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More than three in five spooky genre readers say they could solve a real-life mystery, according to a recent survey.The survey of 2,000 horror, mystery, thriller and true crime readers found that 61% believe they have what it takes to unravel a real-world mystery plot. But, only four in 10 (41%) are confident they’d survive the plot of a horror novel and live to tell the tale.Interestingly, men were significantly more confident in their survival skills compared to women (51% vs.
37%). Conducted by Talker Research and commissioned by ThriftBooks, the research investigated all things related to the spooky genre: Plot-come-to-life scenarios, favorite spooky books and even safety best practices gleaned from reading the genre. When asked which character stereotype they identify with, one in four (26%) identified as the sidekick character and 12% said they’d most likely be the victim in a scary book.Unabashedly, more than one in 10 (13%) reported they’d be the villain and only 45% believe they have what it takes to be the hero or detective in a spooky book. Looking closer at villains, this time in the real world, 68% said that they can tell if someone is a “bad” person simply by the vibes they give off.Women were more likely to report this compared to men (70% vs 61%). And more than half of readers (51%) said someone in their everyday routine fits the mold of a villian from a spooky novel. Looking at who actually matches the stereotype, the most common answer was a neighbor (44%).
Shockingly (or maybe not) the second most common answer was a family member (31%). Uncovering how reading scary books has made a lasting impact on respondents, 68% reported that they’ve adopted safer habits after reading the genre. These include not sharing personal info with strangers (63%), not answering calls or texts from unfamiliar numbers (62%), not posting their location on social media (52%) and never posting any personal info on the internet (51%). Readers sa...