A couple of items have appeared over the last week or two that are worth noting in regards to horror and psychology. The first is “An Infectious Curiosity: Morbid Curiosity and Media Preferences During a Pandemic” published in Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. This article was picked up by a lot of popular media outlets, such as the Consequences of Sound website, who summarize the academic article in the following terms:

The best way to prepare for a pandemic is to go through a different pandemic, and it doesn’t hurt to participate in some alien invasions or the odd zombie apocalypse. According to a new study, horror fans and “morbidly curious” people have shown “greater resilience during the pandemic.”

The research into psychological coping was conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago, Penn State, and Denmark’s Aarhus University. It hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, but a preprint has been giving the internet goosebumps. By looking at 310 individuals, researchers came to the conclusion that “exposure to frightening fictions allow audiences to practice effective coping strategies that can be beneficial in real-world situations.” They wrote,

“We found that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during the pandemic and that fans of “prepper” genres (alien-invasion, apocalyptic, and zombie films) exhibited both greater resilience and preparedness. We also found that [the] trait morbid curiosity was associated with positive resilience and interest in pandemic films during the pandemic.”

The second item comes from the journal Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural, in a piece titled “Grotesque Gaming: The Monstrous in Online Worlds.” This essay notes the similarities between gaming and religion, and has been discussed in places like Big Think, which wrote:

A befuddling trend in the world of gaming culture has emerged in the coronavirus era. In the midst of a deadly pandemic, economic decline, social injustice, and the resulting social unrest, some of the most downloaded video game genres in recent months have been horror games designed to inspire terror and anxiety. For example, “Resident Evil 3,” “The Last of Us Part 2,” “Nioh,” and “Doom Eternal” have all seen a spike in downloads.

As it turns out, there may be a psychological explanation. Some researchers think that inserting yourself into a virtual horror anti-fantasy could offer relief during times of stress.