In this episode, we explore why we willingly scare ourselves — unpacking the neuroscience of fear, the psychology of personality and anxiety, and the surprising ways horror can function as emotional regulation and rehearsal for real-life uncertainty. From classic films like Psycho to modern social horror like Get Out, we examine how fear reflects culture, mirrors identity, and reveals what our nervous systems may be practicing when the lights go down.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Craske, M. G., Treanor, M., Conway, C. C., Zbozinek, T., & Vervliet, B. (2014). “Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, 58, 10–23.

Reiss, S., & McNally, R. J. (1985). “The expectancy model of fear.”

Nagoski, E., & Nagoski, A. (2019). Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.

Tamborini, R., & Prentice, D. A. (1990). “Emotion and moral judgment in response to horror.” Communication Research.

Zillmann, D. (1996). “The psychology of suspense in dramatic exposition.”

Zillmann, D. (1988). Mood Management Through Communication Choices.

Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal.

Scrivner, C., Johnson, J. A., Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J., & Clasen, M. (2021).
“Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Personality and Individual Differences, 168.

Hirsh, Jacob B., Mar, Raymond A., & Peterson, Jordan B. (2012/2016).
Research on intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety.

Goldstein, P. (2012). The Sounds of Fear: Music in Horror Films.

Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional Contagion.

Durkheim, E. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

Hills, M. (2002). Fan Cultures.

Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture.

van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score.

Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1991).
“A terror management theory of social behavior.”

• (00:00:00) - The Scariest Movies You Can Watch
• (00:09:55) - The Science of Scare
• (00:20:39) - Is There a Neurotic Side to Horror?
• (00:25:14) - It Follows
• (00:27:22) - How Fear Can Be Regulating
• (00:37:11) - Does Personality Play a Role in Horror Attention?
• (00:40:33) - Why People Seek Horror Films After Trauma
• (00:46:52) - How Horror Music Affects Our Brain
• (00:55:09) - Why Horror Fans Are So Fearful
• (00:58:06) - Why Horror Is So Terrifying
• (01:01:22) - Why Uncertainty Affects Horror
• (01:09:23) - What Is Horror Made for?
• (01:13:44) - Final Girl on 6th Avenue

The Final Girl looks a little different for 2026... in the best way! Join in for the first episode of 2026 where we uncover what it really means to be in the horror genre, where the term "elevated horror" came from, and what I believe it means to have so many different types of fear depicted on screen.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Laing, R.D. The Divided Self.

Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection.

Freud, Sigmund. Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

Luckhurst, Roger. The Trauma Question.

Haneke, Michael. Interviews collected in Film Comment and Cahiers du Cinéma.

Carroll, Noël. The Philosophy of Horror.

Jancovich, Mark. Rational Fears: American Horror in the 1950s.

Jancovich, Mark et al. Defining Cult Movies.

Sobchack, Vivian. The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience.

• (00:00:00) - Final Girl on 6th Avenue: Reviewing Films
• (00:01:34) - What Is Elevated Horror?
• (00:05:02) - What Is Elevated Horror?
• (00:10:19) - Funny Games
• (00:13:45) - Ethical Horror
• (00:17:08) - The Piano Teacher: A Horror Film Without Violence
• (00:26:36) - The Piano Teacher: Rape Scene
• (00:31:18) - Hereditary: The Trauma of Repetition
• (00:39:53) - Hereditary: The Trauma Narrative
• (00:44:50) - Possession in the Elevator
• (00:55:25) - Under The Skin
• (01:04:55) - Under the Skin: Slow Cinema Explained
• (01:08:26) - Is Elevated Horror Bad For Audiences?
• (01:13:02) - The Importance of Elevated Horror
• (01:20:03) - Final Girl on 6th Avenue

Don't you find the paradox that loneliness is common but isolating interesting? Yeah, me too. Listen in as I discuss 5 of my favorite examples of the human condition, including Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), and Happiness (1998).