Before researching the psychological appeal of the horror genre, I had only considered the horror genre in cinema as something I liked because I wanted to be scared and never thought much about it after that. While researching the topic, I discovered many things about what makes the genre so enjoyable for the average viewer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay I learned that in the past, up until the 1970s, there was censorship of the director's work when the film was released (Calhoun 29 ). Of course this would just make the film boring, but in recent decades the worry of which scenes and lines should be censored is no longer a concern. Although the special effects, set pieces, and jokes were radically different than today, the genre thrived with the biggest films released in the 1970s (Halloween, The Exorcist, Jaws, Carrie, Alien, etc.). These days, many appreciate the old and the new. The old movies were usually the ones that gave us kids of the era nightmares when the censored version was shown on TV, while the new ones always tried to outdo the other, using new and unique tactics that would hopefully give us a nice scare. And that's the purpose of the horror genre: to give us viewers not just a scare, but a scare that could leave us with a mental scar for a few hours or more. Like other genres, horror films have broken down over the years, dividing into several subgenres such as splatter, psychological, supernatural, comedy, slasher, science fiction, etc. While there are many, I will only focus on two main, sub-genres: psychological and splatter. These two subgenres are intended to terrify audiences, but have different methods of doing so. Splatter films, or gore films, are bloody and violent films that are intended to make the viewer uncomfortable and, if they are so grotesque, take their eyes off the screen. Due to the sheer violence of the films, they are often referred to as torture porn, which was very popular in the 2000s (Covert 1). When you hear the term horror, images of killers, monsters, and death usually come to mind, but during the bloody decade the idea of ​​horror was considered nothing more than pure torturous death. The psychological subgenre, on the other hand, has a dramatic lack of gore. For example, the Paranormal Activity series (Rated R) and the Insidious trilogy (PG-13) have very little blood and no guts, yet were still considered equally terrifying. Why? The horror genre tends to “go through phases” – Every decade there was always a new form of horror, or genre or subject matter it revolved around (Covert 1). During each period, the horror genre revolves around what people are afraid of in that time frame. This could be anything from serial killers to haunted artifacts. Returning to the psychological aspect, why do we like watching horror films? To find out, I came across an article that included such actors being interviewed. They were asked about their personal experiences with gender in the past and present. Most people responded that their first contact with the genre was when they were children. “A single viewing of Stephen King's IT [1990] not only soured Bennett on scary movies, but also caused a flurry of redecorating in her childhood bedroom” (Rachel 5). For most, first exposure to the genre always ended the same way: nightmares. As adults, we have become somewhat masochistic/sadistic when it comes to watching one. There is a sense of gratification when seeing the antagonist die in a brutal way and also a feeling of joy afterwards, but only if the/