 When I was a kid, I hated horror. Every time I went to my mom's house, though, my sisters would always want to watch a horror movie. And I'd cry on the stairs and call my dad and beg for him to drive me home early. When I was 12, I overheard my sister talking about the plot of Silence of the Lambs to her friend, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it every night that week. My best friend was a big horror fan too, and she told me about Bloody Mary. Which, if you don't know about Bloody Mary, it was a myth based on the Queen of England from the 1500s, and the myth is basically if you turn off the lights and stand in front of a mirror and say Bloody Mary three times, she'll appear and murder you. At least that's how I heard it. Not only did I refuse to use the bathroom without someone outside the door for a long time after that, I also refused to look in the mirror for long periods of time. When I did, my brain would freak me out and frantically say, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, over and over again, and I'd get out of the bathroom as quickly as I could. It took me a long time to realize that Bloody Mary wasn't real, and even if she was, she wouldn't appear if I didn't say it out loud. But that's just how I am. These uncontrollable fears take over my mind, no matter how irrational, and I just don't stop thinking about them. When I was 14, I finally watched my first horror movie on my own terms. Child's Play. I curled up in a blanket and was at least 10 feet away from the TV with the lights on. And I actually enjoyed it. To be fair, it is also a comedy. So then I watched another horror movie, and then another one, and soon enough I became horror obsessed. Another thing about me is I have frequent nightmares, especially when I'm stressed, most consisting of being trapped in a room or staring at a screen with scary images. So one moment I'm trapped witnessing something horrifying in my dream. I wake up, I put on something horrifying to get my mind off of it. Why, you may ask? I have no clue. My guess is that it keeps my fears fictional. It lets me take control of how scared I am in a safe environment. But it's not only restricted to nightmares. In general, I experience a lot of day-to-day anxiety. And again, someone might ask why the hell I'd like to watch horror when I'm always so anxious. But it's just me taking some control of my life. I like being scared for fun. Fear can make you get really excited and your heart starts racing, but this time, you're laughing and smiling. Ooh girl, I know all about being terrified of scary movies. Wait, did you guys hear something? What was that? It's Chris. I just thought I'd chime in and drop some neuroscience about anxiety. Before I do that though, I need everyone to pause this video and go subscribe to Kadri Milk's new YouTube channel. And you know what? Follow her on social media while you're at it. All that information will be down in the description below. She's an amazing artist who helps me out a lot with the channel and she's doing some awesome things. So yeah, like I was saying, I used to be terrified of scary movies for most of my life and I'm a 34 year old man. But then I started dating my beautiful girlfriend Tristan who was horror movie obsessed. Like Kadri Milk, I forced myself to watch scary movies and I actually kind of like him now. Kadri Milk and I have been doing the same thing and it's called exposure therapy which is something anyone with anxiety can do and I actually just wrote a blog post about it. So check it. Anxiety comes from a part of the brain called the amygdala which is part of the limbic system. This little almond shaped part of the brain triggers our fight, flight or freeze response. The amygdala is connected to the hippocampus and the hippocampus is a part of our brain that stores our memories. So the hippocampus reminds the amygdala that we should be super scared of something and that's when the amygdala gives us anxiety. Well, the National Institute of Health has published studies discussing how exposure therapy calms down the activity of both the hippocampus and the amygdala which in turn makes you less anxious. So go out there and confront those fears baby girl and now back to Kadri Milk. Because of my reasons for watching horror though, I've realized I can't just watch any scary movie I want. For example, most horror movies don't get to me. I watch them, I have fun and that's it. I've probably seen get out like 10 times and enjoyed it every time. But dear god, when I watched Midsommar it was a whole different situation. I spent the last 20 minutes of that movie with my eyes covered asking if it's okay to look. I felt sick to my stomach. I could barely sleep that night. Which is funny because I slept like a baby after watching the human centipede so I'm not entirely weak. Although don't be confused, I do not like that movie nor do I recommend it. So creepy, scary, horrific movies, okay existential and eerie crap that gets into your head. I've learned that it's okay to set boundaries with yourself every once in a while. It just isn't my thing. So all this being said, I don't like scary movies that just aren't scary. In fact, the worst part about horror movies is there's so damn many of them. Finding a decent horror movie is like shoveling a diamond out of manure. It's not always easy. But when you finally find a diamond, you forget about all the poop for a while. Although a diamond to me might look like a rock to you. So don't be overly concerned about trying to like what other people like or pushing yourself to watch things you hate. Your experience is probably very different from mine. And horror is subjective. You might be scared of mannequins and dolls while I'm scared of a booth in the live-action Aladdin movie. Horror is subjective. Don't sweat it. Thanks everybody for watching. But I even bigger thank you to Kadri Milk. She did an amazing job. She is going to explode here on YouTube. So make sure that you go check out the description down below. Go subscribe to her new YouTube channel. Follow her over on Instagram and Twitter. And her and I actually have some really cool projects coming up. But thanks again everybody for watching and we'll see you next time.