My name is Christian, and I am currently doing my master’s degree in religious studies here at Aarhus University. I am mainly interested in religious experiences, in particular the feeling of awe and related concepts such as the sublime and the numinous. These experiences are often characterized as being a mix of fear and pleasure, or, as Edmund Burke described the sublime, as a “sort of delightful horror”. Well, how can horror be delightful? What has brought me to the Recreational Fear Lab is precisely this question, and related ones, such as why people seek out scary stimuli, and what sort of psychological and social benefits “the horror” might provide.

As for myself, I have always been fascinated by the weird, the strange and the occult, be it in art, literature, movies or collecting old and dusty books about magic. I do however scare rather easily, so anything with jump scares is strictly prohibited in my home – for the benefit of myself, but not least the people around me who might be disturbed by my screams of terror.

I look very much forward to being a part of the team at the Recreational Fear Lab and getting a chance to do exciting and valuable research into the nature of recreational fear.