Horror is defined as "an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear."
Alfred Hitchcock did it with that infamous shower scene. Stephen King's adaption transformed a childhood favorite into a childhood nightmare. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez created a whole new genre of "recovered footage" with The Blair Witch Project.
They include the villains we love to hate: Jason, Freddy, Michael.
Predicting what will scare us is simple. It's based on evolution. Emory University assistant professor and V.A. research scientist, Seth Norrholm says fears fall into three categories: innate fears, learned fears, and preparatory fears. "An innate fear is something that you're born with, and it's a survival instinct type of fear," Norrholm explained. "Our ancestors were afraid of these things, because when they were trying to survive in the natural environment, these were potentially poisonous and life-threatening. It was very important to have a defensive response to them. And that carries with us through today."
Learned fears are common in horror films. We know what to expect, and it still scares us. We feel ourselves tensing up and yelling at the screen, "Don't open the door/ go into the basement/ talk to the stranger!" It's preparatory fear.
The Horror Writer's Association says the definition of "horror" is more personalized, based on your life experiences:
What makes horror literature so pervasive is that its need to evoke the necessary atmosphere and sense of emotional dread is utterly dependent on who we are as readers -- as people. As children, we might be afraid of the shadows looming from a half-closed closet door or of the monster we believe lies under the bed. Terrors of the imagination run wild at that age. As adults, our fears become more sophisticated, more grounded in worldly events.
So, ranking the best horror films is really just a matter of opinion. We want yours. Take the poll.
