Horror films contain elements that aim to elicit fear, shock, and disgust from viewers, such as violent and graphic killings. Despite these usually unpleasant elements, the horror movie genre remains beloved.

"I think that they're so popular because of the arousal that it gives people," communications junior Alayla Milow said. "I think that people like being on their toes and knowing that you're going to be safe at the end of something that's scary. I think that is a fun experience for some people."

Milow said people can learn what to do and what not to do in these movie-specific scenarios, should they ever be caught in a similar situation in real life.

"For me, personally, I don't really like to be scared that much, but I feel like whenever I watch horror movies, I'm learning something," Milow said. "Like how to survive if I'm ever put it inside of a bad situation."

Ph.D. candidate in English and film studies Cristóbal Martinez said in addition to the horror elements, these types of movies have entertaining factors that keep the audience interested and hooked to the screen.

"I guess there is some pleasure in just being scared," they said. "And seeing cool effects. I feel like horror is known for having really neat special effects, (and) before CGI, there were definitely monsters and special mechanical effects that are really just fun to watch."

Throughout the years, many different horror films have been released, but only a handful are considered "classics" and are very well-known amongst avid horror movie fans.

Movies like "Scream" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" are considered popular within the genre. Martinez said these films are classics because they incorporate societal concerns into the premise of the movies.

"I think what made them so popular when they came out is that they were kind of like responding to anxieties and concerns about youth culture in the 80s, and there's been some way to keep adapting it to modern times that still makes it interesting," Martinez said. "The fear in 'Scream' when it came out in the 90s was that telephones were accessible, and anyone could come talk to you at any point. The phone technology was a horror in itself. And then, as we move to the recent 'Scream' films, there's text messaging and there's other apps. So, I think horror is really easy to adapt to different contexts, or historical context, that makes it widely appealing."

With the popularity of horror movies and the elements that these types of films carry, desensitization becomes a concern. Martinez said desensitization, when it comes to horror films, is being able to watch them and tolerate the horror elements they contain.

"There's this popular criticism of horror, that it desensitizes, and I think to a degree it does," Martinez said. "But I don't think that really desensitizes, at least for me, from real horrors, especially when we're watching something like Gaza. That's a very real, close horror, and no amount of horror movie is gonna make that not horrifying for me."

Milow said people who watch a lot of horror movies can be more desensitized to awful things commonly displayed through these films, to some extent.

"I don't like scary movies, and I do think that I am very sensitive, like things I see on the news and stuff affect me a lot. I'll carry that with me for like, a good week or something," Milow said. "Some of my friends that do like scary movies and more gory things that will make my stomach turn, they can just handle it a lot better. And I think it rolls off of them a lot easier, so I think they are maybe getting more desensitized than me, but maybe that's better."

Human biology sophomore Phoebe Wong said it's easier to be unfazed by horror elements when you've experienced them a lot on-screen.

"I think it's just because they had more exposure to those kinds of things than people who kind of shy away from horror movies," Wong said. "They would just have that experience, and they would kind of know what's going on next."

However, Martinez said consuming this kind of media can give viewers more perspective on horror and they can find comfort in the fact that the movies are fictional. Martinez doesn't think horror films pose any concern or danger to society, whether they play a part in desensitization or not.

"I don't know if it's that big of a concern if you can stomach gore or things like that," Milow said. "I think if you're not empathetic to what you're seeing in movies, even though it's fake, if you still don't feel like that's wrong, I think that's when it starts to get bad... I think empathy needs to stay strong, though, definitely."

Martinez said social media could be the bigger concern when it comes to desensitization.

"I think one of the larger things fueling desensitization is probably social media," Martinez said. "The mass circulation of images and photos through apps and then videos and the way it gets cycled through, all of that fuels more desensitization than horror does. I feel like horror has been very tame in that regard for a while."