About Coltan
Behavioral Scientist
I am a Behavioral Scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark and in the Psychology Department at Arizona State University. I investigate the evolutionary and psychological underpinnings of morbid curiosity and our fascination with the darker side of life, including horror, true crime, and all types of scary play. In particular, I am interested in how engaging in morbid curiosity and scary play can be beneficial for our mental health and well-being.
Author
My book, Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away will be published by Penguin Random House on Oct 21, 2025. It is the first book of its kind to dive into the science of how our enjoyment of scary entertainment is related to personality, mental health, and the evolution of the human mind.
You can also find my writing on my Substack — Morbidly Curious — or my Psychology Today column — Morbid Minds.
Horror Producer
In addition to my academic work on horror, I also produce horror-related events and media. I am the Executive Director of the annual Eureka Springs Zombie Crawl, one of the largest gatherings of zombies in the world. I am also the Founder and Executive Director of the annual Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival, which was named one of five Halloween horror festivals worth traveling for by the New York Times. In the media world, I work as a horror producer and consultant, including collaborations with leading genre companies like Blumhouse Productions.
What is it about monsters, murderers, and the macabre that draws us in and inspires curiosity? What does this morbid curiosity say about us? How is it related to our personality and well-being?
These are the core questions that motivate much of my research, whether that research involves tracking participants’ eye movements as they inspect a cabinet of morbid items, interviewing people at a torture museum, or measuring visitors' heart rate as they fight their way through a haunted house.
Over the past several years, I have conducted pioneering research on the psychology of morbid curiosity, true crime, and horror. Most of my research looks at how and why people sometimes find enjoyment — and can perhaps learn something — from fictionally dangerous scenarios. My research has been covered by numerous international newspapers, magazines, radio programs, TV shows, and podcasts. You can find some of the media coverage of my work here.
