“Aaahh!!” The victim screams as they narrowly escape the killer at the end of the movie. The movie has ended, and now you’re trying to escape the haunting images playing on repeat in your mind. Horror filmmakers love to keep us on our toes by using various psychological techniques. Somehow they have us looking away while simultaneously peeking through our fingers. Unfortunately, watching a horror movie can make us afraid even long after the film has ended. To help you survive this upcoming Halloween, here are some of my tips to recover after watching a Horror film. This is based solely on my personal experience, and may or may not help you.
Sneek peek FROM Behind the scenes
Have you ever been curious as to how filmmakers design their movies? As a movie buff and aspiring filmmaker myself, I’ve always loved learning the various techniques directors and producers use to manipulate our emotions. Sometimes when I’m having issues trying to forget certain scenes, I like to find videos of those scenes being created โ especially the ones with gore. For me, it helps remind me the blood they show is very fake. They probably have a secret “blood” recipe hidden so well, even my grandmother doesn’t know about it.
comedy Gold
If you aren’t as passionate about how movies are made โ which you probably aren’t โ then you might want to try watching something funny. No matter what streaming services you have, there are a variety of comedies to choose from. Or you could always go for the classic “Cats VS Cucumbers” videos on YouTube. I’m sure those videos will be stuck on the internet forever. When I’ve just watched something scary late at night, I like to watch my favorite comedian, Gabriel Iglesias, on Netflix. Whatever tickles your funny bone, use it and start laughing your butt off.
Waiting it out
Sometimes one of the best ways to recover from watching a horror movie is waiting for your anxiety to settle down afterwards. Taking deep breaths, affirmations, or even hugging a teddy while trying to calm down may help this process. If you’re doing this before bed, give yourself some time before turning out the lights. Although this isn’t something that would work for me, if you’re a “facing it head on” kind of person, you can always turn off the lights and sit in the dark for a while until you have faced your fears.
Eating a snack
Getting the (hopefully metaphorical) poop scared right out of you can make you lose a bunch of calories. Eating a snack may help you gain the energy you lost during your lengthy fight-or-flight response you maintained during the movie. I also recommend having a glass of water, but under any circumstances do not drink it before the movie. Just from personal exprerience, there were instances where I had to run to the bathroom because I thought I was going to pee my pants. I never did though, thank goodness.
Talking with friends
Talking about your fears with a friend, especially if they watched it with you, can help ease some of your nerves. I’ve always found this to work pretty well. If you don’t have a friend to talk to about it or you just don’t want to spoil it for them, talk to yourself. Talking to yourself about it can help you process what you just watched as well as help you talk through some of your current emotions. I’m not very comfortable talking to myself in front of other people, so I will go to a different room and just have a full converstion with myself. It is completely okay to feel weird doing this at first as you might not have done something like this before.
Know that how long someone recovers from a horror movie varies from person to person. Despite what other people may say, it is completely okay to be scared during a horror movie and it’s completely okay to take care of yourself after the movie is over.