The Final Girl Isn’t Lucky. She’s Prepared

What if horror isn’t just entertainment, but a tool for survival?

In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Lana Holmes to explore how horror movies mirror real-life trauma, resilience, and mental health.

From hiding behind the couch as a kid to integrating horror into her clinical work, Dr. Holmes shares how the genre can help people process fear, build coping strategies, and better understand themselves.

Corey and Dr. Holmes dig into the psychology behind the “final girl,” why taking the threat seriously matters both on screen and in real life, and how horror can prepare us for moments of uncertainty, chaos, and change.

They also explore:

•  Why people connect with villains like Freddy and Jason 
•  How horror helped some people navigate the pandemic 
•  The real meaning behind horror “rules” 
•  Why horror is one of the most creative storytelling spaces today 
•  How trauma shows up in films like Halloween and Scream

If you’ve ever wondered why horror sticks with you, or why it sometimes feels strangely empowering, this conversation will change the way you see the genre.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

ABOUT DR. LANA HOLMES

Dr. Lana Holmes is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of Inclusive Therapy & Wellness, where she specializes in trauma, anxiety, and depression. Her work focuses on supporting individuals from marginalized and underrepresented communities, creating a space that is affirming, culturally responsive, and grounded in real-world experiences.

A self-described pop culture enthusiast and lifelong horror fan, Dr. Holmes incorporates media, including horror films, into her clinical approach to help clients better understand fear, survival, and resilience. Her perspective blends deep clinical expertise with a genuine love of storytelling, making complex psychological concepts accessible and relatable.

Learn more: https://www.inclusivetherapywellness.com/lana

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

Transcript

Corey 0:00

Hey, it's Corey. You know, one of the things we say all the time on the show is that horror isn't just about what scares us, it's about what stays with us. And for a lot of us, that starts early. Maybe it's peeking from behind the couch while a parent watches something we're definitely too young to be seeing, or walking past the horror section at the video store, trying not to look, but absolutely looking. There's something about horror that pulls you in even when it terrifies you. But what happens when that feeling, the tension between fear and curiosity, actually becomes something useful? What if the same stories that once made us hide are the ones that eventually help us understand ourselves a little better? Today's conversation goes right to the heart of that idea. We're talking with Dr. Lana Holmes, a clinical psychologist who has spent her life helping people navigate trauma, anxiety, and depression. And who also happens to be a lifelong horror fan. And what's fascinating about Lana is how naturally those two worlds come together for her. Because when you really look at horror, it's full of people facing the unthinkable, figuring it out in real time, and somehow surviving. Final people, the survivors. Those who are thrown into chaos, who learn how to adapt, how to think, and how to fight back. That's not just storytelling, that's human behavior. In this conversation, we talk about how horror can give people a framework for understanding fear, how it actually prepares us for real-world challenges, and why something as simple as taking a threat seriously might be the difference between panic and survival. We also get into why people connect with villains, what horror teaches us about boundaries and decision making, and how some of the most powerful stories in film right now are coming from this genre. This is one of those conversations that really captures what horror heals is all about. So let's dig into it. Hey Lana, welcome to the Horror Heels Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Hey, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you.

Corey 1:56

So, what was your first introduction into horror?

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Ooh, that's a good question. So my mom is the one that gave me the horror book. So my mom, she has a passion for film across different genres, but especially horror. And when I was a kid, she would always be watching movies and I would always be hiding behind the couch or something else because I was trying to negotiate between managing my fear and spending time with her. Also, I think the other exposure was probably through Blockbuster Video, where they used to have a really great horror section with when VHS tapes were predominant, really great covers that petrified me to the point that I literally would put my hand by the side of my face when I was walking by that section in Blockbuster. I cannot overstate enough, like in the early years of my life, how much horror both kind of fascinated me, but also absolutely petrified me.

Corey 2:58

One of my best friends growing up, they had like, I think they had like a satellite dish or something like that. So they were able to like record a lot of you know movies that you know you would normally rent. And so I was like exposed to some crazy horror at like you know eight and nine years old. And it's like, ooh. But yeah, I mean, I I totally remember Blockbuster and I actually worked at a video store for several years. Those 80s covers were just amazing. A lot of times they didn't really match the movie, but they certainly got you to want to rent them.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Oh no, they were very effective. And something that kind of has gotten missing from the shift to DVD and then Blu-ray and then streaming is like that full visceral, like full multi-sensory experience that you used to get with VHS tapes and watching horror.

Corey 3:44

When did you decide that you wanted to help people with their mental health?

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Around the same time, actually, as a kid. In the early part of my life, I remember I have to credit my mom. She got her bachelor's degree in psychology. And so she would bring home her books and other things, and I would ask questions. And when you're a kid, there was always those like, what do you want to be when you grow up? conversations that happen. I remember knowing I wanted to help people, and particularly help people who were experiencing pain and suffering. And when I asked, like, well, what could you do as a career for that? Psychology kept on coming up. And I continued to like have that in the mix with like several other professions as I was going from elementary school to high school. But then finally, when I was preparing to graduate and I had to really consider, like, okay, for real, what are you gonna do? I landed on clinical psychology.

Corey 4:35

Was there a specific focus you wanted to go into?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

I always knew trauma, anxiety, and depression were like the main areas that I wanted to focus on. And that definitely is a part of the areas of specialization. But as I went through my training and education, I added on other things because I think also on top of that, I always knew I wanted to be there for various people that were marginalized, oppressed, or stigmatized in any way. And so that just naturally became a part of my training experience, clinical experience, and work.

Corey 5:09

What do you think of our theme that horror is good for mental wellness?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

I love it actually, because I think horror gets a bad rap of oftentimes, for particularly when it says for people who are either not familiar with horror or who absolutely detest it, they're like, oh, you know, it's just this grotesque thing that is ravaging society. And I push back against that on several reasons. Uh, one is I think it offers this really helpful container for people to be able to face their fears and anxieties. There's an Australian or New Zealand horror director that I whose name I forget, but I remember he was being interviewed and he was asked a similar question. And he was just like, a lot of horror is based on the horrific things that human beings have actually done to each other. And so this is a way for us to kind of process and work through that. I also think that for me personally, I usually look at horror through a trauma lens, like particularly when I think of something like the final girl or final survivors across gender, is you have somebody that's been thrown into a very dangerous situation, and they have to mobilize quickly to be able to save themselves and other people against a person, group of people, an evil force that is trying to attack them for no good reason, just because. And there is something empowering about that, about being able to see, oh, you could go through something horrific and survive and come out the other side.

Corey 6:44

How did horror start seeping into your work?

SPEAKER_00 6:49

For me, in general, I'm a big pop culture nerd, and I think it's helpful to be able to use examples from media, like to kind of illustrate clinical points. And it just again just happened naturally, organically. I've had patients who were big horror nerds, and so I was like, oh, we can use this. And even if people weren't like passionate about the genre but had a familiarity, being able to use examples, particularly in relation to trauma and survival and strategizing, folks could really resonate with that in terms of how do I actually do this? How do I get through this experience?

Corey 7:25

I know you can't get into specifics about work you've done with your patients, but what are some examples you can share about how horror gets into the work or are there specific movies that you reference or characters or tropes?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yeah, I think Final Girl and Final Group of Survivors come up a lot, just because I think that's like a very visceral thing where people can immediately latch on to that. Um horror rules, even though we can get into like I don't think they're necessarily hard and fast or up for interpretation for different people, but like the kind of horror movie rules of like, well, what are some of the guidelines or things that help people to survive situations like this? And particularly when I think about it in the context of like final girls, like the reason I think the final girl survives is not because she's a virgin or sober, it's because she takes the threat seriously. She takes the threat seriously, she uses whatever resources are at her disposal to learn about the threat and to figure out how to effectively fight back against it. She tries to warn as many people as possible, but also final girls have really strong moral character, even in the midst of a chaotic, dangerous situation. They don't throw people under the bus, they don't abandon people. They're like, we could all get out of this if we just pay attention, do what we need to do, and follow that through. But at the same time, she she doesn't suffer fools, right? So if there's somebody who's trying to get everybody else killed, she's like, we will leave you and we will continue to keep moving, which I think is a good value. Like it teaches things like, yeah, don't suffer fools. Like if somebody is going to pose a threat to your safety or safety of other people, don't allow that to happen. Like, have really good boundaries, have really good communication skills, learn how to strategize and be tactical in the midst of difficult situations. Learn how to gather like the necessary tools and information that you need to fight back against things and to keep yourselves and others safe. I think, like, usually where I land in terms of like conversations that come up, but also even with the monsters, like not valorizing the monsters, but being able to say, yeah, like what they symbolize and being able to focus on what are these characteristics that kind of let you know this is a danger or this is a threat, and then how can you mobilize against that?

Corey 9:44

How about when people are feeling compelled to love the villain or love the antagonist?

SPEAKER_00 9:51

I think it depends. I think it's always interesting to explore like what it is, right? Like, I think it's important not to just let it be a like they're cool, or I like this or that about them. And it's like, what if this person is doing something horrible makes you root for them more than the other person, like these innocent people that are being harmed? And I think there can be this, like when I think about something like uh Freddie from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, usually when people say that they like him, it's like because he is so over the top or comical that it's almost hard to take him seriously. So almost when like you go deeper for people, it's like if I'm using horror as a way to face my fear, this is someone who is just so hard to take seriously that it's easy to kind of engage with this figure, you know, and so more it's like almost like a symbol of someone that's helped them overcome their fear rather than it's like appreciating or supporting the horrific things that they're doing. I know people like love to see the crazy kills, but also that's like teenagers are having sex or they're just doing things, they're doing stupid things, but also I've heard people use the interpretation with Jason of like if you really go back to the early parts of the franchise of this is a vulnerable boy with disabilities who was left to die basically out of the apathy and carelessness of camp counselors. And of course, we know he didn't really die, but you know, like basically this idea of like, oh, you put this child who already is vulnerable and marginalized in danger because you just didn't care, essentially, and didn't really see that it was worthwhile like paying attention. Again, even though it's like we do not kill people just because of that, like there can be this sense of, oh, someone is taking their power back, essentially, in that experience. So even if people aren't literally supporting murder and death and carnage, it's oh, there could be this relation of someone standing up for themselves, of like they were left in this really horrible situation, or essentially being left to die, and they stood up for themselves and fought back.

Corey 12:05

Do you ever talk about like the choices the people make in horror movies and how that can affect the outcome?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

I think that definitely gets like put up. Like the key example that's popping up in my mind was during the pandemic. It's something that I thought of and I was talking to clients about, but also I was hearing other people in the horror community talk about being a horror fan uniquely prepared us for the pandemic in terms of that sense of again taking the threat seriously, figuring out what you need to do to survive, and sticking with that instead of thinking that you're just going to muscle your way through the pandemic and that through your sheer strength and willpower you will resist the virus. So, yeah, I think those are like that's things I've taken from horror of this kind of survival instinct, of this kind of looking at the threat and assessing options. And that's something that was poured into the work as well of being able to go, yeah, even in the midst of frustration, even in the midst of having to dramatically change your life, that you do this. It reminds me the closest to like a zombie film. You wake up one day, the world has drastically changed. You have to dramatically change the way that you live your life, the way that you navigate the world in order to survive. And all these different discussions about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, the people that usually make it are not the ones who are like, I have all the weapons, I have a huge monster truck. It's I am being methodical about how I navigate this so that I can live. Because if you make a bunch of noise or become this boisterous person, you're just attracting the threat to yourself and you're exposing yourself, making yourself vulnerable.

Corey 13:57

So you mentioned earlier, you know, some people say, like, oh, I can't stand horror. I think it's just ridiculous. And it's it reminds me of a conversation I had with my mother. We were talking about like a streaming movie that we could watch together that we none of us had seen, you know. And I'm she's like, Well, I've seen weapons, I've seen sinners. I'm like, wait a minute, those are horror movies. You said you hate horror. It's oh I do love that we're getting a little bit more into interesting stories being told in mainstream cinema. Or were you are you fans of those movies?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

So I think some of the more interesting original stories are being told right now are coming from horror. If you want something that is fresh and new, like it's coming from horror. And I think centers is a fantastic example of that as his weapons. And I think one of the things that I always want people to consider, if they're like, oh, I think horror is horrible, is like consider the storytelling and the crafting that goes into it, even like the world building, and of course, I mean, the special effects and makeup is always extraordinary. And I think that also look at the fact that horror is really allegory. Is that if you take away the monsters and if you don't take it too literally, you can see like, oh, this is a story about grief, or this is a story about racism, or this is a story about being wrongfully accused of something, like you know, and being able to go, oh, I can relate to that as a human being, and I can take that to heart and figure out how you know my thoughts and feelings about this are. And I think there always have been because also horror is not a monolithic genre, there's always these sub-genres. So even when people say I hate horror, it's like what kind of horror do you hate? Because if you're talking about torture, porn or extremity, okay, I can understand that. But if you are it's like, are you really going to be sad or upset about the lost boys? Just like rock and roll 80s horror fun. Like, there's joy so much joy to be had in that movie. Or are you going to be really mad about American werewolf in London? You know, like so it usually you'll get people that go, like, oh, I like horror comedy. Like the comedy maybe takes the edge off a bit. And that's one of my favorite subgenres in horror is horror comedy. When I was trying to overcome my fear, that's what like kind of shoehoned me in a bit. And then Scream like completely took me over the top where I was like, that's it. I saw Scream probably about a year after it was released, when the Buzz and Whisper Network continued to build in middle school, and that really helped me to overcome my fear of horror. But yeah, I think it's just being able to identify what particular subgenres you like or don't rather than dismissing the whole genre as a whole.

Corey 16:50

Yeah. No, I love that scream is still having a big impact. And I think it's become like the Gen Z, like it's their Friday the 13th, it's their nightmare on Elm Street.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Yes.

Corey 16:58

Like we had to go three different times to catch a screening of it because it was sold out because it wasn't, it just it didn't go to the big it wasn't on a ton of screens, it wasn't in the big movie houses, and I think once the word of mouth hit, it was like and that was back when this was pre-booking your ticket online, like you had to show up at the box.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yes, you did. You did. No, I do remember that. And I remember it was just because I grew up with a lot of 80s horror movies up to that point, and that I remember at the time, still now, it's one of my rewatches, it's still so fresh, the original scream. And I think as I've gotten older, Sydney Prescott has become one of my favorite final girls. Like, she's right up there with Lori Strode for me, and because another film franchise, I would say, like, even though I know there's been some contention in about this, like the latest Halloween trilogy I really found very enjoyable and fascinating, especially Halloween 2018, because the connection between if you just reshape the franchise, which is a choose your own adventure franchise right now, and just go from the original to 2018, it's really a beautiful story about trauma experienced individually by Lori Strode, but also the intergenerational transmission of trauma in her family. Of it just, I was just such a fan where I was like, this is amazing. Because if you remove all the supernatural kind of flair around Michael, you're left with just a serial killer. And I thought it was an interesting because I haven't really seen too many horror movies explore what is it like for a final girl or survivor to live after this, right? Like what happens to them after the credits roll? And it was really fascinating to see that. And it aligns with a lot of real life experiences of trauma survivors, even though obviously everybody's experience is different. I think they did a really good job. And I just love that movie.

Corey 19:02

Well, it's funny, you kind of already sort of answered the last question that we always ask the guests is like, who is your favorite final person in a horror movie? But if you had to choose between Nev Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis, who would it be?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Oh, it's so hard. It's like trying to choose between your two favorite children. I think Lori Strode is going to edge out for me. There's just something that hits my heart with her. Of I think her strength and her courage in the face of everything has always spoken to me.

Corey 19:34

Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your insights, and we really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Thank you so much for inviting me. This was such a pleasure.

Corey 19:41

There's something really grounding about the way Lana talks about horror. She doesn't just strip it down or try to make it something it's not. She just looks at it clearly and asks, what can we learn from this? And what stands out to me is how much of it comes back to awareness. Taking the threat seriously, paying attention, using what you have in front of you, not ignoring what's happening just because it's uncomfortable or inconvenient. That's true in horror movies and in real life. I also love how she reframes the idea of the final girl. Not as a trope or a checklist of rules, but as someone who adapts, who thinks, who refuses to give up, and who holds onto their sense of self even in the middle of chaos. That's resilience and survival. And maybe that's why horror connects with so many of us. Even when we don't fully understand why. Because underneath the monsters and the fear, it's really about getting through something difficult and finding a way out the other side. That's a story a lot of us recognize. Dr. Lana Holmes, thank you so much for bringing your perspective, your insight, and your experience to this conversation. This was a really meaningful one. And to everyone listening, if this episode made you think a little differently about horror or about your own relationship with fear, that's exactly why we do this. Because horror isn't about just what scares us, it's about what teaches us. And sometimes, what helps us heal. Alright, see you next week. The Horror Heals Podcast is produced and presented by Mosaic Multimedia. So shouldn't I think you were the only one on