First of all let me tell you, if you have not seen many horror movies yet, this book is going to spoil a lot of the plot twists and endings. Luckily for me, I have watched so many horror movies that it did not spoil me. But readers be aware.

This book is also based on science and it doesn’t focus on the magic of horror movies, how they are made, the subgenres of horror etc

This book explores the reasons why according to science, we love to watch horror. Why do we enjoy horror movies? Does the violence in horror affect our behavior? Why do we keep watching horror if it scares us?

The book offers many movie examples to explore all the different scientific studies and also some interviews with directors and other horror movie creators. This makes the reading experience a lot more fun and dynamic.

While I did not agree with certain points when it comes to horror (not the science part because I am not going to pretend that I am an expert on that), I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book and can recommend it to horror experts or those less experienced with horror movies that do not mind getting spoiled.

This was a fascinating little read, it goes into detail regarding how the brain is stimulated by watching horror films among many other things.

This was a very thoughtful and insightful explanation of why we are afraid of the things that are scary in the world.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Have you ever wondered why you have such a fascination for horror? In this book by Nina Nesseth, you can try to understand through her theories. She takes her studies and compares them to Scenes in horror (if you're not a huge fan of horror films, there may be some huge spoilers). This book was a huge psychological experiment on why people might have a huge love for horror films and it dives deeply into the genre's core to get some answers.
If you're a hardcover horror fan like myself, you don't want to miss this exploration book on the impact horror has on an individual. Definitely one that I'll be glad to add to my bookshelf.

A unique look at what it is that drives our love of horror. Well-researched and wonderfully engaging!

Fun, pop science look at horror/fear. Was hoping/expecting something closer to Mary Roach's writing style, but that's more my own issue and not a fault of the book. Really appreciated Nesseth's interviews included in the book and overall enjoyed it.

Simple approach, which is fine.
I think I was wanting more as a dedicated horror fan than just the regurgitated norms of understanding the importance of the genre.

Loved this one! I am not a huge non-fiction reader but if it's true crime or horror then count me in! I really loved reading about the science behind my favorite movie genre.

A scientific look at the history of horror films and the history of fear itself. Nesseth asks, what scares us and why? The author's examination ranges from the very first horror films to contemporary horror and spans a variety of subgenres. An intriguing combination for those interested in both psychology and horror films.

Do you like scary movies?


This book is a fascinating look at what it is we love about horror films. As a lover of horror, slasher films and also psychology, I loved how this book breaks down why we love to be scared, why we’re disgusted by body horror and exactly what is happening in our amazing bodies to make us squirm, jump or scream.


Highly recommend! I loved all the references to iconic horror and slasher films, what makes a cult favorite just that, and all the psychological and physiological theories on the science of fear

A fantastic introduction to different theories behind horror films for the fan and student alike. Nesseth has a great writing style that makes concepts accessible for a general audience, and helps guide readers through a variety of different films.

The interviews with people in the industry are a real highlight, lending itself to a fun read with interesting trivia. I would highly recommend this for a horror film aficionado, it would make a great addition to their collection!

This read was really interesting, I gave it a three out of five star rating. I like hearing about what scares people, and the different things about horror movies.

As a massive horror junkie Nightmare Fuel was phenomenally interesting! The deep dive into the understanding what makes horror fanatics becoming more and more obsessed with watching them was fascinating. It was just such a neat look into why we enjoy horror movies, why do we enjoy the scares. Just a fun read!

This book gave me everything I wanted and then some. I love horror, but having someone dive into the science as to why is so fascinating to me. I found myself utterly hooked by page two, and I couldn't put it down. One I definitely need to own a copy of for my shelves, because I find myself recommending this to everyone.

Nightmare Fuel is a certain kind of book, for a certain kind of reader. I don’t mean to make it sound inaccessible, but I also don’t want to hear about it if you go in unprepared and find it’s not to your liking. Personally, I like reading this type of scholastic non fiction. I spent too long (and waaaay too much money) taking college courses – I can’t get out of the student mindset. Nightmare Fuel isn’t quite a textbook, but it’s also not light reading.

Nesseth digs deep into such things as

what happens to your brain on horror
why jump scares are so effective
how horror reflects the fears of the times/places it comes from, and much more.

If you found your eyes filming over during that list (oh, come on – I left it super short!), I can promise you this – Nightmare Fuel is anything but boring. It is fascinating! I loved learning about all the ways that scary shit makes the human body and mind react.

If you’re at all interested in the psychology or physiology of horror, or human reactions to terrifying stimuli, period – I highly suggest checking this one out.

A fun premise carried out thoughtfully and with loads of receipts

*review posts to my website 3/29/23 at 10:30 am

This was a book I was really excited to review. Unfortunately, with my schedule, I missed the reviewing window. But! Not wanting to miss heaping praise on a book, I have dug it out of the archives to remedy by mistake.

Being a horror fan, one is always met with distrust when you praise and hype up a film you have seen around normies. It can be sometimes unsettling to think about why I do enjoy watching horrible things happen to people on screen, which is where this book comes in. Highly detailed and well-researched, Nesseth makes me feel a little better about my obsession with all things scary. I'm not weird, it's science. Our brains love stimulation and horror movies hit all the boxes.

I would absolutely recommend this to other horror fans and fans of non-fiction reads as it gets behind the scenes of our culture's obsessions and interests in the macabre.

I was very excited when I heard the announcement for this nonfiction book. I mean who wouldn’t want to read something about why horror movies scare us? I know I have people around me that ask me why I spend so many hours watching and reading horror, why I like to be scared and watch blood and guts all of the time. I really do not have any of the answers. I was hoping that this could give me some ammunition to the questions, but alas, it is not the case.

Nightmare Fuel is a deep dive into the science of why movies scare people, why people want to be scared, what is happening in our brains when we watch scary movies. Nina Nesseth explores many topics, including the formatting of jump scares, the ways people are scared, and how sound plays an important role in our fear. There are explorations and analysis of several studies that question if violent content makes people violent, why there are things that we see at a young age that scare us our entire lives, and how many psychological studies are flawed. These studies are torn apart and many are slanted toward getting the results that the researchers wanted. A majority of the book seems to be in the defense of horror movies because the research studies against them are usually bogus or skewed. The point is that there is not a scientific reason not to like horror.

I found the idea of this book more interesting than the book itself. I am not into deep science writing, and sometimes I felt little interest in the depth that Nina Nesseth was going. Even though I appreciate the things that this book does, it really is not a book I would read again. I have recommended this to people who are interested in how the brain works more than how horror works. There are some highlights in the book though. I really enjoyed some of the in depth looks at certain classic films like Jaws and The Thing. I also like the short interviews, particularly the one with John Fawcett, the director of Ginger Snaps, because it is one of my favorite horror movies and it is interesting to get some of his story. There are also a few films mentioned that I need to see or revisit, but the actual takeaways from this discussion are not as useful as I hoped.

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this! An interesting and scientific look at the horror genre that is both thought-provoking and entertaining. I'd recommend this for fans of Mary Roach, and for anyone who loves Horror generally.

A fascinating deep dive into the reasoning behind our(my) obsession with horror films and all things frightening. There are so many connections between anxiety and love of horror that I've always wondered about and this book answered them all.