albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Mar 1, 2019 13:55:29 GMT
Why do we attain pleasure from horror? From fear?
I suspect it is partly spiritual in nature. By which I mean that monsters offer a greater reality.
If a vampire or werewolf was captured, that would raise the bar on what is possible within our reality. That would be enthralling.
I think we get a taste of that when we read a horror story. The existence of the supernatural has implications for spirituality.
People talk of horror stories that inspire awe. I think that is true.
Of course there are other things that horror offers. Blood and guts. I believe that kind of horror is a matter of surrealism. violence is surreal.
Horror could be described as a branch of surrealism.I think we get bored of reality. Shops. People going shopping. cars. Houses.
Suppose someone was run over by a bus. Guts and blood spilling out of a person screaming. Surreal.
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 1, 2019 16:28:18 GMT
The usual answer is that we enjoy the release of tension that comes after feeling afraid in what we know is actually a totally safe situation. It's the same reason people go on roller-coaster rides. Similar reasoning would apply to explaining how it is that people can "enjoy" films (or music) that actually make them feel sad. Maybe we just enjoy "exercising" the different emotional responses that we don't normally need to use in our real day-to-day lives.
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Post by The Thing in the Vacuum Valve on Mar 1, 2019 16:44:21 GMT
I'm in total agreement with all of the above by albie and Dr Strange. I can add that I think it causes us to interface with our own shadow self (as described by Jung), somewhere between casual flirtation and outright confrontation... Which can develop one's personality and character for the better, as long as the dark-half remains held in check. The connection horror makes to the mysterious and unexplainable is great exercise for the imagination as well.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 1, 2019 17:32:12 GMT
Taken together, those answers cover most of my reasons. In my case, I think I can boil it down to three factors:
Catharthis: Experiencing fear, and then the release from it. Also, indulging my own darker thoughts and feelings in the safety of the imagination.
Comfort: I enjoy fun variations on familiar pulp story tropes: mummies, witches, evil cults, eldritch abominations, and so on (along with vampires, werewolves, and zombies--if the writer is creative enough about it).
Transcendence: Horror can give a brief sense of escaping the mundane rules of reality. That's where the awe comes in.
I value all three, but the last most of all--which is why I gravitate toward supernatural horror over slasher tales.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Mar 1, 2019 18:11:21 GMT
Of course there are other things that horror offers. Blood and guts. I believe that kind of horror is a matter of surrealism. violence is surreal. Horror could be described as a branch of surrealism.I think we get bored of reality. Shops. People going shopping. cars. Houses. Suppose someone was run over by a bus. Guts and blood spilling out of a person screaming. Surreal. It's not surreal at all. If you think something's surreal, it's because the elements in it are combined in a strange way that you would not normally expect, like in a dream. A screaming, bleeding, eviscerated accident victim isn't surreal. It's as real as it gets... |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Mar 1, 2019 18:26:08 GMT
You might as well ask why we enjoy any type of story. Conflict of some kind is central to all meaningful story-telling. We are programmed to be interested in hearing about other people in trouble, basically, because it may provide clues about how to survive.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 1, 2019 18:31:06 GMT
You might as well ask why we enjoy any type of story. Conflict of some kind is central to all meaningful story-telling. We are programmed to be interested in hearing about other people in trouble, basically, because it may provide clues about how to survive. Come to think of it, my knowledge of how to ward off Great Old Ones has come in handy more than once. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Mar 1, 2019 18:55:02 GMT
You might as well ask why we enjoy any type of story. Conflict of some kind is central to all meaningful story-telling. We are programmed to be interested in hearing about other people in trouble, basically, because it may provide clues about how to survive. Come to think of it, my knowledge of how to ward off Great Old Ones has come in handy more than once. I should have added that, with the one exception you mention, the most useful meaning of fiction is often not the literal one. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Mar 1, 2019 20:17:41 GMT
You might as well ask why we enjoy any type of story. Conflict of some kind is central to all meaningful story-telling. We are programmed to be interested in hearing about other people in trouble, basically, because it may provide clues about how to survive. I'd like to think it's more an imaginative response than anything determined by our biology or DNA. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Mar 1, 2019 21:39:41 GMT
Apropos of nothing, I have developed a new system of psychological profiling based on what the subject's favorite dinosaur was when he was a child. Yours was the Iguanodon, am I right?
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Post by andydecker on Mar 1, 2019 22:35:46 GMT
I really can't say. It is a difficult question. There are so many aspects. Because it is a paradox? So often the epitome of conversatism and at the same time anarchistic. Has anybody ever truly rooted for van Helsing? Isn't Dracula not much more interesting?
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Post by jamesdoig on Mar 2, 2019 2:05:23 GMT
Apropos of nothing, I have developed a new system of psychological profiling based on what the subject's favorite dinosaur was when he was a child. Yours was the Iguanodon, am I right? Brontosaurus I'm afraid, which I promptly dropped when scientists decided to change its name to 'Apatosaurus' for some reason. |
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 2, 2019 8:57:37 GMT
Apropos of nothing, I have developed a new system of psychological profiling based on what the subject's favorite dinosaur was when he was a child. Yours was the Iguanodon, am I right? Brontosaurus I'm afraid, which I promptly dropped when scientists decided to change its name to 'Apatosaurus' for some reason. Haven't they changed it back again now? It was my favourite too. Anyone else here irritated by the way people in the media have started pronouncing diplodocus split as di-plodocus, instead of the correct old way, diplo-docus? I suppose pretentious folk think they're being etymologically correct, but they're not. Some people just ain't got no education! |
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Mar 2, 2019 11:09:44 GMT
I'm in total agreement with all of the above by albie and Dr Strange. I can add that I think it causes us to interface with our own shadow self (as described by Jung), somewhere between casual flirtation and outright confrontation... Which can develop one's personality and character for the better, as long as the dark-half remains held in check. The connection horror makes to the mysterious and unexplainable is great exercise for the imagination as well. And how about Freud's death drive? The idea that part of us is seeking our own death? |
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Mar 2, 2019 11:12:05 GMT
You might as well ask why we enjoy any type of story. Conflict of some kind is central to all meaningful story-telling. We are programmed to be interested in hearing about other people in trouble, basically, because it may provide clues about how to survive. I seriously would like to know why people read stuff like James Joyce and Hemingway. What emotion are these stories trying to conjure in the reader? Beats me because all I feel is bored. |
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