerous world. This sense of tension can encourage people to seek out more stories and experiences of this kind.

Horror as a Controlled Experience

Other people, by contrast, find horror unpleasant or distressing. For them, the subject matter is not merely a thrill but a source of fear, stress, or aversion. This explains why not every Halloween attraction, horror film, or scary story works in the same way for everyone.

This is also reflected in physical reactions, such as growing accustomed to chili peppers. Marc Malmdorf Andersen explains this example: “Wenn man viele Chilischoten isst, wird man zunehmend unempfindlicher gegenüber ihrer Schärfe und kann nach und nach immer schärfere Chilis essen.” Similarly, repeated fear cannot disappear completely, but the subjective distress decreases.

How Avoidance Can Amplify the Effect

Scares and fear are not the same thing. Fear serves as a protective signal to humans. An appetite for fear, by contrast, arises when people experience a controlled or sufficiently safe situation in which this reaction is evoked. Horror can trigger this feeling because the fright can be experienced without determining everyday life.

According to the findings presented, people who avoid scares may find it harder to revise their expectations. Conversely, avoidance can amplify the effect: Anyone who already expects not to be able to endure a situation often never exposes themselves to it in the first place. The anticipated strain can therefore feel stronger than a response to the stimulus that could actually be learned.

The response to horror is thus closely linked to experience, expectations, and learned patterns. Some people seek out an intense encounter with discomfort. Others prefer to protect themselves from it. These differences are not a simple indication of courage or cowardice but can be understood as different learning and coping processes.

For Halloween, this means: The combination of costumes, darkness, and artificial shocks is a stimulus for many people but an unpleasant one for others. Anyone who knows how their favorite stories affect them can enjoy Halloween deliberately and prepare themselves for unpleasant surprises.