There are relatively few studies on the human motivation to get involved in watching fictional horror on the screen and how a horror movie affects people’s behavioral, cognitive and emotional reactions. Why do young people enjoy horror films, how individual differences affect the reaction and preference for horror films, whether horror films affect behavior, why we are afraid of certain “classes” of stimuli, and also how sympathy for horror develops... The author of the article analyzes the psychological aspect of this phenomenon, and also considers how it affects the psyche of modern students in the process of studying the discipline “Psychology of Cinema”.