By taking the humanity out of the monsters and backdrops of the TV shows and presenting audiences with increasingly computer generated landscapes and monsters, viewers become distracted by spectacle and are less able to relate their emotional fears to the media they are watching.

The subgenre levels with young viewers and allows them to admit, even if subconsciously, that being bullied or saying goodbye to childhood does feel horrific on the same level as having your life threatened, and it effectively allows these feelings and fears to be processed.