According to the BBC, logic can influence the emotion of fear as intended to keep people from things that could hurt them. It helps someone avoid anything that might compromise their safety or those they care about. This is why fear triggers the fight-or-flight response, which is the body’s natural autonomic response to danger. The autonomic system is in charge of involuntary functions like the heart, and other organs. 

So while horror movies can scare someone, they also have an effect that can relieve their anxiety. This is because when someone watches a horror film, they experience a phenomenon called the paradox of horror, which is when someone has the desire to have the feelings of disgust and fear. When this happens, someone’s morbid desires would be met, and could answer some questions when it comes time to defend themself if needed.

What is interesting about the paradox is that humans aren’t the only ones doing this, some gazelles like to watch lions from a distance, even though lions are their natural predator. 

An Aarhus University study concluded that there are three types of people when it comes to horror movies, each being able to solve the paradox, effectively answering their morbid curiosity. These three people are the adrenaline junkies, white knucklers, and dark copers. By the name, one could guess why adrenaline junkies watch horror movies, it’s because they do it for the thrill. The white knucklers answer their morbid questions by not necessarily watching for thrill, but more to conquer their fears. Now, the dark-copers, these ones tend to watch the movies because they want to see how dark the world can be, and compare another’s unsafe life compared to their normal, safe life.

All of these groups have their own way to answer these morbid questions, and soothe their anxiety in their own fashion. Studies prove that each of these groups shows ways to solve the paradox of horror, and therefore can calm their anxiety.