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They share the same elements (in the case of humor and horror: unpredictability, weirdness, treading near or outside the boundary of social convention and acceptability); they are discerned from another only by the level of intensity.
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Both serve a certain purpose related to giving the psyche an ability to readjust itself amidst too rigid and limiting social conventions, quite similarly to the process of annealing. In fact the perfect version of this goal is found in the enantiodromia expressed in this quote:
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“Real religion is the transformation of anxiety into laughter.” — Alan Watts twitter.com/foodofthegods3…
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This is one reason why nightmares feel distressing when experienced, but upon later reflection—due to the increased distance between the experiencer and the experience, i.e. lessened intensity on part of the experiencer—seem in their absurdity merely amusing, laughable.
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