To continue getting breaking news and the full stories from The Boston Globe, subscribe today.

The Boston Globe

Ideas

Ideas

The secret allure of the spoiler

Think you don’t want to know the ending? Think again

When it comes to books, movies, and other dramatic narratives, we say we love surprises and will go out of our way to avoid spoilers. But a new study has just found that we actually prefer to know how the drama will end. Given that we love to watch movies again and again and prefer revealing film trailers, writes Ty Burr, it seems that we may be quite mistaken about how much we love the anxiety of suspense.

Stay with the story. Get full access to BostonGlobe.com for just 99¢

Unlimited access to BostonGlobe.com for only 99¢ for the first 4 weeks. You can cancel at any time.

  • The FULL story all day: Enjoy all of the high-quality, in-depth journalism in the print edition of the Boston Globe — plus breaking news that's updated 24/7.
  • A truly reader-friendly format: It's online news that looks and reads just like the newspaper — uncluttered, uninterrupted.
  • Breakthrough technology: The responsive design automatically adapts content so it always reads perfectly on the digital device of your choice.
Get started today

BostonGlobe.comSubscriber Log In

Contact us for help