Horror studies utilized as educational tool in university course

A university lecturer explores the educational and psychological benefits of incorporating horror into the classroom through an undergraduate elective titled ‘Recreational Fear: Scientific, Historical, and Aesthetic Perspectives’. The course utilizes horror as a ‘Trojan horse of learning’ to engage students in psychological and aesthetic analysis while helping them practice regulating difficult emotions through manageable, voluntary fear.

Students in the program engage with various media, including Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’, horror films, and video games. The curriculum also includes practical research opportunities through a ‘Recreational Fear Lab’ and field studies at the Dystopia Haunted House. For the fall 2026 term, the course planned a field trip to a remote woodland campsite in Jutland, Denmark, featuring storytelling by horror writer Michael Kamp to simulate ancestral experiences of horror around a bonfire.