As were all hunkering down to do our part to help flatten the curve and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, many households are turning to streaming TV shows, movies and music for entertainment.

Whether its getting lost in the feel-good romance and sparkling holiday lights via the back-to-back Christmas movies airing on The Hallmark Channel or laughing out loud while binging on classic sitcoms like The Office, Friends or Parks and Recreation, people are seeking comfort viewing.

It might even be a dark psychological thriller or bloody slasher.

Samuel Zimmerman, curator of AMC Networks Shudder premium streaming service, said that indulging in the horror genre during times of turmoil can be as cathartic as cozying up with a holiday classic.

We can look at our own anxieties and fears through the prism of fiction, he said. Its not just films about pandemics, but even apartment horror, where people are shut inside or trapped somewhere, those can be comforting in a weird way. For people who are just horror fans, this is our comfort food. Fans may go back and re-watch Re-Animator or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre just because theyre familiar.

Actors Samara Weaving (left) and Steven Yuen (right) star in the comedy horror film Mayhem, which is currently streaming on Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service. (Photo by Sanja Bucko)

Actress Tricia Helfer starring in an episode of Creepshow, the dark comedy and horror anthology series based on the 1982 film of the same title. The first season of Creepshow, which is executive produced by Greg Nicotero from The Walking Dead, is now streaming via Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service for all things horror. (Photo courtesy of AMC Networks and Shudder)

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Shrews Nest, a tense Spanish psychological drama, is now streaming via Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service for all things horror. (Photo courtesy of AMC Networks and Shudder)

Rob Zombies The Devils Rejects follow-up, Three From Hell, is one of the top streamed films on Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service for all things horror. (Photo by Gene Page)

Actor Gincarlo Esposito starring in an episode of Creepshow, the dark comedy and horror anthology series based on the 1982 film of the same title. The first season of Creepshow, which is executive produced by Greg Nicotero from The Walking Dead, is now streaming via Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service for all things horror. (Photo courtesy of AMC Networks and Shudder)

Actor Steven Yuen (right) stars in the comedy horror film Mayhem, which is currently streaming on Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service. (Photo by Sanja Bucko)

John Carpetners In The Mouth of Madness is currently available on Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service. (Photo courtesy of AMC Networks/Shudder)

The Dead Lands is an original supernatural adventure series from Shudder, AMC Networks premium streaming service, thats based around the Maori people and culture of New Zealand. (Photo by Matt Kiltscher)

Shudder offers a variety of horror movies, TV series and documentaries in an array of sub-genres including psychological thrillers, slashers, supernatural/paranormal, comedy, Sci-Fi, crime, mystery, creature features and more.

It also includes original content with series like The Dead Lands, Creepshow (from The Walking Dead executive producer Greg Nicotero) and original films including Satanic Panic, Daniel Isnt Real and Room. During the mandated stay at home orders, Shudder has extended its 7-day free trial to 30-days for new customers using the code SHUTIN (and its $4.75 a month after that).

Zimmerman said its no coincidence that pandemic and epidemic movies like Contagion, Virus, Infection and Outbreak are currently emerging atop of lists on a variety of streaming services (including Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime), but hes also seen a surge in zombie films.

Speaking of zombies, fans that tuned in to AMCs The Walking Dead, which is currently airing its 10th season, last week found out that the season finale would be delayed because of the global pandemic as the effects work wasnt completed on that final episode before things were locked down. It will air sometime later this year.

We have decades and decades of the modern zombie movies to prepare us for not only what an epidemic looks like, but what quarantining yourself or shutting yourself in looks like, as well as what human behavior looks like, he said.

Since its a longstanding trope in horror that the real monsters are actually human, its interesting how current behaviors mirror that of the survivors in films like Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead.

Sure, everyone now is concerned what human behavior is going to be like when things start running out or when people are desperate, he said. I think thats on the top of all genre fans minds at the moment.

However, horror films never prepared us for the panic and hoarding of toilet paper.

Thats true, he said with a laugh. Theyre always going to a mall though and trying to stock up on as much stuff as they can even though theyre not going anywhere.

Though many think of horror as just violence, blood, guts and gore, Zimmerman said theres almost always that glimmer of hope, that light at the end of the tunnel and, of course, the so-called final girl, who against all odds, survives.

Movies that show people in really tough trials and tribulations and then they come out the other side, I think that can be exorcising, he added.

And the horror-comedy sub-genre has always been popular. Currently on Shudder, theyre streaming movies like Night of the Living Deb, Heathers and Mayhem, all of which provide some comic relief.

Even Netflix also has a variety of comedy-horror, paranormal and Sci-Fi shows with The Haunting of Hill House, Stranger Things, Santa Clarita Diet, Ash Vs. Evil Dead and iZombie. Netflix added the Chiodo Brothers 1988 horror, Sci-Fi and comedy film Killer Klowns from Outer Space to its lineup on April Fools Day. Hulu has Anna and the Apocalypse, which is a horror musical, as well as more traditional gems like Hellraiser, Childs Play and A Quiet Place.

Then theres Shaun of the Dead, a classic zombie-comedy film by Edgar Wright featuring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It can be rented via Amazon Prime for just $3.99 and its worth every penny.

Thats the one all people love, Zimmerman said. Everyone wants to go to the pub and wait until its all blown over. There are a million horror-comedies that you can lose yourself in theyre a great escape.

Read more here:
Why streaming horror may be just the thing to get you through the lockdown - OCRegister