The Gist: It was a dark and stormy night, and the content writers at CivicScience combed, furiously, through their data. Halloween was less than a week away and the people needed to know: Who are the fans of horror movies? They’re majority women, they don’t like sports, and are likely to live with their parents, among other things.
It’s no surprise that people love to scare themselves silly during Halloween time. And Hollywood is clearly happy to oblige with the releases of It, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and Jigsaw, all taking place in early Autumn. The latter three were all released in the week leading up to Halloween.
So, with seasonal horror movie viewership on the rise, we thought it might be fun, and seasonally appropriate, to look at the genre’s all-weather fans.
As you can see, horror-movie-fandom is a pretty exclusive club, so we were even more intrigued to know: who’s watching horror movies all-year-round? What we found out about people who watch horror movies may scare you (because our data are scary good!).
Below are 13 insights about horror movie fans.
1. They’re not parents
Horror movie fans are over 30% less likely to be parents when compared to fans of other movie genres. Respondents who are both parents and grandparents are least likely to say that Horror is their favorite movie genre.
2. They may still live with mom and dad
¼ of all horror movie fans still live with their parents, and 38% are homeowners. For comparison, 56% of non-horror fans are homeowners and only 16% still live with their parents.
3. They’re Millennials
40% of horror movie fans are Millennials, with Gen X coming in 2nd place, at 36%. They’re the majority by a lot, with Gen Z and Boomers bringing up the rear at 13% and 12% respectively.
4. They’re single
56% of horror movie fans have never been married, or are either widowed or divorced (compared to 48% of fans of other genres). Only 33% of horror movie fans say that they’re married.
5. They’re readers
Horror movie fans are significantly more likely than non-fans to say that books are a passion of theirs.
6. They’re gamers
Horror movie fans are much more likely than non-fans to say that they play video games daily, at 29%. 45% say they play video games at least monthly, compared to just 32% of non-horror fans.
7. They’re not interested in sports
1 in every 2 horror movie fans say that they are not interested in watching or playing sports. This is the majority by a lot, with only 30% saying that they like sports, 11% saying sports are important to them, and 9% considering sports a passion.
8. They aren’t rural
Only 22% of horror movie fans live in rural areas, while 37% live in cities. Horror movie fans are much more likely to be city-dwellers than fans of other genres.
9. They’re women
Horror movie fans are 60% women. So, check the trope of women cowering into their dates’ arms during horror movies at the door.
10. They’re on a budget
57% of horror movie fans claim to make $50K or less annually, compared to 44% of non-fans. Only 17% of horror movie fans make over $100K per year, as compared to nearly ¼ of non-fans.
11. They go to the theater
The majority of the general population prefers to watch movies at home rather than in theaters. The same is true for fans of horror movies. However, they are noticeably more likely to prefer to go out to see a movie in theaters.
12. They won’t be dressing up for Halloween
Although horror movie fans are much more likely than fans of other genres (35% to 17%) to dress up for Halloween, the majority, at 48%, say that they won’t be dressing up for Halloween. This is still much lower than fans of other genres, though.
Bonus engagement question:
13. They believe in ghosts
