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Can someone help me understand horror as a genre? I really don't see the appeal of it. I categorize it in 3 types, either it's jumpscares with loud music suddenly which would startle pretty much everyone, a slow burn of building anxiety with no payoff or just really gross stuff, neither which make any sense as to why someone finds appealing. What do you like about it? Is my categorization off, or maybe missing some angle? Am I just incapable of enjoying, in the sense of that ssc post how some people don't have that "coming as one" stadium/church/large gathering sense?
Sure.
The appeal of these is (a) date night with your girlfriend/boyfriend, since it's a good excuse cozy up, (b) a quick endorphin hit, like going on a rollercoaster (c) as a social bravery game, usually by young boys, where a group tries to see who will crack and get ripped by their bros.
So, social lubricant.
The appeal of ugliness in horror, or cosmic and existential horror, is that it stirs the sense of beauty by remotion. Silent Hill 2 and 3 are games I remember not because they were scary or fun (in fact playing them could often be tedious) but because they evoked a deep longing for meaning, sympathy for suffering, and a desire for catharsis. Horror also works to make you more emotionally vulnerable to such themes, because being scared is tiring, and tired people are less emotionally regulated.
Recommended video from the Distributist. The framing is political but IIRC he discusses the psychological hole filled by disturbing horror.
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