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To me, as a genre of film, when done right (admittedly a huge caveat) I think horror can provide some of the most uncompromising experiences available.
I think that the same can be said of horror in literature, but moving onto literature would lead to the other thing I (and I think most people) find engaging about the genre, the themes and concepts that it regularly explores. Death, decay, corrosion, societal collapse, paranoia, insanity, fear, hate, sex & sexuality, pointless violence, and a litany of social and political ideas. It’s a far more versatile genre than some people would think looking in from the outside.
And yes, there’s an aspect of me that enjoys the gore. Not torture and dismemberment as such, but dramatic change, of the kind that couldn’t happen in real life. It’s here I think that death is explored most clearly, through the monster, the zombie, etc; the fantastical representation of the process and fear of, death.
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