Terrifying films 'scare up' emotions

By Allyson Smith
Staff Writer

A Purdue professor has uncovered the top seven ways to spook yourself this Halloween.

Glenn Sparks, a professor of communication, teamed with Will Miller, a psychotherapist and former host of the NBC talk show "The Other Side," to explore the public's emotional reaction to frightening media. Together, they conducted a random telephone survey of 200 people ranging from age 18 to 65 in the Greater Lafayette area.

The survey included questions about paranormal beliefs, the impact of the media on interpersonal relationships and the film that frightened people the most. Their results showed seven films that accounted for 58 percent of all responses. The top seven films that "spooked" people the most were:

  • "Scream"

  • "Friday the 13th"

  • "The Shining"

  • "Halloween"

  • "Nightmare on Elm Street"

  • "The Exorcist"

  • "Poltergeist"

    Sparks has done additional research concerning the emotional reactions that viewers experience when watching a frightening film and the reasons that people seek out scary entertainment. Sparks said, "First of all, in the question of enjoyment, what we find is that ... not everybody does enjoy these films. There is a significant portion of the population that systematically avoids frightening media of any kind. They simply have no interest in it."

    There is another segment of the population that likes frightening entertainment only in certain situations. In that case, their enjoyment depends on the environment they are in and the material they are viewing. "We have another group of the population who systematically seems to seek out this kind of entertainment." Sparks said that people who seek scary entertainment do so for reasons other than experiencing the emotion of fear. "Some people have a strong desire to conquer anything that is threatening. They derive great satisfaction and gratification out of being able to say in the end, 'I watched it.'"

    Sparks compares the viewing of frightening media to a roller coaster. Although one may not enjoy the ride at the time, there is a strong desire to conquer the fear and afterwards appreciate the satisfaction of having overcome a fear.

    When viewers become frightened, their skin conductance rises, their heart rate increases and their systolic blood pressure is elevated. They are in a physiological state of arousal. Sparks said, "We know that physiological arousal intensifies any emotion in the experience. ... When a person is feeling scared, in any one of these films, they're in a heightened state of arousal. What happens at the end of the movie is, very quickly, the subjective emotional experience that a person is feeling changes from one of fear to one of relief or even pleasure."

    The viewer is relieved that the movie is over and although the subjective emotional experience is over, the physiological arousal remains with them much longer. Some people have a euphoric experience. They connect that experience with the viewing of frightening materials, and they will continue to view terrifying entertainment because "they are craving that sort of high that they felt at the end of the movie. ... They may not necessarily enjoy the feeling of fear that they get when they are watching the film; it is that euphoria that they feel afterwards that they remember and find pleasure in. Some people enjoy the sensation of being aroused, " said Sparks.

    Sparks has also studied the effects of frightening media on young children. He found that children up to the age of 5 are the most scared of visual images. They cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not, so even animations can be frightening for young children.

    Once children reach the age of 10 or 11, they are able to distinguish what can happen in the real world and what cannot. Animated images are no longer frightening, but explosions and natural disasters are because children understand that these events could actually occur.

    Rarely do childhood fears extend into adult life. However, Sparks had one subject who refused to ever watch "The Wizard of Oz" again because he was terrified by the tornado scene as a young child. Sparks said that although these experiences are uncommon, they do happen.

    October 26, 1998