Research unit based at @AarhusUni. We study frightening leisure activities: scary play, creepy movies, horrifying haunts. Currently funded by @DFF_raad.
Joined July 2020
- Tweets 724
- Following 95
- Followers 926
- Likes 664
281 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
9 Oct 2022
What's the Recreational Fear Lab, and what are we up to? You can learn about some of our projects and meet several lab members in our new promo video (@TTerkildsen, @Marc_M_Andersen, @MathiasClasen, @MorbidPsych, and @mihaela_taranu): youtu.be/fhGHLj1JfRk
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Obsession is making audiences scream in terror and howl with laughter.
How come?
And why do so many of the currently most interesting horror film directors have a background in comedy?
New blog post by @marchk: cc.au.dk/en/recreational-fea…
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10 Dec 2025
Why did @StephenKing become everybody's favorite boogeyman? Help us find out by taking (and sharing) the Stephen King Fan Survey:
9 Dec 2025
Calling Stephen King fans of the world! I want to know about your King fascination. Please help by taking and sharing this survey: survey.au.dk/LinkCollector?k….
If you complete the survey, you can enter the raffle for a homemade SK figure. (Prototype depicted here.)
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Recreational Fear Lab retweeted
3 Dec 2025
The Fifth Annual Aarhus Workshop on Recreational Fear is coming up. Don't forget to register!
cc.au.dk/en/recreational-fea…
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21 Nov 2025
Our 5th annual workshop on recreational fear is happening in Aarhus on Dec 12!
Free participation, registration required. Venue: Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (aias.au.dk)
Speakers program: cc.au.dk/.../news-and-events…
Register: event.au.dk/events/when-fear…
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20 Sep 2025
Thrilled to present a new PhD student in the lab: Aleksandra Cyrek 🥳👻🎃
cc.au.dk/en/recreational-fea…
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Recreational Fear Lab retweeted
17 Aug 2025
Recreational fear in childhood, from the gang over at the @RecFearLab and elsewhere: link.springer.com/content/pd…
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13 Aug 2025
🧟♂️🚨 New Publication in Emotion
Thrilled to share our new paper: "Scared Together: Heart Rate Synchrony and Social Closeness in a High-Intensity Horror Setting"
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-…
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13 Aug 2025
These results align wiith prior research showing that shared experiences can amplify both emotional intensity and physiological alignment. Whether this synchrony emerges during shared fear or reflects pre-existing alignment between close individuals remains an open question -
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13 Aug 2025
- but an exciting one. Thanks to our amazing research assistants, fantastic collaborators, and to the brave participants who screamed for science. 👻
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16 Jun 2025
🚨 Kids LOVE fear?!🚨 Our new study led by Mihaela Taranu from the Recreational Fear Lab uncovers something surprising: Children across all ages actively seek out scary experiences - for fun! 📄link.springer.com/article/10…
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16 Jun 2025
They ask to poke a dead bird with a stick.
They sneak peeks at horror clips online.
They dare each other to jump from the shed roof.
They test how close their finger can get to a knife’s edge.
These might sound concerning or odd - but they’re developmentally typical!
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16 Jun 2025
Fear play is mostly social - done with parents, siblings, or friends. And it might serve a purpose: helping kids manage emotions, evaluate risks, and promote learning. This is the first study to show how common that is across childhood.
Amazing work, Mihaela! Congrats!
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4 Jun 2025
👇🙏❤️
27 May 2025
Inside the Fear Lab! Out today in The Dark Side issue 267, I interview @RecFearLab co-creator, @MathiasClasen. Get your copy now before I buy them all. It's a very special spread. cc @PromoteHorror
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Recreational Fear Lab retweeted
20 Mar 2025
Thanks to all who have taken part already!
We now have a large number of scifi & thriller fans 🛸🧟, but true crime, horror, drama, and fantasy fans are lagging (among others) 👮👹🧝 - where these fans at?
Take part to tell us why your genre is your favourite (5-10 mins)!
18 Mar 2025
📺 Feel like a small break from scrolling to tell us about your favourite TV/movie genre? 🎞️
Here is a 5-10 minute survey for our latest research project on understanding the functions of fiction: brookeshls.co1.qualtrics.com…
Thanks very much for participating!
ALT A picture of a woman watching TV, with text superimposed, saying: "What does your favourite TV/movie genre say about you? Help us find out!". Additional text states: "This 5-10 minute survey for an Oxford Brookes University BSc research project asks questions about TV/movie genres you like to watch, as well as some of your interests, worries, and coping styles." and finishes with the URL and the statement: "This survey has received ethical approval from the Psychology Research Ethics Committee at Oxford Brookes University."
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