Horror Movies Are Good for Your Health, New Study Says

These revelers walk beside witch figures and creepy surprises during sunset at the Halloween celebration in a Leipzig amusement park. AP
These revelers walk beside witch figures and creepy surprises during sunset at the Halloween celebration in a Leipzig amusement park. AP
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Horror Movies Are Good for Your Health, New Study Says

These revelers walk beside witch figures and creepy surprises during sunset at the Halloween celebration in a Leipzig amusement park. AP
These revelers walk beside witch figures and creepy surprises during sunset at the Halloween celebration in a Leipzig amusement park. AP

Nothing says Halloween like a good thrill, and horror films like “The Shining” might get you right into the spooky spirit, reported the Healthline website.

If you enjoy recreational horror, a good scare could help reduce your anxiety. It sounds counterintuitive because horror is meant to induce fear, but people who feel nervous or anxious might be even more likely to enjoy horror movies.

Horror offers a controlled and predictable space for experiencing fear and anxiety, especially for people who feel pressured to hide their feelings, according to a preprint paper by Coltan Scrivner, PhD, a behavioral scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark.

“Unlike anxiety stemming from the real world, horror fiction-induced anxiety is rooted in a clear source, is more easily managed, and has a clear timeframe,” Scrivner wrote. The physiological changes that occur after a horror film may resemble the feeling of a “runner’s high” from aerobic exercise, according to Scrivner.

When you watch a horror film, some parts of your brain perceive the threat as real and activate your body's fight-or-flight response. Your heart starts to pound, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, and your breathing gets faster to send oxygen to your body in preparation for action. Your muscles might get tense in anticipation of either having to flee or face the threat.

“This acute stress response can provide a thrill, helping us feel more alive and engaged with our environment,” Harold Hong, a board-certified psychiatrist and medical director of New Waters Recovery in North Carolina, told the Verywell website via email.

Fear can trigger the release of adrenaline and cortisol, the body’s stress hormones. Your brain also releases endorphins and dopamine because of the stimulation. Endorphins are hormones that alleviate pain and stress, while dopamine is a “feel-good” neurotransmitter that plays a role in mood regulation.

After a horror movie, these hormones can make you feel relieved and even rewarded for “surviving” the experience, making it a positive stressor.



Kim Kardashian Will Testify in Paris Trial About Jewelry Heist That Upended Her Life 

US socialite Kim Kardashian arrives for the 4th Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
US socialite Kim Kardashian arrives for the 4th Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Kim Kardashian Will Testify in Paris Trial About Jewelry Heist That Upended Her Life 

US socialite Kim Kardashian arrives for the 4th Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
US socialite Kim Kardashian arrives for the 4th Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, October 19, 2024. (AFP)

The last time Kim Kardashian faced the men that police say robbed her, she was bound with zip ties and held at gunpoint, and feared she might die. On Tuesday, nearly a decade later, she returns to Paris to testify against them.

One of the most recognizable figures on the planet is expected to take the stand against the 10 men accused of orchestrating the 2016 robbery that left her locked in a marble bathroom while masked assailants made off with more than $6 million in jewels.

Kardashian is set to speak about the trauma that reshaped her life and redefined the risks of celebrity in the age of social media. Her appearance is expected to be the most emotionally charged moment of a trial that began last month.

Court officials are bracing for a crowd, and security will be tight. A second courtroom has been opened for journalists following via video feed.

Kardashian’s testimony is expected to revisit, in painful detail, how intruders zip-tied her hands, demanded her ring, and left her believing she might never see her children again.

Twelve suspects were originally charged. One has died. Another has been excused from proceedings due to serious illness. Most are in their 60s and 70s — dubbed les papys braqueurs, or “the grandpa robbers,” by the French press — but investigators insist they were no harmless retirees. Authorities have described them as a seasoned and coordinated criminal group.

Two of the defendants have admitted being at the scene. The others deny any involvement — some even claim they didn’t know who Kardashian was. But police say the group tracked her movements through her own social media posts, which flaunted her jewelry, pinpointed her location, and exposed her vulnerability.

The heist transformed Kardashian into a cautionary tale of hyper-visibility in the digital age.

In the aftermath, she withdrew from public life. She developed severe anxiety and later described symptoms of agoraphobia. “I hated to go out,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I didn’t want anybody to know where I was ... I just had such anxiety.”

Her lawyers confirmed she would appear in court. “She has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” they wrote, adding that she hopes the trial proceeds “in an orderly fashion ... and with respect for all parties.”

Once dismissed in parts of the French press as a reality TV spectacle — and lambasted by Karl Lagerfeld for being too flashy — Kardashian now returns as a key witness in a case that has forced a wider reckoning with how celebrity, crime, and perception collide.

Her lawyers say she is “particularly grateful” to French authorities — and ready to confront those who attacked her with dignity.