It’s Autumn, and Halloween is just around the corner. The tradition of this scary month is dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, and Halloween films. About 90% of them are horror movies. But are horror movies healthy?
With all the gore, it should have a way of promoting violence in the audience…right? In a study by the National Library of Medicine and Research Gate, half of people who watched horror movies for the majority of their lives felt calmer and more focused with violent environments. They watched shootings and gang fights but didn’t feel the need to lift a finger or want to flee. They felt serenity and eagerness to watch or even join in on the dangerous activity. Now isn’t that concerning?
On the other hand there are people who enjoy horror movies but don’t have any intention of violence. Horror movies do have violent images that may traumatize younger audiences, as their brains are still developing.
Melissa Simms, one of the school nurses, explains how horror movies may affect the brain.
“There are some images that wouldn’t be healthy for kids. It could stay in their heads and traumatize them all over again,” Simms said.
If those images are exposed to that age group, it could cause paranoia, sleep deprivation, and other things that could affect you later on in life without you knowing.
“It’s scary and it has blood from stupid decisions that the characters make,” Rachel Pieper (9) said.
Know that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe there should be a restriction so a specific audience can watch horror movies.
Everything in horror films is fake and for those who can see through the efforts to make it as real as possible, enjoy horror movies.
“The thoughts behind the killer and the motive is what makes it interesting,” Camila Rosales (9) said.
The anticipation, scares, and logic behind it gives an adrenaline to the audience and leaves the audiences wanting more. Rosales and Marcey Watkins, our other school nurses, love horror movies.
“Either you like it or you don’t,” Watkins said. “There is no in between for horror movies.”
