Do You Like Scary Movies? When Fear Is Fun — and When It Isn’t

Do You Like Scary Movies?
When Fear Is Fun — and When It Isn’t

Rev. Kat Carroll

Here’s a fun—or not so fun—fact: your body can’t tell the difference between reality and imagination.

When you walk into a movie theater, you already have a sense of what you’re about to experience. If it’s a comedy, you expect to laugh until your belly hurts. That’s how it was for me as a kid watching The Pink Panther or Young Frankenstein in the theater.

If it’s a thriller, you’re already mentally prepared to be startled. And I’ll admit, I’ve watched my fair share of scary movies from behind my fingers, or peeking over the top of a pillow where I felt safe—even though I knew it was all fictional storytelling with great special effects.

Fear As Entertainment

Some films have you leaving a quieter than when you walked in, especially believable dramas or shows filled with violence and gore. I remember watching reruns of old Alfred Hitchcock thrillers like The Birds or Psycho (1960). Even SyFi series like the Walking Dead were sometimes too “over the top” and left me quite unsettled.

Friday and Saturday nights in my childhood, Mom would let us stay up late to watch old black and white scary movies. Then she would head to bed before us, reminding us to turn off ALL the lights before walking down that long, dark hallway to our bedrooms… with much trepidation.

Sometimes she’d lie in wait under a bed just to scare us even more. The response was usually a mix of laughter and indignation… and it definitely made it harder to fall asleep.

In today’s world where content creators pull together stories supplemented with increasingly realistic AI-generated videos – It’s getting harder to distinguish deep fakes from reality. And perhaps that was the plan all along. Could we be fooled by a staged alien invasion?

This isn’t new territory. We’ve been navigating blurred lines between reality, CGI, and influencers for some time now.

What happens when influencers and content creators start spinning elaborate yarns without telling you they’re fictional—until halfway through, or even at the very end? That’s a long time for your nervous system to be on high alert.

A New Story Circulating

I first heard a story circulating on social media about a day without gravity that’s gone quite viral. Then I saw it appear on YouTube’s The Why Files. I was fully invested, even making plans for how I might deal with such a scenario. The story goes on for quite some time… until the host finally confesses that it’s all a work of fiction. It was believable, and I fell for it.

Before hearing it was not a true story, I was already skipping ahead mentally—creating calendar reminders, considering how to make sure my cats would be safely indoors, and imagining myself stationed near a tree, ready to tie or bungee-cord myself so I wouldn’t float away. That’s how convincing it was.

I didn’t panic. I stayed calm and collected, but I was also wondering whether there might be any merit to the story since I had seen similar information. Thank goodness it turned out that it was a hoax. And considering how strongly I reacted—despite training, and even with doubts—what about others who don’t have the same level of discernment or experience?

The truth is, frightening scenarios—whether real or fictional—are processed the same way by the brain and nervous system. Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released, activating the fight-or-flight response. Yet many of these situations demand neither.

For a time, your body may be flooded with chemicals that are not especially healthy, particularly when daily news already primes us for the next disaster, violent protest, bombing, or rumor of war or new disease. We’ve been conditioned into a constant state of watchfulness, and that’s not healthy!

How much more can society handle, especially when it’s becoming so hard to tell what’s real—even in the news?

In a world where fakery has become a source of income (click bait), and dramatic stories are designed to grab attention, shouldn’t it be made clear from the beginning whether something is fact or fiction?

Before you watch:

The following video tells a fictional story presented in a realistic way. While it eventually acknowledges this, that clarity comes much later. I’m sharing it here with forewarning, because context matters—especially in a world where our nervous systems are already on high alert.

Project Anchor: NASA’s Secret Gravity Shutdown Program (The Why Files)

Where the hoax is admitted

Timestamp: ~35:47–36:27 into the video

The teachable moment here is this: even when we know something is fiction or fantasy, the brain and body still respond with the same fight-or-flight hormones. Knowing in advance that something isn’t real can lessen the severity of the reaction—and allow us to walk away laughing at ourselves afterward… Just like that scary roller-coaster ride.

If you’re questioning the validity of a story, scan the description and further down where they may admit that the content was generated by AI. A dear friend recently stated that he thought social media was mostly AI generated! How can you tell? You can look for clues like the words and mouth don’t match up when talking, slightly blurry backgrounds, and even things like additional fingers – AI isn’t quite perfected. Use your discernment and don’t let yourself be triggered.

Do you think some content, especially when it’s intentionally faked, should include trigger warnings? Leave a comment by scrolling past the end of this article.

For a deeper dive…

Fight or Flight Response

Be Wary: Your Brain Doesn’t Know The Difference Between Reality and Imagination

Are You an Influencer or the One Influenced?

Truth, Lies and CGI’s – Can We Tell the Difference?

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