Do you have a scaredy cat in your life? They are the bewildering breed of humans who shudder at the thought of jump scares and immediately leave the room when you open the Shudder app on the TV.
But just because you have those people in your life that don’t think a Blumhouse marathon is a remotely fun way to spend a Friday night or lack enthusiasm about watching a movie about a family of degenerate cannibals, all hope is not lost for them. There is a spot for everyone in the world of horror, it’s just about helping them find it!
With a few easy steps you too can transform the scaredy cat in your life into a horror enthusiast (or at least a horror supporter!)
This cause is especially personal to me as I have been in love with a bonafide scaredy cat for over 7 years now. Evan is a brawny dude who has no problem hopping on a motorcycle or riding a rollercoaster with no hands. But the minute a movie comes on about demons or haunted houses, he is out the door, down the street, with his eyes and ears covered for good measure.
But, in the last few years I have eased those nerves bit by bit with some tried and true tactics I’ll share with you now. No, he still won’t watch haunted house movies (“We LIVE in a house, Chel! This movie could very well be about us!”) but he has embraced a movie night of slashers and vampires and classic Universal monsters.
So, when I say that some of these tips are field-tested and Evan-approved, you know you can confidently test them out on the Nervous Nellies in your life.
- Ease into it. This first one is a given. Just because your in-home horror novice is ready to expand their “horrorizons” does NOT mean it’s the right time to pop in Terrifier 2 or The Taking of Deborah Logan. Select some more moderate fare, something with a few jump scares, maybe some blood or gore to get a read on what impacts them the most.
From there you can slowly start to move the needle. It may take time, progress may plateau at a certain point, but that’s all ok. Everyone has their horror limit and there are plenty of movies at every level to cater to their interests and sensibilities. - Start with the familiar. Horror icons like Freddy Kreuger, Michael Myers and Pennywise the Clown are omnipresent in our culture regardless of your horror persuasion. They are known entities. So when you are trying to ease the spooky-sensitive into a horror movie night, include famous figures and IPs that they already have some level of familiarity with.
Allow them to gain that context on how and why these pillars of horror are seen in memes and on t-shirts and mugs and tattooed on people’s arms. You’ll find that this is an entry point into them wanting to know and learn more about the world of horror, drawing connections and conclusions in other unrelated films back to those familiar tropes and characters. - Give TMI (too much information). Like any monster, the more you see or know about it, the less scary it becomes. Sprinkling fun facts as you watch about the way they did the practical effects or what other movies that actress was in can often remind your creeped out counterpart that this is JUST A MOVIE.
Personal Chel Note: Watching horror movies that include cut-ins and commentary from Joe Bob Briggs, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 or Elvira have been an excellent way for me to introduce some more scary films to Evan. What better way to lighten the mood than with a goofy character poking fun and offering a more “academic” view on the gut-wrenching gore scene you just witnessed on-screen? - Let them pick their poison. When you give your horror newbie the power to decide their fate (metaphorically speaking) they are more likely to “buy in” to the experience. Give them two or three movie options to choose from, perhaps in a sub-genre like “Zombies” or “Found Footage” and let them choose.
Or even better give them a sub-genre suggestion and see what movies they come up with through their own research (some DIY TMI). They may pick movies that weren’t even on your radar but were just names on a digital rolodex that you always scroll past. - Spoil it for them. A common fear, cinematic or not, is the fear of the unknown. The fear that you are going to get ambushed with something scary that never ever crossed your mind. This is often why scaredy cats tend to veer away from horror…they just don’t know what to expect.
Opt for movies you have seen before so that you can give a warning on when to look away or when it’s best to fast forward a few minutes ahead.
One of my favorite things to do in horror movies whether by myself or with a horror novice is to call the jump scares before they happen. All of us horror fanatics know the formulas, the little indicators that hint at what spooky surprises may be a few minutes down the road. Use those to your advantage.
Make it a guessing game on what you and your fraidy-cat friends think the filmmaker is gonna do to try and scare you. Not only does it lessen the blow when your guesses are right but even the scares clever enough to actually make you jump are met more with laughter and a “They got me!” as opposed to heart palpitations or a mini panic attack.
Starting off your horror journey with more meta movies like Scream and Cabin in the Woods are also great ways to provide a baseline of the horror tropes and themes so they can start doing their own horror movie math.
The most important advice I can give you as you embark on this journey toward horror enlightenment with you is to not force it. Let them decide when they want to join you in watching horror or when they want to opt out.
All of us horror fans have our likes, dislikes and boundaries and that’s ok. Let them get comfortable in the horror space and decide for themselves how they want to exist in it.
And, if all else fails, you can always fall back on the classics like Beetlejuice, Addams Family Values, and Hocus Pocus. They may not be the most creepy or terrifying films on the horror movie menu, but sometimes all you want is a good, easy movie for the eyes and the palate. And that’s more than enough.
Ready to ease your scaredy cat into the world of horror? Check out our Starter Pack Horror collection for a list of episodes featuring the perfect movies to start their journey today!
