There are many rational causes of fear: a dangerous situation, a natural disaster, an out of control person, or a financial struggle.
These are scenarios that people do not typically enjoy or deliberately seek. It might seem strange then that there is an entire genre dedicated to embracing fear.
Traditionally, horror and Gothic writers have used irrational fears of monsters, vampires, or the supernatural to comment on the rational fears people have and to characterize their story's setting.
