When I was starting up a new anti-psychotic medication, I found that suddenly I was afraid of 'things' coming at me from the dark. Why are we afraid of the dark, but not with the lights on? Probably something evolutionarily hard-wired into us. We've learned to suppress those fears, but it makes sense that the right trigger could reactivate them. Given that the hardware is still there, if dormant, it seems reasonable that the right stimulus could reactivate it. Nothing to do with 'reason' — it happens below decks.
(I have this theory that we are addicted to stories because they act like simulators for the brain. We 'know' that the story isn't real, but for many of our brain circuits, that knowledge is absent. Much like an athlete or pianist mentally rehearses a performance, a story puts our brain through a virtual performance of the events. If that's the case, it makes sense that the non-conscious, non-rational parts of the brain would be 'primed' by the experience of watching a scary movie or reading a scary story. The rational part of our mind is only a small part of the whole, and the rest doesn't have the same defenses against irrationality.)
(I have this theory that we are addicted to stories because they act like simulators for the brain. We 'know' that the story isn't real, but for many of our brain circuits, that knowledge is absent. Much like an athlete or pianist mentally rehearses a performance, a story puts our brain through a virtual performance of the events. If that's the case, it makes sense that the non-conscious, non-rational parts of the brain would be 'primed' by the experience of watching a scary movie or reading a scary story. The rational part of our mind is only a small part of the whole, and the rest doesn't have the same defenses against irrationality.)
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