Why do people fancy watching crime shows, and murder mysteries? Is it for the thrill? A fair share of the Morgan community, both students and teachers, love to watch true-crime shows, mysteries, and scream-inducing horror. The reason may be for an adrenaline rush, but what if it’s the fact that watching these shows lets us escape our stressful reality?
How have these shows and movies evolved over the years?
As the years have gone on, society has greatly changed. Kids are plugged into their iPads 24/7, so they have no time to think about the monsters that may be lurking in their rooms. Chainsaw massacre gore has been seen less and less, along with scary Halloween masks. Now these movies are reflecting the threats of technology like AI, war between countries, and ultimately the end of the world. It seems that the problems have shifted from being under our bed, to constantly surrounding us everywhere we go. No place is safe anymore. That is how these movies are getting into people’s heads.
Old horror movies like The Grudge or Amityville Horror would scare us with jump scares. Now through all the advancements with technology we are able to create what looks like the real footage. The Blair Witch Project movie used shaky camera angles to try to make it seem like it was real footage. Due to the fact that it was based around a true story, people who lived in the area of the filming became increasingly frightened with the coming out of this movie.
Horror can also be intriguing because we have control over what parts we watch and what we don’t. In life you can’t put blinders on and ignore the bad things that happen, but when watching these scary movies and shows you can choose what you expose yourself to. If something gets too intense you can pause the TV and leave for a bit, but in real life with all of its unpredictable events, you can’t press pause.
Statistics at which people consume crime and horror
Edison research, which focuses on audio research and data collection, tells us that 89% of podcast listeners ages 13 and up binge true crime, and that 65% of those people are interested in content that talks about murder. Though it’s not just about the ins and outs of the twisted minds of criminals and killers, 77% of crime consumers are fascinated with the victim. Many want to feel like they can empathize with what the victim is going through and watch closely to learn how to combat the struggles those characters go through.
Of the numbers above, 60% of those people want to learn more about serial killers. Morgan’s very own forensics teacher Mrs. Patterson talks about serial killers saying that “Maybe they would enjoy this genre more because they tend to glamorize violence and can be based on true events.” All Things Interesting tells us about a chilling story where the Scream movies inspired one teenager, Mario Padillo, to kill his mother, and he made his cousin, Samuel Ramirez, his accomplice. After they were caught, it was discovered that they were planning on killing five other people. Padillo had watched TV from a very young age, “All I would do is fantasize how to do things I could not do.”
Harvard Business Review has proven to us that “Exposure to terrifying acts, or even the anticipation of those acts, can stimulate us both mentally and physically.” Senior Crisangel Afanador states “Getting scared gives an adrenaline rush, in true crime the suspense keeps you thinking the whole time, and it keeps you wondering about what will happen next.” Some might ask how people can experience pleasure while being so fearful, but “the biochemical inside our bodies change when we consume horror. Fright can trigger adrenaline, resulting in heightened sensations and surging energy.” So, if you can remember a time when you were scared by a friend, you might remember how your heart rate spiked, and it left you feeling on edge and tense.
Morgan’s Top picks
Senior Kasey Allin shares that “My favorite horror movie is Hereditary, and my favorite crime show is Law and Order SVU.” Law and Order SVU premiered in 1999 on NBC and is based in NYC and focuses on real monsters of the world, pedophiles, and murderers. It involves horrific subjects such as child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Not only are there monsters hiding in the closets, but they also walk among everyone.
Junior Emily Kravitz loves to watch Criminal Minds. She loves when there are “unexpected endings and lots of character development.” Criminal Minds first aired in 2005 on CBS and has only grown increasingly popular. Research from Parrot Analytics, a data science company, shows that in April of 2024 “Criminal Minds is 22.3 times the demand of the average TV series in the U.S.”
Senior Jason Mansfield states “My favorite horror movie is The Conjuring One.” The Conjuring movies have racked up three so far, the first one, the second one, and the third one which is called The Devil Made Me Do It. They follow true stories and tales of the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were married paranormal investigators. Lorraine had visions which would show her what was happening.
How do people find comfort in this genre?
Mrs. Patterson shared her thoughts on the matter: “I think people watch these genres because they are entertaining. The mystery and suspense drive viewers to figure out what is going to happen. They are also so different from our everyday life, so it’s a way to escape.”
Junior Lena Flaherty agrees with this statement, saying, “It puts people into a perspective that they wouldn’t want to be in, and they enjoy the suspense of that.” They like being able to zone into this twisted life of a TV character, sympathizing with them, but being able to turn back on reality without having done anything except Fans of horror movies have a common interest in these movies solely due to the structure.
Horror movies have a beginning, middle and end which leaves no room for wonder and unpredictable occurrences. If we compare that to the real world, anything can happen in your life, good or bad. These movies and shows also provide the deep feeling that “there is a level of safety within the world of fiction that doesn’t exist in the real world.”
Flaherty doesn’t need all the gore and back and forth that certain crime shows and horror movies depict, instead prefers “psychological shows because I find it really interesting to see through the eyes of someone who is the opposite of the societal norm.”
Don’t we all want to be able to see what other people see, and why they do certain things? This is precisely why people like being able to escape to these fantasy worlds of horror or epic police chases where everything can go wrong, but the person always gets away with it. People want to know more about the dark side of the human mind, so they watch these movies and shows that amplify feelings such as paranoia and craziness to be able to slip into that alternate world for an hour or two.
