Why do scary movies make your heart race?

Saleha Irfan, Senior Sub-Editor/Reporter

Imagine this: It’s the weekend and you are in front of your TV, trying to pass a lazy evening by flipping through the channels, when suddenly, you happen upon a horror movie.

Against good judgement, you decide to watch the flick.

Your eyes get wider. Your heart pounds harder. Your palms get sweatier. You feel the dread and the horror as the character walks into a dark room. Your pulse quickens as a shadowy figure steps out from behind the door. You scream at your TV screen trying to warn the actor.

But alas, all in vain.

Many people (not me) love the thrill of terror as suspense builds during a scary movie.

After all, it’s just a movie, right?

So, the question is, why does your body react when you know what you’re watching is not real?

Dr. Regis Fernandes, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, has some answers.

“What happens to the human body when you watch a scary movie comes from the known fight or flight response. When we are being chased by an animal, our instinct is to either fight the animal or flight, which means to run away,” Fernandes says.

“So, probably, that same mechanism gets triggered when we get scared by watching situations on the screen that are similar to that situation in real life.”

Fernandes says three things happen: Your heart rate increases, blood flow to muscles increases and adrenaline flows.

“It’s similar to exercise,” he says.

Even though he equates it to a good workout session, Fernandes does not suggest replacing exercise with watching scary movies

Also, a bit of good news for scary movie buffs, he says that the body’s reaction to being frightened is unlikely to hurt healthy individuals.

“If you enjoy that thrill, it’s not dangerous,” Fernandes says.