Some people, for example, may find the invasion of monstrosities which are treated as benign to be a far more terrifying prospect than things which we need to explicitly fear. In the case of such movies and shows where Nightmare Fuel or anything related to horror is far from the norm, it can be unsettling when it does occur due to the stark contrast, especially if the genre of the film or show is far from horror, such as comedy or animation, or when in a show with a very specific target demographic.Įxperiences may vary from person to person. On the other hand, Nightmare Fuel doesn't exist just in the horror genre and is not always the main focus of the films and shows in which it is present. These can be sources of Fridge Horror as well, as those from different cultures or eras past can demonstrate some intensely creepy Hard Truth Aesops. Similarly, some Public Service Announcements choose to employ terrifying imagery in order to keep people away from doing dangerous things. Others are fascinated by the very things that most people avoid. In any case, this is normal for the genre. Some think it's cathartic or therapeutic in some way to explore our fears from a position of relative safety. There may be a euphoria generated by surviving something that seems scary, or maybe we know that fiction can't hurt us (not physically, anyway) and the idea of choosing to be scared without the danger is fun. For some reason, many of us like to be scared on purpose.

This makes you shrink in the back of your chair (or maybe even hide behind the sofa), look over your shoulder, and remind yourself that what's going on is (usually) only fictional.įor many horror films, achieving this effect is the whole point (and many in-universe examples arise because Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films). This scares the pants off of just about anyone to the author/creator's delight. This is the stuff so horrifying that it can give people the creeps for years.

Horror movie jump scare sound effect