AFTER all her friends recommended the challenging American film version of "The Ring", Claudia Feng decided to watch the movie to see how brave she was.

　　Accompanied by her husband, Claudia didn't feel too terrified while actually watching the movie. But the next day, she found herself unconsciously reconstructing the story and the image of the teenage girl ghost was present in her mind all the time.

　　"I dared not stay in the room with a TV set because I was afraid that that girl ghost with hair over her face had climbed out of the well and then out of the TV set," Feng recalled.

　　Does this hunger for nasty chopping and mincing thrillers represent a cultural degradation or an atavistic longing for life in the jungle?

　　Nervous system

　　Whatever the answer, the lifting of social and cultural constraints makes people less secretive about their desires, and technological breakthroughs make them cheaply available.

　　"Horror movies or novels are popular because people need them. Everyone of all ages has the desire to overcome horrible things," said Zhang Haiyin, director of the Shanghai Psychological Consulting Centre.

　　Experts say that undergoing a mentally terrifying experience is a way to adjust the nervous system which has been labouring under the pressure of hard work or difficulties in life. When watching horror movies, most people feel their blood flowing faster, their muscles tightening and they are sweating. But after this uncomfortable experience, they feel relaxed.

　　"On weekends, I like to watch a horror movie alone. It has the same effect as enjoying a sauna bath," said one horror movie fan.

　　Psychiatrists explain that people's feelings of fear can be traced to self-suggestion and imagination. "One feels terror about some images only because they remind them of some similar experience in their lives," said Zhang.

　　Another reason behind the popularity of the "horror" culture lies in people's curiosity. The images in horror movies or novels can't be found in real life so the horror content provides a world of fantasy which people can enjoy.

　　How much do we need?

　　With her husband's help, Claudia took two weeks to escape from the shadow of the horror movies she had seen.

　　"I will never go near such films any more," she said firmly.

　　If some experience of horror can be a positive challenge aiding mental health, too much may be bad - such as in Claudia's case. "It's hard to say how much one needs. And the amount depends on one's psychological endurance," said Zhang.

　　Psychiatrists suggest that children and those who are sensitive to horrific plots in movies and books should stay away from them because they can possibly lead to mental disorders.

　　If, after watching a horror movie or reading a scary novel, one finds it hard to overcome feelings of terror and this condition lasts more than two weeks or if it affects one's normal life and work, psychiatric help should be sought.