1
00:00:18,898 --> 00:00:20,786
I really don't like to watch horror

2
00:00:20,786 --> 00:00:23,645
films alone. That stuff is terrifying you

3
00:00:23,645 --> 00:00:26,183
know? I'm sure many of you recognize this

4
00:00:26,183 --> 00:00:28,824
situation. You put on a horror film, you

5
00:00:28,824 --> 00:00:31,648
turn down the lights, turn up the volume,

6
00:00:31,648 --> 00:00:35,258
and sit back. You’re watching as monsters

7
00:00:35,258 --> 00:00:37,164
come creeping out of the dark in search

8
00:00:37,164 --> 00:00:39,636
of prey. Your heart goes out to the four

9
00:00:39,636 --> 00:00:42,360
characters in the film and you start

10
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,181
squirming in your seat as the monsters

11
00:00:44,181 --> 00:00:46,288
get closer.

12
00:00:46,288 --> 00:00:48,259
Your pulse accelerates, your palms get

13
00:00:48,259 --> 00:00:52,769
sweaty and your hair stands on end. This

14
00:00:52,769 --> 00:00:54,708
is when you begin to throw nervous

15
00:00:54,708 --> 00:00:58,253
glances into the corners of the room.

16
00:00:58,253 --> 00:01:00,375
What was that sound? Surely it didn't

17
00:01:00,375 --> 00:01:03,198
come from the television. Was that

18
00:01:03,198 --> 00:01:07,309
movement in the shadows? The horror that's

19
00:01:07,309 --> 00:01:09,466
on the screen bleeds into your system

20
00:01:09,466 --> 00:01:11,689
and into the surroundings. The world

21
00:01:11,689 --> 00:01:14,680
around you turns threatening and scary.

22
00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,869
You cover your eyes but it doesn't help.

23
00:01:16,869 --> 00:01:19,109
Pretty soon you'll have to switch off

24
00:01:19,109 --> 00:01:21,164
but even though you shut off the film,

25
00:01:21,164 --> 00:01:24,422
your heart keeps hammering and you'll

26
00:01:24,422 --> 00:01:27,581
probably have nightmares tonight. Still

27
00:01:27,581 --> 00:01:30,053
maybe you ought to put the film back on.

28
00:01:30,053 --> 00:01:33,145
You're kind of curious after all. That's

29
00:01:33,145 --> 00:01:36,487
my Saturday night in a nutshell. Anybody

30
00:01:36,487 --> 00:01:40,415
else ever been in that situation? Of all

31
00:01:40,415 --> 00:01:42,587
the strange things that humans do

32
00:01:42,587 --> 00:01:44,559
watching horror films has got to be one

33
00:01:44,559 --> 00:01:46,848
of the strangest. It's also a really

34
00:01:46,848 --> 00:01:48,786
interesting behavior scientifically

35
00:01:48,786 --> 00:01:50,593
speaking. As a horror researcher

36
00:01:50,593 --> 00:01:53,082
I've thought about it a lot. Why do we do

37
00:01:53,082 --> 00:01:55,139
it? Why do we watch horror films and

38
00:01:55,139 --> 00:01:56,943
read horror novels and play horror

39
00:01:56,943 --> 00:01:59,951
video games and why are there so many

40
00:01:59,951 --> 00:02:01,838
spooky creatures in our worlds of

41
00:02:01,838 --> 00:02:06,318
make-believe? And what is horror? Horror is

42
00:02:06,318 --> 00:02:08,540
a kind of entertainment that's designed to

43
00:02:08,540 --> 00:02:10,730
spook people. To make them scream and

44
00:02:10,730 --> 00:02:12,249
shiver with fear and break out in a cold

45
00:02:12,249 --> 00:02:13,688
sweat.

46
00:02:13,688 --> 00:02:15,710
Think Stephen King and Paranormal

47
00:02:15,710 --> 00:02:17,749
Activity and The Exorcist.

48
00:02:17,749 --> 00:02:20,322
It's a consistently popular and

49
00:02:20,322 --> 00:02:23,094
profitable genre. Stephen King has sold

50
00:02:23,094 --> 00:02:27,507
more than 350 million books worldwide. In

51
00:02:27,507 --> 00:02:29,531
the last 20 years in the United States,

52
00:02:29,531 --> 00:02:32,002
horror films grossed close to 8 billion

53
00:02:32,002 --> 00:02:35,896
dollars. It's weird it's weird because

54
00:02:35,896 --> 00:02:38,369
horror is by definition designed to make

55
00:02:38,369 --> 00:02:41,229
its audience feel bad. A good horror film

56
00:02:41,229 --> 00:02:43,361
inspires negative emotion. It makes us

57
00:02:43,361 --> 00:02:46,168
feel disgust and dread and terror and

58
00:02:46,168 --> 00:02:49,843
anxiety and fear. Let me ask you how many

59
00:02:49,843 --> 00:02:52,860
of you seek out horror films from time to

60
00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:54,565
time? Show of hands. Please raise your

61
00:02:54,565 --> 00:02:57,723
hand if you sometimes seek out horror. Okay

62
00:02:57,723 --> 00:03:00,197
that's about half, that matches my own

63
00:03:00,197 --> 00:03:02,051
research along with some colleagues. I'm

64
00:03:02,051 --> 00:03:04,223
looking into the personality profile of

65
00:03:04,223 --> 00:03:06,746
horror fans and we're finding that more than

66
00:03:06,746 --> 00:03:09,655
half for about 54% answer in the

67
00:03:09,655 --> 00:03:12,112
affirmative in response to the statement:

68
00:03:12,112 --> 00:03:15,823
I tend to enjoy horror media. Only 29%

69
00:03:15,823 --> 00:03:18,429
say they don't agree with this statement

70
00:03:18,429 --> 00:03:20,401
and the remaining 17% can't make up

71
00:03:20,401 --> 00:03:23,176
their mind. You know they're probably the

72
00:03:23,176 --> 00:03:24,695
ones who would die first in a horror

73
00:03:24,695 --> 00:03:29,306
film. Next would be the ones who say

74
00:03:29,306 --> 00:03:34,923
they don't like horror. Anyway people really

75
00:03:34,923 --> 00:03:36,660
do tend to like the kind of

76
00:03:36,660 --> 00:03:37,897
entertainment that's designed to make

77
00:03:37,897 --> 00:03:39,302
them feel bad. Why is that the case and

78
00:03:39,302 --> 00:03:42,427
how does horror even work? Those are the

79
00:03:42,427 --> 00:03:44,197
kinds of questions I've been researching

80
00:03:44,197 --> 00:03:47,690
and here is what I have found out. Horror,

81
00:03:47,690 --> 00:03:49,495
in whatever medium, from films and

82
00:03:49,495 --> 00:03:51,567
literature to video games and virtual

83
00:03:51,567 --> 00:03:54,910
reality, works by exploiting an ancient

84
00:03:54,910 --> 00:03:57,315
and evolved set of biological defense

85
00:03:57,315 --> 00:03:59,671
mechanisms. Let's call it the evolved

86
00:03:59,671 --> 00:04:03,283
fear system. If we want to understand how

87
00:04:03,283 --> 00:04:05,571
that system works and why it became part

88
00:04:05,571 --> 00:04:07,309
of human nature we have to look at the

89
00:04:07,309 --> 00:04:09,982
evolutionary history of our species.

90
00:04:09,982 --> 00:04:12,759
Now, our evolutionary ancestors found

91
00:04:12,759 --> 00:04:14,263
themselves in a world that was full of

92
00:04:14,263 --> 00:04:16,450
danger. There was the threat from

93
00:04:16,450 --> 00:04:18,623
predators and creepy crawlies and

94
00:04:18,623 --> 00:04:21,413
invisible microorganisms or disease and

95
00:04:21,413 --> 00:04:24,220
the threat from other humans. In response

96
00:04:24,220 --> 00:04:27,028
to those dangers our ancestors gradually

97
00:04:27,028 --> 00:04:28,298
evolved a

98
00:04:28,298 --> 00:04:29,969
fear system that would keep them alert

99
00:04:29,969 --> 00:04:33,780
and alive. In other words our species

100
00:04:33,780 --> 00:04:35,868
evolved to be hyper vigilant and highly

101
00:04:35,868 --> 00:04:38,309
fearful because being hyper vigilant and

102
00:04:38,309 --> 00:04:40,715
highly fearful kept our ancestors alive

103
00:04:40,715 --> 00:04:44,142
in a dangerous world. The world may now

104
00:04:44,142 --> 00:04:45,511
be less dangerous than it was in

105
00:04:45,511 --> 00:04:47,132
ancestral times at least in terms of

106
00:04:47,132 --> 00:04:49,022
predation. We're not in any immediate

107
00:04:49,022 --> 00:04:51,562
danger of being attacked by a

108
00:04:51,562 --> 00:04:53,215
saber-tooth cat on our way home from

109
00:04:53,215 --> 00:04:56,006
work, but we are no less vigilant and no

110
00:04:56,006 --> 00:04:57,310
less fearful

111
00:04:57,310 --> 00:05:00,000
than our evolutionary ancestors and

112
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,038
horror entertainment takes advantage of

113
00:05:02,038 --> 00:05:07,019
that aspect of human nature. So horror

114
00:05:07,019 --> 00:05:09,459
entertainment works by transporting us

115
00:05:09,459 --> 00:05:12,266
imaginatively into virtual worlds that

116
00:05:12,266 --> 00:05:15,140
are full of danger. In horror films and

117
00:05:15,140 --> 00:05:17,129
literature we follow and mirror

118
00:05:17,129 --> 00:05:19,653
protagonists as they confront terrifying

119
00:05:19,653 --> 00:05:22,894
threats. Take Stephen King's The Shining

120
00:05:22,894 --> 00:05:24,998
for example. Here we follow a family who

121
00:05:24,998 --> 00:05:29,224
has snowed in at a haunted hotel. In the

122
00:05:29,224 --> 00:05:31,148
novel's most famous scene the young boy

123
00:05:31,148 --> 00:05:34,540
Danny goes into room 217.

124
00:05:34,540 --> 00:05:36,897
He walks nervously around the room and

125
00:05:36,897 --> 00:05:38,969
into the bathroom where a hotel guest

126
00:05:38,969 --> 00:05:42,544
killed herself some years before. The

127
00:05:42,544 --> 00:05:44,132
hotel is now supposed to be empty of

128
00:05:44,132 --> 00:05:46,826
guests but to Danny surprise there is

129
00:05:46,826 --> 00:05:50,465
somebody in the bathtub or something. To

130
00:05:50,465 --> 00:05:53,489
Danny's horror it's a corpse.

131
00:05:53,489 --> 00:05:55,980
It's the corpse of the woman who killed

132
00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:58,404
herself. She's lying there bloated and

133
00:05:58,404 --> 00:06:01,646
purple and with glassy white eyes. She's

134
00:06:01,646 --> 00:06:04,469
rotting like meat festering in the trash.

135
00:06:04,469 --> 00:06:09,350
And then she starts to get up. King provides

136
00:06:09,350 --> 00:06:11,505
a detailed and really vivid description

137
00:06:11,505 --> 00:06:13,242
of this moving corpse and as readers we

138
00:06:13,242 --> 00:06:14,864
are forced to hold that image in our

139
00:06:14,864 --> 00:06:17,788
minds. That's bad enough but we're also

140
00:06:17,788 --> 00:06:19,744
given a detailed description of Danny's

141
00:06:19,744 --> 00:06:22,051
response to the situation. We learned

142
00:06:22,051 --> 00:06:24,273
that he tries to scream and wets himself.

143
00:06:24,273 --> 00:06:27,732
We are made to mirror his fear and

144
00:06:27,732 --> 00:06:29,955
revulsion and that strengthens our own

145
00:06:29,955 --> 00:06:32,812
responses to the horrible image. Our fear

146
00:06:32,812 --> 00:06:34,969
and revulsion become mixed with

147
00:06:34,969 --> 00:06:37,257
sympathetic anxiety for a character in

148
00:06:37,257 --> 00:06:38,863
danger.

149
00:06:38,863 --> 00:06:41,385
It's a strong emotional cocktail.

150
00:06:41,385 --> 00:06:44,895
Interactive and live-action media turn

151
00:06:44,895 --> 00:06:47,887
the screw on horror entertainment .Or

152
00:06:47,887 --> 00:06:50,843
video games for example make you feel as

153
00:06:50,843 --> 00:06:52,281
if you're the protagonist in a digital

154
00:06:52,281 --> 00:06:56,040
if you're the protagonist in a digital

155
00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,151
attraction visitors walk through scary

156
00:06:59,151 --> 00:07:01,956
sets populated by scare actors. Here's a

157
00:07:01,956 --> 00:07:04,296
picture from dystopia haunted house

158
00:07:04,296 --> 00:07:07,021
Denmark's scariest haunt. What you see is

159
00:07:07,021 --> 00:07:09,010
a couple of visitors were confronted by

160
00:07:09,010 --> 00:07:11,588
a big guy with a machete.

161
00:07:11,588 --> 00:07:13,990
He's called the chef and you can take a

162
00:07:13,990 --> 00:07:16,211
guess at what's on the menu here. Around

163
00:07:16,211 --> 00:07:20,624
5,000 people pay for this every

164
00:07:20,624 --> 00:07:23,814
Halloween and around 300 visitors never

165
00:07:23,814 --> 00:07:26,588
make it all the way through the haunt.

166
00:07:26,588 --> 00:07:28,411
They have to abort their visit because

167
00:07:28,411 --> 00:07:29,798
it's too scary.

168
00:07:29,798 --> 00:07:31,387
They have fainted from fear and they

169
00:07:31,387 --> 00:07:33,943
have wet themselves in terror. Why do

170
00:07:33,943 --> 00:07:36,751
they do it? Why do people pay good money

171
00:07:36,751 --> 00:07:39,024
to experience true fear and genuine

172
00:07:39,024 --> 00:07:42,482
terror like the people in this picture?

173
00:07:42,482 --> 00:07:44,888
They do it because they have an evolved

174
00:07:44,888 --> 00:07:47,225
appetite for vicarious experience with

175
00:07:47,225 --> 00:07:50,537
threat scenarios and those scenarios or

176
00:07:50,537 --> 00:07:53,746
horror entertainment work because they are

177
00:07:53,746 --> 00:07:56,770
structured to target the evolved fear

178
00:07:56,770 --> 99:59:59,999
system. Just consider the monsters that

179
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
populate our horror entertainment from

180
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
scary folk tales to haunted attractions.

181
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Such monsters are universal in the human

182
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
imagination and the most horrifying ones

183
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
reflect ancestral threats. Just think of

184
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the enormous white shark from Jaws you

185
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Know. Duh duh duh duh duh duh

186
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the threat depicted here is the threat

187
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from an enormous man-eating predator.

188
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That kind of threat really captures our

189
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
attention and sparks our imagination by

190
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
engaging the evolved fear system. Now the

191
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
film itself is pretty unrealistic but

192
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that doesn't matter.

193
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Horror monsters don't have to be

194
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
realistic to frighten us they have to

195
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
engage the evolved fear system. They have

196
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to have qualities that match or over

197
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
match those of ancestral dangers and the

198
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
white shark in Jaws has that in spades.

199
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's like an ancestral predator on

200
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
speed. Faster bigger stronger and much

201
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more dangerous. Media psychologists have

202
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
documented how thousands of people were

203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
traumatized by jaws. Many viewers even

204
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
became afraid of swimming in pools and

205
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
freshwater lakes after watching the film.

206
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Consider another well-known and highly

207
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
unrealistic monster. The zombie now

208
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
zombies don't exist in the real world

209
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we have no archaeological evidence

210
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to suggest that they ever did but every

211
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
well-raised child is able to mimic the

212
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
behavior of a zombie. You know they're

213
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
groaning the outstretch the limp arms

214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the classic stumbling walk. The

215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
monster has really infected our popular

216
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
culture in a big way. A zombie is a

217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
effectively targets the evolved fear

218
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
system in fact the zombie targets the

219
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fear system from two angles

220
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because it combines the threat of

221
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
predation with the threat of contagion. A

222
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
zombie is a predator it wants to eat you,

223
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it is also contagious it will infect you

224
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with its disease. It is visibly

225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
decomposing creeping with rotten

226
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
pathogens. I mean look at the poor

227
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
creature.

228
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Applause]

229
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can tell that these horror monsters

230
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
engage the evolved fear system from the

231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
behavioral and physiological effects of

232
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the good horror film. You know the goose

233
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
bumps and the hammering heart and the

234
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
screams. These are all evolved defensive

235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
reactions goosebumps are a relic from a

236
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
distant past when we were covered in fur

237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and goose bumps or piloerection would

238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
make our first stand on end and so make

239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
us look bigger to scare off an attacker.

240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Cats do the same thing by the way. Our

241
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hearts beat faster to pump blood to the

242
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
big muscle groups so that we're ready

243
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for fight or flight and screams send a

244
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
signal to other people a signal for them

245
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to help or get the hell away. Horror taps

246
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into the evolved fear system but that's

247
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not all. Horror can help us calibrate that

248
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
system. It's like when you take your car

249
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the mechanic for a check-up the

250
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
mechanic carefully goes through all the

251
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
vital parts of the car and he or she

252
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will make sure that the airbags and the

253
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
anti-lock braking system work. Hopefully

254
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you'll never need them because you don't

255
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
want to get into a situation that

256
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
requires an airbag to deploy but you

257
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
certainly want them to work. Same with

258
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the fear system. Through exposure to

259
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
horror you give it a test run make sure

260
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it works properly and keep it nicely

261
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
tuned. Horror lets us learn what it feels

262
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like to be truly afraid and it lets us

263
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
learn how to handle negative emotions. It

264
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
lets us maintain and refine coping

265
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
skills that we may apply in critical

266
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
situations in our own lives. There isn't

267
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
yet much experimental research into this

268
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but we do have some support from

269
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
psychological science. One study suggests

270
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that hardcore horror fans require more

271
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
extreme stimulation than to less avid

272
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fans which means that the hardcore fans

273
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
build up some resistance to fear

274
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
provoking stimuli with exposure. Other

275
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
research suggests that by exposing

276
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ourselves to horror we build a sense of

277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
mastery which may be transferred to our

278
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
own lives. In this way horror can help us

279
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
find and even expand our limits for how

280
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
much negative stimulation we can handle.

281
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you know I'm not sure I'd be standing

282
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
here today if I hadn't for

283
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
myself to watch all those horror films

284
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the name of science. Sure my heart is

285
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hammering and my palms are a little

286
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sweaty but you guys are a lot less scary

287
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than Pennywise the dancing clown.

288
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So horror can help us calibrate the fear

289
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
system and horror can help us refine our

290
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
coping skills. That's why so many of us

291
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are drawn to the genre even if we don't

292
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like to watch horror films alone. The

293
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
next time you are terrified of a novel, a

294
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
film a video game, or in a haunt, just

295
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
remember that you are in fact tapping

296
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into and calibrating an ancient

297
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
biological defense system. Never mind the

298
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fear and the screams and the nightmares.

299
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Who’s up for a horror film tonight? Thank you.

300
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Applause]