More about gore
British psychologist Dr. Lee Chambers has been quoted as saying that because we hopefully never see gore in real life and so it we can test our responses to it in a safe environment by watching a film or tv drama. Horror is a close friend to gore, both are linked to evil, which again is something few of us (luckily, in my view) ever get to experience in real life. It might be thought of as something of a novelty in our usually over-protected life these days where playing a game of conkers is thought to be dangerous.
Remember too that adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine are released when we are stressed, and they give us pleasure. In other words, we enjoy being scared. It is also worth remembering that gore can be so astonishing that we forget the detail around it and just remember the gore itself.
Badly used gore can turn people to laughter rather than horror. I remember something akin to that when watching vampire and Dracula films long ago. As soon as we saw the heroine in a flimsy nightgown take a candle in her hand and open the door to a shadowy corridor, the hoots and giggles would begin.
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