Maybe you love horror—or maybe you’ve even AI’d yourself into your favorite final girl. Or… you’ve got a thing for masked men. In this episode, Figs dives into the rising interest in predator/prey play and mask play (a.k.a. the “Ghostface kink”). Play hide and seek with figs as she tries to understand: why the chase can feel hot, how fear flips into desire, and what consent, context, and safety look like when you want to be caught.
Citation/references and other things I read for today’s episode:
Andersen, M. M., Schjoedt, U., Price, H., Rosas, F. E., Scrivner, C., & Clasen, M. (2020). Playing with fear: A field study in recreational horror. Psychological science, 31(12), 1497-1510.
Bloom, P. (2021). The paradox of pleasurable fear. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(2), 93-94.
Dutton, D. G., & Aron, A. P. (1974). Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of personality and social psychology, 30(4), 510.
Lin, J. H. T., Wu, D. Y., & Tao, C. C. (2018). So scary, yet so fun: The role of self-efficacy in enjoyment of a virtual reality horror game. New Media & Society, 20(9), 3223-3242.
Lorett, A. (2024). 'Sex Equals Death, Okay?': The Role of Fear on Individual Differences in Sexual Arousal (Doctoral dissertation, Wellesley College).
McKinney, K. (2011). The Effects of Adrenaline on Arousal and Attraction. Scholars: McKendree University Online Journal of Undergraduate Research, 17.
Savage, H. S., & Garfinkel, S. (2025). Making Sense of Sensation: A model of Interoceptive Attribution and Appraisal with Clinical applications. PsyArXiv. https://doi. org/10.31234/osf. io/bsma9_v1.
Schachter, S. (1964). The interaction of cognitive and physiological determinants of emotional state. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 49-80). Academic Press.
Sharifzadeh, B. (2009). The impact of anxiety on subjective and physiological sexual arousal (Doctoral dissertation, Concordia University).
Scrivner, C., Andersen, M. M., Schjødt, U., & Clasen, M. (2022). The psychological benefits of scary play in three types of horror fans. Journal of Media Psychology.
Zillmann D, Hay TA and Bryant J (1975) The effect of suspense and its resolution on the appreciation of dramatic presentations. Journal of Research in Personality 9(4): 307–323
cover art: bofenglin
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