I am not much of a horror fan, but some of my closest friends love experiencing fear through the written word. I can’t relate to their need for ghosts, gore, and paralysing terror, but I think I understand the need for it.

Fear, after, all is a, primal emotion. It has been our constant companion since the earliest days of humankind. It was fear that kept us away from danger, made us huddle together on dark nights, and forced us into communities that could better ward off the dangers of the unforgiving natural world.

But fear is also something we try to protect our young from. We don’t want them to be frightened, we want them to be brave in the face of peril. We ask them to read stories about brave heroes who bested overwhelming odds and defeated fate itself. Understandably, we want them to feel empowered by the literature they consume.

I think I am almost certainly paraphrasing someone famous when I say this, but fiction often serves as an inoculation against the ravages of real life that are sure to visit children when they are growing up. Horror stories are a vaccine against the true horrors of life.

This is not to say that stories featuring ghosts and monsters are warnings against actual ghosts and monsters – that is a childish understanding of fiction (and unfortunately all too common among many adults these days as well). It is to say that life is full of fearsome tragedies, debilitating loss, and much pain. Fiction simply helps children experience these feelings in a safe environment without subjecting them to the real thing. Reading stories where characters undergo fear, suffering, and loss prepares children mentally to handle the ups and downs of life.

The parental impulse is to protect children from the ups and downs of life. But the smart parent is also aware that no matter how deeply they want to always be there for their kid, they won’t always succeed in doing so.

That’s why education exists – to make sure kids know what they need to know.

Fiction is simply emotional education. The best stories leave their readers wiser. Horror stories are no different. The wisdom they impart has to do with being wise in the face of fear and terror.