If you have anxiety like me, every day can feel as scary as Halloween. Instead of ghosts and ghouls, I’m haunted by things that are all too real: my social awkwardness, encroaching deadlines, the general state of the world. I’ve tried everything from journalling to yoga to breathwork to assuage it – none of which has proven anywhere near as effective as my unlikely new de-stressing hack: horror films.
I discovered this by accident, as a result of this year’s stellar crop of horror films – , and the like. I realised that regardless of how stressed I was walking into the cinema, I left having been suitably distracted and feeling relatively worry-free. So much so that I’ve now started turning to the classics: , , , , Picnic at Hanging Rock, . Bingeing on nerve-shredding films might seem like a perverse decision for someone with anxiety, but it turns out that contemplating the prospect of a serial killer hiding in my closet really helps to take my mind off a looming deadline.
To be serious for a moment, psychologist Dr Sula Windgassen agrees that there’s something to my method, on a neurological level. “Horror films can act like a physiological reset,” she explains. “When you get scared, [there are] two biological pathways that can activate: the short-term stress response in the sympathetic adrenal medullary system (SAM system), or the slower acting stress response in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA axis),” she continues, adding that the SAM system keeps you on edge, while the HPA axis sharpens focus. “These responses can also be released with dopamine, endorphins and endocannabinoids, driving a sense of excitement and even euphoria.”
While horror movies are designed to be scary, Windgassen adds that our brains recognise them as a “safe threat”. “When the controlled, artificial threat is over, it triggers compensatory neuroendocrine mechanisms that can help you feel more relaxed,” she explains. “For example, once the credits roll and it feels like the threat is resolved, your autonomic nervous system goes from sympathetically activated to parasympathetically activated, which can result in a higher level of relaxation than prior to watching the movie. Also, the biochemical surge of endorphins and endocannabinoids, can produce a calm, sedated effect.”
With that in mind, I feel much more confident in encouraging others to follow suit. To ease your way into the genre, start with . Light on the jump scare count, instead the film packs a wallop in the form of a mesmerising performance from British ’s October cover star, Wunmi Mosaku. Or, jump into the archives and watch newly restored (with production design by Derek Jarman), or from 1981, ahead of the upcoming remake starring Margaret Qualley. If you still need more inspiration, ’s film and culture editor, Radhika Seth, has compiled 41 of the best cult films to watch over the Halloween weekend, here.