The most significant threats which modern society faces are not tangible or immediate risks; rather, they are future anticipated catastrophic events. These modern risks are global in nature, whereas previously risks were limited to local, controlled environments. Beck asserts that such a transformation in our sense of risk redirects social energy toward the anticipation and prevention of future catastrophes, creating a continual state of heightened awareness.
Do you run to a haunted house every Halloween? Do you rubberneck after a grizzly car crash? Do you devour grotesque true crime documentaries? If so, that's natural-and it may even be good for you, according to Coltan Scrivner, a researcher of all things macabre and a fan as well-one recent project was founding a horror film festival where he lives in the Ozarks.