If a horror movie leaves you feeling a little turned on, the monster may have nothing to do with it.
Brianna Makówka told the New York Post that fear and sexual arousal can produce overlapping physical responses, making a scary movie an unexpectedly sexy experience for some viewers.
“In essence, fear and sexual arousal can feel like the exact same body sensation,” she explained.
Makówka described horror movies as triggering an “excitatory arousal response”—a heightened state of alertness or activation that doesn’t necessarily mean sexual desire.
“We experience changes in our bodies like shallow breathing, bracing in anticipation, and unexpectedly, we might feel turned on in the same moment,” she said.
That overlap, she added, can also help explain why some people find the intense sensations of consensual kink or BDSM sexually exciting.
The Post’s account rests on Makówka’s explanation; it does not cite a study or say how common the reaction is.
Research on the genre explores a related question: why people enjoy horror at all. A study of 558 participants in Scientific Reports asked about their movie-watching habits and had them rate short horror scenes for excitement, enjoyment, disgust, fearfulness and realness.
Scenes perceived as scarier and more real were associated with greater excitement and enjoyment, as was viewers’ morbid curiosity. Disgust was associated with lower enjoyment but did not affect excitement. Crucially, the study measured excitement and enjoyment—not sexual arousal.
But our advice? The next time you're planning intimate time... pair it with a horror film.