What do you prefer; being scared or grossed out?

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   Christopher Floydposted 14 years ago

   I miss being scared by a story. More often than not, especially in the cinema, I find that what is presented as horror isn't very scary, it's just splashy. Anyone else feel this way? Anyone else miss being scared when reading a horror story instead of wishing they hadn't just eaten?

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      rhartlandsbergposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      When I go into a movie I often view it with a skeptical mind set which I think is true for many people. I think that doing that with horror movies is detrimental to the experience and often causes us to convince ourselves out of being scared.
      
      Since it's so easy to do this I feel like film makers often just give up and do something that is easy to accomplish which is gross the viewer out.
      
      In that way I feel like horror is like fantasy in that the viewer needs to agree to suspend disbelief and just be scared and that is hard to make many people do.

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2. 59

   SomewayOuttaHereposted 14 years ago

   ...yes, i can definitely pass on the gore...
   
   ....i luv a good 'scary' tale...always have....

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3. 61

   Bellamieposted 14 years ago

   NIETHER, but thanks anyway!

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   TamCorposted 14 years ago

   My husband and I have talked about this many times, too.  We love horror movies, but the type you see most often these days go more for the gross-out factor, than really trying to scare you!
   
   I mean, how many different ways can there be to cut off a head...
   
   
   As far as reading--I feel the same way, but some horror writers are better than others, when it comes to scary scenes, and not just gory ones. Dean Koontz and Stephen King are my two favorite for keeping me on the edge of my seat while reading, lol.

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5. 63

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   Neither, really; but if I had to choose - scared.  Nothing is worse than "grossed out".

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   lorlie6posted 14 years ago

   Oh dear-I may be the only one, but I love being 'grossed out!'  Sometimes if done with 'taste,' it can prove quite poignant.  Does anyone remember the opening scene in 'Saving Private Ryan?'  After arriving on Omaha (?) Beach, there's a soldier searching for his own arm, blown off his body during the battle.

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7. 59

   asiemensposted 14 years ago

   I prefer being scared than grossed out. Personally, thrillers are the best (especially psychological thrillers) in either books or movies. It plays with your mind and get's you to that point of adrenaline and just being out right scared.
   
   I agree. Horror is all about the gore, not getting scared.

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      SheZoeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      being scared is exhilarating. Being grossed out is just...being grossed out. i'm with asiemens. psychological thrillers beat blood and gore any day. Those take thought, creativity, and attention to all the little details about how the human mind works. To me things that just gross you out are lazy.

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   2. 0

      Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I like thrillers, not horrors - I like the excitement, not to have nightmares.
      
      Although I do find it fun to gross people out with true stories eg my poo hub

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8. 59

   Y. Kajitakaposted 14 years ago

   I've never been big into horror, because usually it comes with too much gore for me to watch.  I have watched a horror anime before- Shiki.  Even though it would generally have been terrifying... I found myself amused.  I was laughing at the characters about to be killed and either be dead permanently or turned into the vampire-reminiscent "shiki."  And the chick that liked the main character guy in life stalked him after she became a shiki, and it was kinda funny to watch him wig and lose sleep over it.   ^^;
   
   Summary of rant: Yeah.  I'd rather be scared.

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   b. Malinposted 14 years ago

   Oh, I suppose a little of each...sort of like one from column A and one from column B!

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10. 60

    Christopher Floydposted 14 years ago

    I can certainly understand the neither answers.
    I don't know how many times I've looked forward to a book or movie that is supposed to be scary and been stuck with a gore-fest. I'd much rather watch a thriller too, but sometimes I miss the jump-out-and-go-boo factor that older horror has. Or movies like Signs, which might have been a thriller or a horror movie, but isn't really either. I liked Silence of the Lambs, but I have to stop to remember that it was actually pretty gory. The plot and story telling distracted me. Okay, I guess that's all I had to say. Thanks everyone.

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    recommend1posted 14 years ago

    I strongly believe that both horror and gross stuff (like most everything) enters the subconcious mind and then forms part of our makeup.  This is how standards of humanity are lowered and we are able to accept such outrageous acts as unneccesary war and violence.  This view may be supported by the observable fact that when presented with real war and violence most people suffer a reality shock from which many do not recover.  I do not want this crap in my head at all and so do not watch it.

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12. 60

    Gnugposted 14 years ago

    I prefer a balance between the two. I dont like it when the gross out factors just thrown in to try and shock you, like in Saw, or something. And I also don't like when they try to make a movie scarier than it should be, like paranormal activity.

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13. 61

    duffsmomposted 14 years ago

    I enjoy suspense and tension in a movie and being scared--I do not like being grossed out, it ruins a movie for me.

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    MOlmsteadposted 14 years ago

    Scared, i would definitely prefer to be scared. It's simply just more exciting.

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15. 59

    Jaggedfrostposted 14 years ago

    neither, reality is too precious and the workings of reality so necessary to take part in that submitting to either causes someone to be vulnerable and rendered insensitive to the gentle workings of the universe.  It is like consuming hot food when you desire to enjoy any other cuisine.

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