Coltan Scrivner on Morbid Curiosity, Horror Movies & Why We Love Scary Things
Why can't we look away from a car wreck, a true crime documentary, or a horror movie we know will keep us up all night? Coltan Scrivner has built a career answering that question.
Episode notes
Why can't we look away from a car wreck, a true crime documentary, or a horror movie we know will keep us up all night? Coltan Scrivner has built a career answering that question. In this episode, host Andy McNeill talks with Coltan, author of Morbidly Curious and a behavioral scientist who studies why humans seek out fear. They get into the evolutionary reason we're drawn to danger, why violent video games don't make kids violent, and what horror fans have in common. Then the story takes a turn: Coltan left a research job at Meta, bought a Victorian bed and breakfast in Eureka Springs, and wound up running the town's Zombie Crawl, founding the Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival, and opening a horror convenience store. If you've ever wondered why you love being scared, this one has answers. In this conversation:
- Why we're hardwired for morbid curiosity
- What true crime and horror do for our brains
- The truth about video games and violence
- How an "accidental entrepreneur" took over Halloween in Eureka Springs
- Coltan's favorite horror films