First Article

The first article I found is a post of G.R. Yeates, author of Horror and Fantasy Fiction. On this post, G.R. states some purposes or functions of horror elements in the movies or fiction. According to his post, people could have a better understanding about the horror elements especially people who really are really scared about the ghost or some scary issues in movies or other kinds of media. In this first place, G.R. said horror element was a kind of method to measure people’s endurance and how much can people take. Secondly, the author mentioned that horror gives people an opportunity to get rid of the incarceration in real life for a short period of time and release their pressure in the reality for a while.

In the first place, the author thought one of the purposes of the horror elements in the movies or fictions is the endurance about how much people can take. The author mentioned, “With each successive generation, the human imagination pushes the envelope that bit further, always groping for the abyss, always finding it out of reach. So we pursue it by increasing the body count, spilling shimmering lakes of blood, hacking, maiming and dismembering through humanity as if they were cornstalks at harvest time. Many of them with as much personality.” In the history of human being, imagination is the critical catalyst to motive people’s thoughts and their push the development of people’s culture and life. Horror has the same function to activate people’s mind therefore produce various culture achievements.

Secondly, the author stated that people add horror elements in the movies, fictions, or other media because of the incarceration. “A familiar trope of horror being the cabin in the woods, the isolated facility, outposts in the forbidding wilderness. In such places, we are stripped, sometimes naked, and left to fend for ourselves against genius loci. Some wear hockey masks and others might look like werewolves but all of them share the same spirit. They are the unknowns stealing control away from us for a short time. However, we do escape, we get away. Even when the horror shows its face one last time, perfectly timed to make us jump, spill our popcorn, then go home to sleep with the light on, we know everything is basically okay” (G.R). This citation is a part of author’s opinion about the horror’s function. He mentioned that in reality, people need a time to escape from the real life and get into the world of horror. They could experience a different life and then release the pressure of them in the real life. Even though people still need to come to the reality, they have a way to make their life better and solve their problems with a happier mood.

From this week’s reading, Noel also mentioned the similar opinion about the second function mentioned in the first article I found. Noel said, “Thus, we are attracted to, and many of us seek out, horror fictions of this sort despite the fact that they provoke disgust, because that disgust is required for the pleasure involved in engaging our curiosity in the unknown and drawing it into the processes of revelation, ratiocination, etc” (Carroll, 10).

Thus in conclusion, according to my first article and this week’s reading, the horror elements could be somehow measure people’s endurance and help people get rid of the busy life for a while by getting some pleasures in the world of horror.

Carroll, N. (2002). “Why Horror?”. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 17). New York, NY: Routledge.

G.R. Yeates. “The Function of Horror”. G.R. Yeates- The Official Site. Aug 16th, 2010. http://www.gryeates.co.uk/?p=38. Online web. 

Second Article 

The second article I found is “Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate Them” by Margarita Tartakovsky. In this article, Margarita used some citations and instances with details to point out some reasons about whey some people love horror movies while other hate them. In the first place, the author said some people love horror movies because of the existence of the excitation transfer process. Secondly, the author also mentions that some people love horror movies because of gender socialization.

First and forecast, the author stated the existence of the excitation transfer process is one the reasons of why some people love horror movies. “According to Glenn Sparks, Ph.D, a professor and associate head of the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, one reason for the appeal is how you feel after the movie. This is called the excitation transfer process. Sparks’s research found that when people watch frightening films, their heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increases. After the film is over, this physiological arousal lingers, Sparks said. (We’re just not aware of it.) That means that any positive emotions you experience – like having fun with friends – are intensified, he said. Instead of focusing on the fright you felt during the film, you recall having a great time. And you’ll want to come back for more, he said” (Tartakovsky, web).  This paragraph gives us a good reason of the existence of horror movie. Even though some movies are so scary, some people are willing to experience the excited and amazing process because they could intensify the happiness of their real life. In a word, for some people, the horror movie makes them sacred for a while but happier after a while.

Secondly, the author said that some people love horror movie because of the gender socialization. “Research suggests that more men enjoy scary movies. This might be because men are socialized to be brave and enjoy threatening things, Sparks said. Men may derive social gratification from not letting a scary film bother them, Sparks said. It’s the idea of mastering something threatening, he said. ‘Men often like [scary films] as date movies because women are more likely to seek physical closeness when they’re scared, and men can show off their strength and bravery,’ Cantor said. In one study males liked a horror movie more when they saw it with a female who was scared, and females liked the movie more when they saw it with a male who wasn’t scared” (Tartakovsky, web). This reason associates the relationship between human beings with the horror movie issue. People are influenced by the people and environment around them. Men could be love the horror movie more when they are together with women.

The different between this week’s reading and this article I found is that this article is not as academic as this week’s reading. In this article, the author use some simple sentence states why some people love horror movies while others hates horror movie.

In conclusion, based on the article I found, we could know two more reasons about why some people love horror movie. The first is the existence of the excitation transfer process. The second is the gender socialization.

Tartakovsky, Margarita. “Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate Them”.Oct 31th, 2012. From http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/31/why-some-people-love-horror-movies-while-others-hate-them/