Jumpscares, clenched fists, spilling the popcorn… who would have guessed watching horror movies can have such benefits for you! Being someone who is constantly glanced at with the doubted eyes, I feel obligated to share some reasons why horror movies can be extremely beneficial for you. 

They can influence your real-life decisions and train the brain

It is likely that you’ve found yourself in situations face palming yourself as you try to pull yourself together thinking, ‘they really just ran in the direction that was almost labelled DANGER, didn’t they?” The fact that you had this thought shows that when it comes to watching horror movies, the brain isn’t stationary. Studies have shown that the average cognitive function of young adults after watching two hours of TV shows are lower scoring than those who are tested after watching a two hour horror movie. This means that more often than not, the brain is not taking in full information of what we watch on TV. Screens slide by and with the slip of a mind, you’ve been sitting on the couch for far too long, your brain empty. Horror movies, on the other hand, have the ability to train your mind on focusing intensely for a short period of time, training the brain. “Some TV shows can be cognitively stimulating, and there’s some evidence that cognitively stimulating activities can be protective and beneficial,” says Margie Lachman, a psychologist at Brandeis University. 

They’re physically beneficial

Before I get attacked saying that jump scares certainly do not help their heart, jump scares actually give you a rush of adrenaline, activating the response to your brain. Adrenaline flushes your muscle with oxygen, providing you with more stamina and strength under stress.

After your body jolts from a drastic jumpscare, it returns to its calm state and your brain releases hormones including dopamine and serotonin. These hormones can then help to strengthen your immune system and keep brain cells active.

Obviously know your boundaries, especially if you have certain health conditions to be obliging to, but at the end of the day, horror movies do have many beneficial sides to them which benefits your health, and helps bring your family and friends together. 

Go watch a horror movie, I dare you.