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Scream queens: Why do they scare us so much?
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN and Liza Lucas, special to CNN
Updated 1502 GMT (2302 HKT) October 25, 2016
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Scream queen Heather Langenkamp is hearing a voice of terror in "A Nightmare On Elm Street" in 1984. New Line Cinema/Getty Images
Mark Patton is often called the first male scream queen for his part in 1985's "Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge." New Line Cinema
Jamie Lee Curtis has had a varied career in Hollywood for over 35 years, but she's paid homage several times to her "scream queen" role (including Fox's upcoming series "Scream Queens") as Laurie Strode in the 1978 slasher classic "Halloween." Compass International Pictures/Getty Images
Janet Leigh's screams in the famous shower scene from the film "Psycho" are often cited as the most frightening put on the silver screen. The 1960 film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Paramount Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images
One of the earliest "scream queens" in Hollywood, Canadian-born actress Fay Wray looks on in horror in a scene from 1933's "King Kong," directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The screech emitted by the "Wicked Witch of the West," played by Margaret Hamilton, as she melted into a puddle in the famous scene from "The Wizard Of Oz," would probably not rate high on the roughness scale of any scream meter, but it was fun to see her get her due. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
The combination of a nighttime attack with Susan Backlinie's gut-wretching screams and sobs helped get Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster "Jaws" off to a terrifying start. MCA/Universal Home Video
It's hard to know which scream is better, Macaulay Culkin's in "Home Alone" or Marv's when he's being attacked by the pigeons in "Home Alone 2." 20th Century Fox
Jennifer Love Hewitt in hysterics in a scene from the 1998 film "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer." Columbia Pictures/Getty Images
Why do we find goat screams so fascinating? Because they scream just like humans, says Emory University psychologist and scream researcher Harold Gouzoules. To prove it, just check out the many goat compilations on YouTube, including this Taylor Swift mashup and this commercial. ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images
