Hey, everyone, I'm thelitcritguy. I co-host the horror movie podcast Horror Vanguard, have been a regular guest on Revolutionary Left Radio, and make Youtube videos on culture and aesthetics. I write on horror, capitalism, and cultural criticism (you can read my last piece here https://readpassage.com/the-horror-of-capitalism-squid-game-and-the-gothic-trap-of-debt/)

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  • thelitcritguy [he/him]
    hexagon
    ·
    3 years ago

    It's because horror is extremely good at affective intensity. On HV we say all the time that 'horror wants to do things to your body' and a lot of horror's impact comes from the fact it can in a way bypass the rational part of our mind and evoke those deeper reactions that are physical as much as mental. We might know there's nothing in the house, but if we have been made into what horror academics call corporeal viewers then those feelings don't disappear quickly....