![]() ![]() Choosing to do fun, scary activities may also serve as a way to practice being scared, building greater self-knowledge and resilience, similar to rough-and-tumble play. Movies like “Halloween” allow people to tackle the big, existential fears we all have, like why bad things happen without reason, through the protective frame of entertainment. As I experienced myself after all kinds of scary adventures in Japan, Colombia and all over the U.S., confronting a horde of zombies can actually make you feel pretty invincible. You rationally understand that the actors in a haunted house aren’t real, but when you suspend your disbelief and allow yourself to become immersed in the experience, the fear certainly can feel real, as does the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when you make it through. After watching a scary movie or going through a haunted attraction, maybe everything else seems like no big deal in comparison. There’s a sense of uncertainty, physical exertion, a challenge to push yourself - and eventually achievement when it’s over and done with.įun-scary experiences could serve as an in-the-moment recalibration of what registers as stressful and even provide a kind of confidence boost. Together our findings suggest that going through an extreme haunted attraction provides gains similar to choosing to run a 5K race or tackling a difficult climbing wall. Studies of those who practice mindfulness meditation have made a similar observation. In other words, highly intense and scary activities - at least in a controlled environment like this haunted attraction - may “shut down” the brain to an extent, and that in turn is associated with feeling better. This set of volunteers also reported feeling that they’d challenged their personal fears and learned about themselves.Īnalysis of the EEG data revealed widespread decreases in brain reactivity from before to after among those whose mood improved. The more terrifying the better: Feeling happy afterward was related to rating the experience as highly intense and scary. Guests reported significantly higher mood, and felt less anxious and tired, directly after their trip through the haunted attraction. See also: The Smell of Halloween Is the Stench of Your Fear ![]() We also used mobile EEG technology to compare 100 participants’ brainwave activity as they sat through 15 minutes of various cognitive and emotional tasks before and after the attraction. We had them answer questions again about how they were feeling once they had gone through the attraction. Before they entered the attraction, each completed a survey about their expectations and how they were feeling. It was not for the faint of heart.įor our study, we recruited 262 guests who had already purchased tickets. Over the course of about 35 minutes, visitors experienced a series of intense scenarios where, in addition to unsettling characters and special effects, they were touched by the actors, restrained, and exposed to electricity. This adults-only extreme attraction went beyond the typical startling lights and sounds and animated characters found in a family-friendly haunted house. In this case, that meant setting up a mobile lab in the basement of an extreme haunted attraction outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To capture in real time what makes fear fun, what motivates people to pay to be scared out of their skin, and what they experience when engaging with this material, we needed to gather data in the field. Patrick Emerson, Flickr Studying Fear at a Terrifying Attraction This “fight or flight” response to threat has helped keep humans alive for millennia.Ĭhambers of Poe, a 7-story haunted house in Kansas City run by Full Moon Productions, is also rumored to be haunted. ![]() I’ve long been convinced there’s more to it than the “natural high” or adrenaline rush many describe - and indeed, the body does kick into “go” mode when you’re startled or scared, amping up not only adrenaline but a multitude of chemicals that ensure your body is fueled and ready to respond. I’ve spent the past 10 years investigating just this question, finding the typical answer of “Because I like it! It’s fun!” incredibly unsatisfying. Why, then, would anyone want to spend their time and money to watch such macabre scenes filled with depressing reminders of just how unfair and scary our world can be? The film offers no justice for the victims in the end, no rebalancing of good and evil. Few horror movies have achieved similar notoriety, and it’s credited with kicking off the steady stream of slasher flicks that followed.Īudiences flocked to theaters to witness the seemingly random murder and mayhem a masked man brought to a small suburban town, reminding them that picket fences and manicured lawns cannot protect us from the unjust, the unknown, or the uncertainty that awaits us all in both life and death. John Carpenter’s iconic horror film Halloween celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. ![]()
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