In the midst of the fall season, it is time for fearless movie-goers to enter half full/half empty movie theaters which show the annual, admittedly mediocre, low-budget scary “films.” Movies like this come back every year and make a more-than-deserved amount of money at the box office. Why? Why do people sit through this torture while willingly inviting fear into their lives?

I am not saying all horror movies are bad. I was recently able to watch It, an arguably scary film, and had an excellent time. The movie was very fun and well-written, and it is the highest grossing horror film of all time. In February, a movie called Get Out was released and gained roughly fifty times its budget, currently boasting a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, I would say the majority of horror movies are full of cheap thrills and gory, gross garbage. Yet, people eat it up like their own Halloween candy. A key example would be Paranormal Activity. Having seen this movie, I can vouch for the film’s obvious stupidity and fictitious content.  Yet, according to the-numbers.com, it earned the highest return on income for a horror film-EVER!  The film gained $100 million on a budget of $15 thousand and created a film franchise that includes five more movies.

I’m not even sure why we watch scary movies more than once.  For the most part, a horror movie is only scary once. After you see all the jump scares, it usually no longer firghtens you. Yet, we all drag ourselves to watch these movies over and over again.

Well, whether you like it or not, horror movies aren’t going away. If you want to be a part of the hype that accompanies this season, watch one…Just try to avoid the mediocre ones. Or don’t, and get your heart beating fast.  Happy Halloween!