Horror Movies Are Holy

Most people say they watch horror movies to feel scared.
I don’t think that’s the real reason we keep coming back.

In this episode, I explore horror not as entertainment, but as ritual — a modern version of the ancient fires where humans once gathered to face monsters together.

Fear, when contained and witnessed, becomes something else.

Something communal.

Something clarifying.

Something strangely sacred.

We talk about why exorcism scenes make people cry, why horror is deeply physical, and why the nervous system experiences these films as a complete somatic arc — tension, terror, release, and quiet.

The same arc found in ancient worship, trance rituals, and communal rites across cultures.

Ghosts as grief.

Demons as shadow.

Zombies as numbness.

Not metaphors to explain horror away — but archetypes with teeth.

Horror movies give the psyche a stage to confront what it usually avoids.

They allow fear to move, complete itself, and be shared.

And when fear is shared, it binds people. It softens the world afterward. It returns us to ourselves, slightly lighter, slightly more awake.

This is not about believing in monsters.

It’s about recognizing the ritual.

The lights go down.

The body trembles.

The breath steadies.

And when it’s over, something inside you has been acknowledged — not fixed, not cured, just seen.

That’s why horror feels holy.

Even if we don’t have language for it anymore.

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AUDIO

The Theatrical Poster for Poltergeist III by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/vendaface/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/