With October upon us all and Halloween approaching more and more everyday, you’re probably seeing something pop up everywhere, whether you want to see it or not. Yep, you are seeing horror movie trailers.
For thrill seekers, this is the best time of the year. For those that hate horror, it’s the worst. As for those who like to watch, but are also afraid, it’s a bunch of mixed emotions. I can relate, I have always loved horror movies but have been terrified of them at the same time. For a while, I just tried to suck it up, but over the years I have discovered a few tactics on how to watch a horror movie on your own without having to go with no sleep that night.
- Watch behind your hands
I know it seems a bit childish to be watching a movie with your hands covering the screen when you don’t want to look, but this is a very effective method of blocking out the scare factor. Usually scary movies will have a buildup to a jump scare which can alert you to hold up your hands (or any other object) and cover the screen. You will end up just hearing the jumpscare, which can be scary, but without the image that goes with it, it’s just music.
Pros: good for anticipated scares, blocks out gore, keeps you from seeing the monster in your room at night.
Cons: not effective for unanticipated scares, you won’t be sure when you can look again.
- Make fun of the villain
This is a good tactic for when the horror movie’s villain is a physical thing that can be seen. This worked most effectively for me when I watched the movie “It.” Whenever Pennywise showed up on screen I would say, “he’s so ugly” or “why does he laugh like a hyena?” This reduces the villain down to something less scary than it presents itself to be.
Pros: good for tangible villains (usually people), is fun to do
Cons: doesn’t work for psychological horror or for an unseen villain
- Watch with a Youtuber
In my opinion this is the best way to watch a horror movie. There are many Youtubers out there that post reaction videos to movies. Youtubers typically try to be funny or interesting, so even if you are scared of the movie, you can be comforted by the Youtuber after a jump scare. Some Youtubers even will blur out gore because they don’t want their video to get taken down. Some of my favorite Youtubers to watch is Dylan is in Trouble and Trin Lovell.
Pros: you don’t feel alone, may sensor sensitive content, funny af
Cons: you still see the jumpscares, see only certain scenes in the movie
That’s it! Thank you for reading and I hope all of you are able to sleep well tonight, Happy Halloween!