Never in a million years did I imagine myself telling anyone “I like horror movies,” but here I am about to defend what was once my worst enemy. Yes, I still hate jump scares and maybe I cover my eyes every once in a while during a particularly tense scene. But I have transitioned over the last two years from someone who would want to leave a party when the idea of watching a horror movie comes up, to the guy who suggests that we watch one. This wasn’t an easy transition, but I’m hoping that the rest of you cowards can learn from my experience and do the same. If you’re already a horror movie pro, then maybe I can help you empathize with your buddy who still refuses to watch The Conjuring with you. Let me take you on my journey of self-discovery, and then I’ll tell you my strategy for making it through horror movies.
I’ve always conceptually loved the horror genre. I’ve been reading horror stories for as long as I can remember, and Stephen King’s It is my favorite book. I have also dabbled in writing horror stories, but I think the idea of jump scares was the reason I stayed away from visual forms of horror. That changed in 2016 with the release of Stranger Things. Obviously, Stranger Things is heavily Stephen King inspired, and once I heard this, I knew I needed to give it a watch. Stranger Things is not a particularly horrifying show, but it significantly increased my confidence to make it through a horror-esque story, so I started keeping my eyes out for (and open during!) similar scary stories. My next successful visual horror experience came from a video game called The Last of Us. This game is very dear to me, as it not only changed my outlook on horror, but it also fundamentally changed how I view the media I consume.
At first glance, The Last of Us is a traditional horror game like the Resident Evil franchise, except it’s extremely grounded in nature, barring the whole zombie-fungus stuff. In a lot of ways, choosing to walk forward and face the unknown myself is a lot more difficult than watching an actor in a film do so. However, I pushed through anyway because of the excellent narrative. The story of The Last of Us and its recent sequel is not only my favorite narrative in a video game, but my favorite in any media, be it books, movies, TV, or otherwise. I pushed through my fears because I was so invested in the characters and felt it was my duty to see their journey through to the end. The Last of Us taught me many lessons, one of which is that fear brings out the true nature of people. Horror stories allow for character work that is impossible with a lighthearted story.
Not long after, my friends and I were searching for something to watch as a group and we happened to stumble upon the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, which is an excellent story about a family returning to their haunted childhood home. This was my first experience with serious jump scares, but from lessons learned during my time with The Last of Us, I endured because I wanted to see what happened to the characters. Between sessions of viewing Hill House in my backyard pandemic theater, my friends and I watched Friend Request, which ranks among the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Although I enjoyed laughing at the movie’s mistakes, it was at this point that I decided that I enjoyed horror movies with quality narratives and character development, rather than those that indulged in an endless scare-fest without any direction.
Since then, I’ve watched some bad horror movies, including Krampus and Ax’ Em (look it up and you’ll see it got a 1.3/10 on IMDb!); some good horror movies such as Insidious, Sinister, and The Autopsy of Jane Doe; and a few great horror movies, most notably The Shining and The Babadook. However, one movie stood head and shoulders above the rest: Hereditary. It’s also the only movie that’s ever made me scream in terror. The premise is simple enough: a family is haunted by what seems to be their deceased grandmother. But Ari Aster, in his debut as a director, creates something special with the help of the supremely talented actors, tight editing, and a script better than that of most big-name studios. The scares in this movie don’t come from monsters popping up in your face. Instead, it’s truly terrifying imagery is what unsettles me so much. The fear I felt as a result caused me to remember this movie far more than most I’ve seen.
I can no longer deny that horror movies have become a significant part of my life. I am still almost as afraid as before, but my experience could never have been achieved with the same impact in any other genre. So how can you learn to enjoy horror movies? For me, the most important thing is to be surrounded by friends. Being with a group lightens the mood and you can make fun of the movies’ more cheesy aspects. Just don’t let your friends ruin the fear for you with too much goofing around. I also spent the beginning of my journey looking up the timestamps for jump scares, and I admit this was a mistake. Don’t try to cheat the system—just enjoy the ride. I was actually more anxious when I knew a scare was coming.
Furthermore, in really good movies the jump scares are usually more creative. The Babadook never stoops as low as throwing a loud noise and CGI monster at you. Instead, it employs inspired imagery and shot composition to unsettle you. Hereditary’s most horrifying scenes are usually void of sound, and you just might catch the outline of something lurking in the screen’s corner. In moments like these when my heart is beating out of my chest, I try to summon my inner movie fanatic and analyze the scene from a critical standpoint—how and why is this movie scaring me? Considering that the coat rack in the dark room was meant to look like a person, or thinking about how the slow build of music in the background, or lack thereof, raises the tension. Changing your mentality from “I am scared” to “why am I scared?” will allow you to have a great deal more respect for the genre. Making a person laugh, cheer, or even cry is far easier than truly shaking them to the core, so if you can find a movie that achieves this task without the crutch of cheap scares, it’s a truly special feeling.
I don’t like being scared by horror movies, but similar to a theme park ride, it creates a feeling that cannot be recreated anywhere else, and for that reason I will continue to watch them. If you want somewhere to start in the genre, consider The Shining. Grab your friends, hide your face behind a pillow, and give a horror movie a shot!
I believe in facing your fears when it comes to horror movies and find this guide to the be the weak way out. I don’t see the point in watching a horror movie if your going to remove any fear by looking up the jump scares and take out the true terror ever so often. You might as well watch blues clues if your going to watch a horror movie by looking up all the jump scares. The