Psychology Today: The Mysteries of Suspense
- Tara C. Allred
- Dec 12, 2013
- 2 min read
Recently a friend sent me this link from Psychology Today about why we enjoy reading suspense fictional stories. Dr. Peter Stromberg provides some intriguing questions into why we are drawn to the stories of the unknown.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-drugs-and-boredom/201006/the-mysteries-suspense
I have heard that some readers read a certain type of genre because there is a formula of safety and control in that genre. There is safety in knowing how the story will end. And just by the very nature of what type of book it is, the reader feels in control as they read of the characters' trials, conflicts, and quests. In the end all will be well.
For me, I like a happy ending. But I will also willingly accept an ending that leaves me thinking, that gives me some insight (and control) of how to manage my trials, conflicts, and quests in life. I can accept a book that has tragedy if in the end it prevents me from making similar tragic mistakes. But of course, when I first pick up a book a happy ending is the hope.
Regardless of how any type of book ends, it is the suspense of what happens next that keeps us turning the pages. A great suspense story will require us to sacrifice hours of sleep, (or chores, or social play, etc.) to find out the next event that drives the characters forward.
For me, I don't want to have a clue of how the story will end. This suspense of the unknown, of not feeling control of the characters peril, is what I enjoy. I pick up the story because I don't know how the characters will work things out, but I read in earnest in the hopes that they do.
And if they can't, I expect the narrator to give me an ending that offers me a glimpse of an answer in dealing with my own unknowns.
My take away from the Psychology Today article is that we as humans don't like change or the unknowns in our own life but we enjoy watching others (fictional others) go through change and experience intense and difficult unknowns. So that is the deeper question for me, what does reading a fictional story do for us as readers in facing our own suspenseful situations in life?
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