"I don’t know what it is about having blood thrown on your face and running around screaming bloody murder. It really is so therapeutic, so much fun."

For many fans of horror, it's a way to not only escape but deal with their real life problems. As we wait for Wednesday season 2, let's talk about Jenna Ortega take on the genre.

While promoting the show's first season, Ortega showed up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she gave an interesting opinion about horror after the recently released teaser trailer for the next entry in the Scream saga came up. To say that horror movies are therapeutic could be seen as an interesting take for someone who isn’t a fan of the genre. How can blood and guts and watching people be murdered be therapeutic? What positives are there to be found in being scared? For fans of horror, what Ortega said made perfect sense. It’s how we all feel. While some see horror movies as a source of anxiety, others see it as a release of that anxiety. This is partially because, with horror, we are in control. We know it’s not real, so it’s like a rollercoaster, but without the threat of being hurt. The bad thing in the movie can’t get us. There’s a rush in that, the release of adrenaline that puts our bodies on edge. It’s why so many people, when watching a horror movie, will scream at the scary parts, then immediately laugh. It’s not because they find the scene funny or unrealistic. It’s that release. On a more serious level, many turn to horror films when they’re going through some trauma in life. Mentally, we get to detach from ourselves when we watch a movie. It’s an escape. But for horror movies specifically, it’s a different kind of escape, because we can take whatever we’re going through and put it in the characters on the screen. When the end credits roll, it’s with them now, even if just for a few minutes or hours. Our woes are with them for at least a little while, giving us a reprieve where we can breathe and relax. All of your real-life worries are put into the protagonists and your investment in their survival. Physically, it goes back to the rollercoaster effect. It’s a rush that can’t hurt us. Horror is the genre that gets us using our body the most. Horror can do all of that, plus scare you, the most intense feeling you can have. The scarier, the better. We’re always told that exercise is a good treatment for depression. It releases endorphins and gets your heart going. Horror movies are like a workout without having to leave the comfort of our couch. On top of it, it gives our brains a rest. So the next time you’re down, watch Jason Voorhees disembowel some teenagers. Watch a demon-possessed child wreak havoc. Witness a monster destroy a city. Take in the blood and guts and let it take you away. It just might make you feel better. Article for reference: https://collider.com/jenna-ortega-horror-movies-therapeutic/