Let me paint you a picture: It’s midday. You haven’t left your bed for a couple of days, and you’re starting to feel smelly and grimy. You want to get up, shower, make a meal, and answer some emails, but you can’t bring yourself to just yet. So, you open up TikTok and mindlessly scroll until you shut your eyes and nap (because you are definitely becoming nocturnal with this bad sleep schedule).
What is Bed-Rotting?
I’m sure by now, if you’re familiar with any form of the internet, you would have heard of ‘bed-rotting’. If you haven’t, you probably have, you just don’t know the newly coined name for it. ‘Bed-rotting’ is the activity of doing absolutely nothing in bed all day, retreating from the outside world, and well, ‘rotting’ in bed. But the normalisation of said ‘bed-rotting’ has, for me, anyway, blurred the lines of notice between having a lazy day and sinking into a depressive episode.
But I’m going to tell you something. I’m going to share with you a secret activity I like to do in those dark bed-rotting moments which helps me feel ready to rise from my coffin and join the world of the living. And that secret is watching Horror Films.
How does it work?
When you’re sad, you often listen to sad songs. If you think about it, that doesn’t really make sense. Wouldn’t listening to sad songs make you even sadder? Well, the media we consume mirrors our feelings, giving a voice to those emotions, and in essence, regulating them. So, when you’re sad, listening to sad music provides you with a feeling of catharsis, allowing you to wallow in your emotions, truly feeling the depths of them fully. This makes it easier to then release those feelings easily, and carry on with your day.
I would say that the same applies to horror films. When you feel bad, watching something replicating those feelings helps to face your emotions, and provides you with a path to overcome it. And it goes so far beyond just regulating your emotions. Kate Sullivan’s article “Horror Movies Saved My Life” mentions how the topics of horror films can be something you, the viewer, can identify with. Placing yourself in those characters’ footsteps as they face their (literal) demons, and win, can help you feel the same way too. So, before you venture down a dark hole of gruesome films, especially if you don’t watch horror films, let me give you some starting points.
Where to start?
One of my favourite films to watch when I’m sad is May (2002). May is about a lonely girl with vision impairment, who starts to spiral into obsession after meeting a man played by Jeremy Sisto (same, girl). What I like about May is that she is weird. Often you hear the term weird girl thrown around, and the weird girl in question is a quirky Zooey Deschanel or an eccentric Phoebe Buffay. But May is genuinely weird. And this weirdness isn’t portrayed in a romanticised way, or a negative way. It’s just who she is, and it’s not a bad thing (minus all the murder). If you’re trapped in your room with the overwhelming thought that you’re completely weird and strange and out of place, this film makes you feel seen, like you have an equally weird friend that you can vent to without judgement.
Another film I recommend for your bed-rotting is Ginger Snaps (2000). Ginger Snaps follows Ginger and her sister Brigitte as they try to stop Ginger’s undergoing changes after she was bitten by a werewolf. As Ginger slowly embraces her monstrous side, her confidence is contagious. This film is a great example to lead yourself with embracing what you think makes you ugly. It helps you realise that things you want to hide about yourself shouldn’t be hidden at all. Other beginner films I recommend are American Mary, Jennifer’s Body, and Creep (1&2).
There truly is something cathartic about feeling the deep depths of my self-doubting mind. It is like walking up a hill – the journey is horrible, but once I get to the top, I can see the beautiful view, with rivers and hills of grass. So, I encourage you to do the same. The next time you feel like you hate yourself, the next time you feel angry or sad, or you simply don’t want to get out of bed, watch a horror film. Watch something that will make you cringe and turn away from the screen squeamishly. It will bring you joy you didn’t know it could.