Dreams and Nightmares

Read the text and choose the best answer for each question.

Into the Dark: Why We Need Fantasy and Horror

In the summer of 2019, two films were at the top of the global box office. One was a superhero film; the other was a horror story about a family being followed by dark versions of themselves. Neither was realistic. But both reflected a clear trend: audiences seemed to prefer impossible stories over realistic ones. The question is not simply why fantasy and horror have become so popular, but what this popularity tells us about the kind of world we live in today.

Researchers who study these genres have suggested one interesting explanation: humans are naturally imaginative creatures. We spend a lot of time thinking about things that are not in front of us — the past, the future, things that might never happen. This ability to imagine was probably very useful for early humans, who needed to think ahead and work together in large groups. Fantasy and horror stories may simply be a natural result of this ability — something our minds produce because we are built to imagine.

However, imagination alone does not fully explain why we enjoy impossible stories. Psychologists also talk about something called 'transportation' — the feeling of being so involved in a story that you almost forget the real world. Studies show that the more deeply someone is transported into a story, the greater the effect it has on them. Interestingly, the impossible elements of fantasy and horror — the monster, the dragon, the haunted house — may actually help this process. When the brain encounters something it cannot explain, it has to work harder to make sense of the story, and this deeper effort leads to a more powerful emotional experience.

This could explain why fantasy and horror are so good at developing empathy — the ability to understand how other people feel. If these genres take us deeper into stories than realistic fiction does, they may also be better at helping us see the world through different eyes. Some studies have found that people who read a lot of fiction score higher on empathy tests than those who do not. Fantasy fiction in particular, because it asks readers to understand characters who are very different from themselves, may be especially effective in this way.

There is also a political side to these genres. Throughout history, fantasy and horror have often been used to discuss ideas that were too dangerous to say directly. In places where criticising the government was risky, writers used monsters and magic to talk about real fears — about unfair leaders, poverty, or disease. This is still true today. Some of the most successful horror films of recent years have used scary stories as a way to talk about racism and inequality, reaching audiences who might not engage with these issues through a more direct approach.

Some critics still think of fantasy and horror as less serious than other types of fiction. But this misses the point. These genres do not help people escape from reality — they help people understand it differently. They can explore certain kinds of truth that realistic stories cannot easily reach. The real question is not why so many people enjoy impossible stories. The real question is why anyone ever thought they should not.