For people who talk so much about protecting their peace, we seem very committed to frightening ourselves. We monitor our stress levels, discuss nervous-system regulation, download meditation apps and search endlessly for ways to become calmer and more productive. Then, on a Friday night, we buy a ticket to watch someone get possessed.
Part of its power lies in how it fits the contradictions of contemporary life. People are encouraged to avoid doomscrolling, mute anxiety-inducing accounts and take breaks from the news, but many of the fears of daily life cannot be muted so easily. Work feels less secure for many people even when they are employed. Dating has become tangled in suspicion and performance. Artificial intelligence has introduced new doubts about creativity, labour and what can be trusted online. The news cycle has made catastrophe feel both constant and, unfortunately, routine.
Horror does not solve any of this, which may be why it’s thriving. For years, prestige television and films were the place culture went to examine its anxieties, approaching concerns through psychology, dialogue, social realism and intellectual analysis, whereas horror is happy to be messy and irrational.
