30 Absolutely Horrifying Secrets People Confessed Having Heard From Seemingly Normal Folk

Editor and writer Doug believes that part of the appeal of the horror genre is that it allows people to tackle the issues of the day in exciting and unexpected ways. "Look at what Jordan Peele is doing in terms of our discussion of race in America with Get Out and Us. Contextualizing that discussion within the horror genre allows him to force the discussion in an entertaining and visually interesting way that I wonder whether he could achieve otherwise. The spectacle allows the message to slip right into our subconscious," he shared.

Doug also had some advice for amateur writers who want to give the horror genre a shot. "Write about what scares you—and be honest about it. Horror is fueled to a greater extent by empathy than terror, so if you can make your audience feel what you feel, you will bring them into your world and your fears. Just about anything can evoke terror in the right context. You have a huge canvas," he said.

During an earlier in-depth interview, Bored Panda spoke about people’s fascination with the dark and disturbing aspects of humanity with psychologist Lee Chambers. One way that that fascination crops up is in the fascination with True Crime stories that explore evil in real life.

"When considering why the darker side of humanity and entertainment are so compelling, we have to first look at our evolutionary journey as human beings. For the majority of our existence, we were prey and always hyperaware of threats to our safety, which created a negativity bias that we are drawn towards," Lee told us.

"But in today's safe and often sanitized world, we are rarely threatened significantly, and the ability to explore evil, frightening and gruesome entertainment is one of the few ways we can visit this part of humanity while remaining safe and comfortable,” the psychologist said to Bored Panda.

“There is a level of novelty to it, it removes boredom quickly, and it helps us to discover our emotional limits while understanding the minds of those who go beyond social norms and potentially gaining knowledge of how we might avoid being victims ourselves. They also offer closure, with many stories ending with the mystery being solved, and the criminal being brought to a level of justice.”

Lee stressed that seeing someone else face evil while the viewer (or reader) feels safe can even have a “comforting element” to it. "It can take us on an emotional rollercoaster, have us trying to solve the puzzle and test our fear in a controlled way. The permission to explore evil is powerful, as we so rarely get the chance elsewhere, and in itself, it is healthy and normal in moderation," he told Bored Panda.

"The challenge we face is the fact that consuming too much of this can desensitize us, and cause us to become less empathetic to the suffering of others, more fearful of our own environment, and potentially be more likely to use aggression ourselves,” the psychologist warned that consuming too much negativity and darkness can have an adverse effect on our mental health.

“It can also cause us to be triggered by our own previous adverse experiences, make it harder to manage our own emotional balance, and increase our stress levels, so moderating our consumption is something we should have front of mind, even when we get embroiled in the latest series that is pulling us in.”