For some of us, watching a horror movie means becoming paranoid for days. Sure, we know that it’s ridiculous: monsters don’t exist in real life, houses are not overrun with ghosts and most people do not have a mysterious stalker. Yet, after seeing a scary movie, every little shadow in every nook or cranny frightens us. How do you recover from a scary movie? Three horror movie fanatics explain their strategies.
It was a dark and stormy night, and senior Shrey Butle was watching “Women in Black” with his friends at a sleepover. Later in the night at 3 a.m., Butle was still, in his words, freaking out and clenching onto his pillow.
“You don’t really see doors swinging open by themselves. Usually [the feelings] go away after a day or two”, he said. “But while I’m scared, I do see things like hallucinations and when I’m sleeping, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night.”
Although that was Butle’s first experience watching a scary movie, over time, he has become less and less scared of the horror genre. He stated that the scariest aspect of these movies is the paranormal aspect of it, but over time, has overcome this fear by realizing that it’s neither true nor possible.
“I watched some of the paranormal movies and I really don’t believe that lights turn on by themselves or anything of the sort,” he said. “I think ‘Okay, it’s just a movie, it’s not going to happen in real life’.”
It was a dark and early morning, and freshman Arushi Sinha was in the shower of her cousin’s guest bathroom. Sinha was paranoid, as she had watched a scary movie only hours before. Suddenly, a shadow appeared, extending from the window into a room. Frightened, Sinha took her things and ran from the shower.
When she checked again, the shadow was no longer there. She checked a third time. Leaves were causing the shadow. It wasn’t the first time that Sinha had responded to a scary movie like this.
“I get scared that there are people in my closets. I can’t walk in the dark alone, or staying home alone at that point kind of scares me,” Sinha said. “So all the lights have to be on, and when I’m home alone, the TV has to be on so that I have noises to keep me company.”
Sinha recovers from a scary movie by watching comedy and romance movies. She tries to distract herself, and avoids watching scary movies, at least for a month. According to Sinha, the most important part is to keep the blinds shut and the windows closed.
Although Sinha avoids scary movies for at least a month, she always comes back. The next time, however, the lights are on.
This time, it wasn’t a dark and scary night but a dimly lit classroom during the afternoon. Mr. Kim’s classroom. Junior Jordan Boustead was watching her first ever scary movie in geometry class.
Suddenly, screams.
A monster had appeared on the screen, and everyone had jumped out of their seats. Although it was her first experience with the horror genre, Boustead wasn’t really scared as much as creeped out.
Since then, she’s continued to watch scary movies and has developed a way to deal with the scarier scenes. When it gets particularly bad, Boustead likes to take a break, often by going to make more popcorn.
“If you’re watching a movie where you find a super embarrassing scene, you want to remove yourself,” she said. “It’s kind of the same for scary movies.”
Through this method, Boustead explains that certain bad parts of the movie do not ruin the whole movie experience. Another method involves watching the YouTube channel “Cinema Sins”, which points out the glaring flaws of the movies.
“[It] helps because you’re really focusing on the stupidity of a character and a storyline rather than on how it’s scaring you,” Boustead said. “It’s a good coping mechanism, and it’s also really fun.”
Story written and reported by Sanjana Murthy and Hannan Waliullah.
