Over millions of years, Scrivner reminds us, human beings became more knowledgeable about and sensitized to threats from predators as well as repulsed by and afraid of them. "This imprint," Scrivner writes, "lies at the core of our morbid curiosity," which can serve us well "when threats are placed in a safe context," such as a story, a movie, a "haunted house," or a video game.
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.