Tales of post-apocalyptic landscapes in which few survivors emerge into a new and much different world have long been popular tales woven by screenwriters and authors.

While many enjoy these stories, thinking of them as nothing but a guilty pleasure, they may not realise that immersing themselves in fiction has prepared them for the reality of 2020, according to a team of researchers.

Psychology professor John Johnson from Penn State University conducted research with several colleagues revealing that an individual's enjoyment of horror films could have better prepared them for the COVID-19 pandemic as opposed to others who do not enjoy frightening entertainment.

"My latest research collaboration was unique in that my colleagues wanted to identify factors beyond personality that contributed to people's psychological preparedness and resilience in the face of the pandemic," Prof. Johnson explained.

"After factoring out personality influences, which were actually quite strong, we found that the more movies about zombies, alien invasions and apocalyptic pandemics people had seen prior to COVID-19, the better they dealt with the actual, current pandemic. These kinds of movies apparently serve as mental rehearsal for actual events.

"To me, this implicates an even more important message about stories in general - whether in books, movies or plays. Stories are not just entertainment, but preparation for life."

Are you a fan of zombie movies? Do you think watching horror movies made you better prepared for the pandemic?