Survival 101: An Evolutionary Perspective on the Appeal of Slasher Films
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/lev112026167521Keywords:
slasher films, Halloween, recreational fear, morbid curiosity, evolutionAbstract
Throughout the past five decades, the slasher film genre has endured as one of the most popular sub-genres of horror cinema, despite scholarly criticism that it promotes misogyny, homophobia, and conservative moral values. This article argues that the genre’s lasting appeal can be understood through an evolutionary framework that draws on recreational fear, horror as threat simulations, and morbid curiosity. Using John Carpenter’s Halloween from 1978 as a case study, this article argues that the genre constructs an effective threat scenario that exploits evolved psychological defense mechanisms in human cognition, allowing audiences to practice emotional regulation and sharpen survival strategies. This is achieved through genre-typical cinematic techniques, relatable protagonists, and a supercharged masked killer who targets a universal fear of hostile conspecifics while triggering morbid curiosity. Thus, the slasher genre has captivated audiences across decades because it teaches us how to survive – without ever placing us in real danger.
References
Andersen, Marc Malmdorf, Uffe Schjoedt, Henry Price, Fernando E. Rosas, Coltan Scrivner, and Mathias Clasen. 2020. “Playing with Fear: A Field Study in Recreational Horror.” Psychological Science 31 (12): 1497–1510. doi:10.1177/0956797620972116.
Buss, David M. 2005. The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill. London: Penguin.
Carpenter, John, dir. 1978. Halloween. Compass International Pictures.1 hr., 31min. Last accessed January 4th, at 21:56. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvO_L81P91c.
Clasen, Mathias. 2017. Why Horror Seduces. Oxford University Press.
Clasen, Mathias. 2018. “Evolutionary Study of Horror Literature.” In The Palgrave Handbook to Horror Literature, edited by Kevin Corstorphine and Laura R. Kremmel, 355-363. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Clasen, Mathias. 2023. “The New Science of Recreational Fear.” AngloFiles 207: 36-41. https://cc.au.dk/fileadmin/dac/Projekter/Recreational_Fear_Lab/2023_AngloFiles_207_RF _MC.pdf.
Clasen, Mathias, Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, and John A. Johnson. 2020. “Horror, Personality, and Threat Simulation: A Survey on the Psychology of Scary Media.” Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences 14 (3): 213-230. doi:10.1037/ebs0000152.
Clasen, Mathias and Todd K. Platts. 2019. “Evolution and Slasher Films.” In Evolution and Popular Narrative, edited by Dirk Vanderbeke and Brett Cooke, 23-37. Boston: BRILL.
Clover, Carol J. 1987. “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film.” Representations 20: 187–228. doi.org/10.2307/2928507.
Dika, Vera. 1987. “The Stalker Film, 1978–81.” In American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film, edited by Gregory A. Waller, 86–101. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Gershon, Livia. 2019. “Selling Slashers to Teen Girls.” JSTOR Daily, September 25. https://daily.jstor.org/selling-slashers-to-teen-girls/.
Hari, R., N. Forss, S. Avikainen, E. Kir Veskari, S. Salenius, and G. Rizzolatti. 1998. “Activation of Human Primary Motor Cortex during Action Observation: A Neuromagnetic Study.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95 (25): 15061–15065. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.25.15061.
Hess, Ursula and Agneta Fischer. 2014. “Emotional Mimicry: Why and When We Mimic Emotions.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 8 (2): 45-57. doi:10.1111/spc3.12083.
Hoffner, Cynthia. 2020. “Same-Gender Characters: Appeal and identification.” The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology: 1-5. doi.org/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0269.
Hutchings, Peter. 2004. The Horror Film. Harlow, UK: Pearson Longman.
Johannesen, Ida. 2024. ”Sex Differences in Recreational Fear: An Evolutionary Account of Media Preferences.” Leviathan: Interdisciplinary Journal in English 10: 61-79. doi.org/10.7146/lev102024144288.
Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, Jens. 2016. “Evil Origins: A Darwinian Genealogy of the Popcultural Villain.” Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences 10 (2): 109–122. doi:10.1037/ebs0000057.
Nowell, Richard. 2011. “‘There’s More Than One Way to Lose Your Heart’: The American Film Industry, Early Teen Slasher Films, and Female Youth.” Cinema Journal 51 (1): 115–40. doi:10.1353/cj.2011.0073.
Rieser, Klaus. 2001. “Masculinity and Monstrosity: Characterization and Identification in the Slasher Film.” Men and Masculinities 3 (4): 370–92. doi:10.1177/1097184X01003004002.
Ryan, Stephen, Megan Oaten, Richard J Stevenson, and Trevor I Case. 2012 “Facial Disfigurement Is Treated like an Infectious Disease.” Evolution and Human Behavior 33 (6): 639-46. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.04.001.
Scrivner, Coltan. 2021. “The Psychology of Morbid Curiosity: Development and Initial Validation of the Morbid Curiosity Scale.” Personality and Individual Differences 183. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.111139.
Scrivner, Coltan, John A. Johnson, Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, and Mathias Clasen. 2021. “Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More Psychologically Resilient during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Personality and Individual Differences 168. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397.
Scrivner, Coltan, and Mathias Clasen. 2022. “Why Frightening Imaginary Worlds? Morbid curiosity and the learning potential of horror.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45: 46-48. doi:10.1017/S0140525X21002259.
Taylor, Nick, host. 2025. The Science of Horror: Recreational Fear Lab. “The Nick Taylor Horror Show.” American Nightmare Studios, November 20. Podcast, 52 min. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JOJtzcYwtzMKoZ3M7pjC0.
Wagner, Connor S., Mariola Paruzel-Czachura, Clifford I. Workman et al. 2025. “Exploring Film as Popular Art Promoting Scarred Villain Trope.” Empirical Studies of the Arts: 1-26 doi:10.1177/02762374251386302.
Wood, Robin. 2018. “An Introduction to the American Horror Film.” In Robin Wood on the Horror Film, edited by Barry Keith Grant. United States: Wayne State University Press, 73-110.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Leviathan: Interdisciplinary Journal in English
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format).
However:
You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
