Throughout many years, frightening stories were told and passed down in order to keep people entertained and amused. In the past, before television and radio were invented, telling stories and myths was a form of entertainment, which never seemed to have disappeared. Now, in the present, these stories and myths are being presented on television to entertain the audience.

Many tales and myths are presented in all different cultures of the world. People always found it a thrill to tell these tales and to be frightened by them. In addition, these tales and myths of goblins, monsters, and witchcraft were not only told as a form of amusement, but they would also explain certain incidents that seemed to be out of the ordinary. However, during the Romantic era, people became less susceptible in believing these imaginary myths and more interested in reading the frightening literature that was presented in order to enjoy a "good" fright. An example of this can be seen in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe who introduced a new type of villain. His approach was to show the audience psychopathic killers who would commit extremely realistic crimes. This obviously is more frightening then hearing tales of

Coping strategies are used to reduce or prevent the fears caused by scary or disturbing things seen on TV. There are two categories of coping strategies used: cognitive and noncognitive.

When reacting to frightening or disturbing Media Content, there are three main categories of stimuli that will prompt one to become afraid: dangers and injuries, distortions of natural forms, and the experience of fear and endangerment by others.

Cognitive strategies require the discussion of fear. This is more likely to work for older children elementary school or higher. Noncognitive strategies involve the viewer to process verbal information. This method tends to work well with younger children in preschool. One type of a noncognitive strategy is Visual desensitization. This allows children to be exposed to disturbing content a little bit at a time. For example, during a study children were shone a toy tarantula to prepare them for a scene containing a large spider. Another type of a noncognitive strategy is physical activity. Some children prefer to hold onto a teddy bear or a blanket to reduce their fear. Eating and drinking also help kids distract themselves from a disturbing scene on TV.

Have you ever viewed a movie that provided disturbing or frightening images that gave you nightmares or withheld you from doing something, like sleep in the dark or swim by yourself? More than likely at one point or another your answer is yes. In the 1930's-1940's it was researched a featured film had scared 93% of children. It was also stated that children enjoyed being spooked by movies or television. During the Payne Fund Studies, Blummer describes the reactions children have to frightening media "emotional possession" to which he describes that as the normal feelings and perceptions are forgotten, as viewers become lost in the vicarious viewing experience. A study by G.G Sparks showed that half of females and one quarter of males have reported fright effects after viewing scary media. Some reactions include trouble sleeping, persistent nervousness, avoidance of scary movies, and fear of entering certain rooms in the home. Females ranged from 48% for the avoidance of scary movies to 68% for fear of entering certain rooms; compared to males which was 10% fear of certain rooms to 43% for nervousness after viewing. Also, many children have nightmares and refuse to sleep alone. According to www.media-awareness.com younger children seem to be frightened by something that looks scary, like witches, and that older children tend to be frightened over realistic things, such as war and rape. So what do you do when you get scared? Studies show that younger children tend to hug their pillows and eat a lot of food, whereas older children tend to talk themselves out of it, telling themselves that it wasn't real until their emotions are back to normal.

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