Home / Sunday-mid-day / / Article /
Diving into how more people are consuming gore and violence online
Updated On: 08 June, 2025 09:47 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
In a digital age, an increasing number of netizens are consuming real-life gore or violence — whether it is on Instagram, Reddit or the countless corners of the Internet’s echo chambers. What’s the charm?
Listen to this article :
Mouli Chakraborty engages in true crime content and footage to understand the crime. “Watching crime footage helps me grasp the seriousness of it.” Pic/Ashish Raje
She was just 12 when she stumbled upon a video of a girl being burnt alive. The flames licked at the girl’s body as she screamed and ran in agony — the camera held steady, unflinching. That moment changed something in her. Now a recent graduate, Neha Gupta (name changed) finds herself drawn to graphic real-life content online — from brutal CCTV footage to actual decapitations. And she’s not alone. Across Telegram channels, Instagram reels, and Reddit threads, people are either seeking or stumbling upon unfiltered violence, often without a single warning. In a world saturated with dread, what does it mean to keep choosing horror?
For Gupta, the fascination with violent content is a paradox — she fears it, yet returns to it again and again. Even though she began consuming such content to analyse the psychology behind the actions, it soon turned out to be her guilty pleasure. “It’s a love-hate thing,” she admits. “I get scared, but there’s also this rush of adrenaline.” What began as a deep dive into true crime documentaries evolved into stumbling upon gore accounts on Instagram and graphic CCTV footage. “Sometimes I block them. Then I go back looking for them.” The fear isn’t fictional but tethered to reality. “I live alone in a PG,” she adds. “When I watch these videos, I empathise with the victims in a strange way. It keeps me grounded to the fact that anyone can fall prey to brutality.”
Sapna Bhavnani, a horror writer and filmmaker, says that violence and gore are intrinsic to human nature, making them unavoidable themes in storytelling. Pic/Sapna Bhavnani
Read Next Story
Trending Stories
Latest Photos
Latest Videos
Latest Web Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
Mid-Day Fast
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT