1. You Are Not Alone – The surprising prevalence of movie-induced fright reactions
    Early research on movies and fear – Psychiatric case studies (1)
    Research on college students' memories of fright reactions (2)
        90% reported an experience
        52% reported disturbances in eating and sleeping
        35% subsequently avoided or dreaded similar situations
        22% reported not being able to get images out of their heads
        26% said effects were still ongoing – after many, many years
    Amazing anecdotes about effects  (3)
        Showering after Psycho
        Swimming after Jaws (even in pools and lakes)
        Clowns, trees, and TVs after Poltergeist
        Babysitting after Scream; Camping after The Blair Witch, etc.

2.  It's Not What You Think – How children's thinking affects what frightens them (4)
Young children are often frightened by things their parents would never expect to be frightening
– Disney movies from Bambi to The Lion King; The Wizard of Oz; The Incredible Hulk; (even The Count on Sesame Street)
Cognitive factors affecting fears at different ages:
    Jean Piaget and cognitive development (5)
Preschoolers:
        The importance of appearance
        The trouble with transformations
        Fantasy = Reality
Adolescents and young adults:
        Issues of sexual assault and stalking (6)
        The supernatural – that gray area between fantasy and fiction

3.  Isn't It Always About Sex? –Sex and gender in scary movies
Women may seem to be more scared by movies than men – but it depends on what's in the movie and how you measure "scared." (7)
    Women's and men's different roles in movies
Men are more likely to be victims, but the camera spends more time on women's fear (8)
In slasher movies, women are more likely to be victimized after behaving in a sexually liberated or independent fashion (9)
    The role of scary movies in dating
Scary movies intensify sex-role behavior [men prefer women who scare; women prefer men who are strong and "brave"(10)
        Scary movies increase the desire for closeness (11)
Physiologically speaking, why fear can intensify romantic feelings (12)
4.   Getting Over It – and Learning to Breathe Again: Overcoming media-induced trauma
    Why movie effects are so indelible (13,14)
        The physiology of the fear response
        Emotional memory – and why it comes back
    Childhood (and older) coping responses (15)
        Common bizarre rituals
        Sleeping positions and "protective gear" (16)
    Reasoning it away – what works and what doesn't
    Sharing similar stories – finding out you're not crazy
    The therapeutic value of writing about traumatic events (17)

5.  Implications for you and your future
    Comprehending your own reactions
    Understanding and guiding your (future) children
    Choosing entertainment that best suits you


  (1) Cantor, J. (2002). Fright reactions to mass media. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2d ed., pp. 287-306). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  (2) Harrison, K., & Cantor, J. (1999). Tales from the screen: Enduring fright reactions to scary media. Media Psychology, 1 (2), 97-116.
  (3) Cantor, J. (2004). "I'll never have a clown in my house!" – Why movie horror lives on. Poetics Today, 25 (2), 283-304.
  (4) Cantor, J. (1998). “Mommy, I’m scared”: How TV and movies frighten children and what we can do to protect them.  San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
  (5) Flavell, J. H. (1963). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget. New York: Van Nostrand.
  (6) Cantor, J., Mares, M. L., & Hyde, J. S. (2003). Autobiographical memories of exposure to sexual media content. Media Psychology, 5,1-31.
  (7) Peck, E. Y. (1999).  Gender differences in film-induced fear as a function of type of emotion measure and stimulus content: A meta-analysis and a laboratory study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  (8) Weaver, J. B. (1991).  Are “slasher” horror films sexually violent?  A content analysis.  Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 35, 385-392.
  (9) Molitor, F., & Sapolsky, B. S. (1993).  Sex, violence, and victimization in slasher films.  Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 37, 233-242.
  (10) Mundorf, N., Weaver, J., & Zillmann, D. (1989). Effects of gender roles and self-perceptions on affective reactions to horror films. Sex Roles, 20, 655-673.
  (11) Cantor, J. (1998). “Mommy, I’m scared”: How TV and movies frighten children and what we can do to protect them.  San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
  (12) Cantor, J.R., Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J.  (1975).  Enhancement of experienced sexual arousal in response to erotic stimuli through misattribution of unrelated residual excitation.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 69-75.
  (13) LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. (New York: Simon & Schuster.
  (14) Cantor, J. (2006). Why horror doesn’t die: The enduring and paradoxical effects of frightening entertainment. In J. Bryant & P. Vorderer (Eds.) Psychology of Entertainment (pp. 315-327). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  (15) Cantor, J., & Wilson, B. J. (1988).  Helping children cope with frightening media presentations.  Current Psychology:  Research & Reviews, 7, 58-75.
  (16) Cantor, J. (2004). Teddy's TV Troubles. Madison, WI: Goblin Fern Press.
 (17) Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Opening up: The healing power of expressing emotions. New York: Guilford Press.

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