This issue, the paper looked at the physical and mental effects of a good scare. Adrenaline, excitement, and dread all attract people to fright, but horror can accomplish more than the mental equivalent of a roller coaster.

The power and effectiveness of fear should be utilized by story tellers of any genre, for when used correctly, horror helps people confront that which they most wish to hide.

The subjects addressed by horror stories, by their nature, deal with subjects that make readers uncomfortable. It doesn’t take gallons of blood or hundreds of fangs to make a good scare; just the dread of what is possible.

Home invasions, disease, murder, and pain are all typical objects of fear, things that people all rationally fear in their day-to-day lives, but these are not usually the stories that stick with people. People remember the alien that lays its egg in your chest, for it invokes the often-avoided specter of rape.

People remember the were-wolf, again and again revisit the sensation of the body being painfully transformed and unleashing a person’s darkest desires.

Humans are very good at avoiding these subjects. People seek security systems, guns, science or religion, looking for assurances that they are safe, and that they are protected. Horror defies security. Horror allows safe exploration of these subjects.

This is why horror story protagonists are often heroes, bravely facing the unexplainable because there is too much to lose. Inspiration comes from confronting great challenges, and the tangible presence of fear will prove the power of a threat every time.

Horror can be buckets of blood and zaniness, a cathartic release when the Sharknado is defeated. Just remember that that there is more to explore and more boogeymen to face. You never know what you might learn.