Ten chapters

The author's own story of horror-as-calm, framed as a testable claim rather than an idiosyncrasy. Sample chapter (~3,000 words) already drafted, with personal-anecdote placeholders still open.

Neuroscience and psychology of recreational fear — amygdala–hippocampus dynamics, the optimal-arousal zone, and why safe, voluntary fear is measurably rewarding.

How a film's pacing and tension curve can substitute for a harder-to-self-generate internal arousal regulation system.

Sensory-seeking versus sensory-avoidance profiles mapped onto sudden aversive stimuli versus sustained atmospheric tension.

Applying Clover's cross-gender identification theory and Creed's abjection framework to neurodivergent identification with monsters, final girls, and outsiders.

Director-driven case studies: Guillermo del Toro's outcast-monster philosophy, Cronenberg's body horror, Shyamalan's perception-and-twist structures.

Historical arc from coding mental and neurological difference as monstrosity toward newer, more sympathetic neurodivergent-coded protagonists.

Real-world evidence — accessible and relaxed screening programs — of an organized, underserved neurodivergent horror audience already in place.

Built entirely from original interviews and survey data — the qualitative core and single most differentiating chapter.

Synthesize neuroscience, lived experience, and film theory into a single claim: for a specific part of its audience, horror is a regulation technology built from fear.