Why We Like To Be Spooked

Arboreal Spectres, Emerald Mountain - December 2023

The first time I saw “Halloween,” John Carpenter’s 1978 groundbreaking horror flick (it banked a whopping $70 million on a measly $325,000 production budget), it was on VHS, and I was hosting a slumber party with my gang of 8th-grade besties. We were all lined up inches from the TV, hanging on the edges of our sleeping bags, when my dad snuck up on us to blare the condor horn. He says it was the original wave, as, one at a time, each girl a fraction of a second behind the one next to her, peeled back from the blast in screaming in sheer terror. To this day, when hearing even the first notes of the main “Halloween” theme, I get the good kind of chills. 

Why is this? Do people like to get scared? 
Yes, we like to be scared, as long as there are parameters: we know we are not truly in danger, we have some say (we can leave the haunted house or hide behind the couch during the VHS movie 🫣), and we’re in the sweet spot of being somewhat scared but not absolutely terrified. 
​
These days, for example, I accelerate from scared to terrified in the space of one two-minute horror film trailer. The last trailer I watched gave me nightmares for a week. Sad, but true.

A few reasons why we like to be scared:

1. Brain chemicals. Initial stimulus creates that fight or flight, releasing adrenaline and epinephrine, producing alertness. Following the scare, when your brain has determined that you are not in true danger, endorphins and dopamine sweep in, resulting in a bit of euphoria.
2. Psychological. When we make it through a scary movie or haunted house, we feel that we’ve overcome a challenge. And, interestingly, according to this Guardian article, horror fans surveyed during the Covid pandemic demonstrated greater psychological resilience than their non-horror-fan counterparts. We might also find that a frightening flick allows us to explore the darker side of life without actually having to go there ourselves.
3. Social bonding. When we go through a scare and the euphoric aftermath in the company of others, we associate that feel-good response with the other people.  
4. Learning. The Guardian article also discusses the idea that frightening tales and films offer perspective on our collective fears. Think of stories told to children to teach of the dangers of people or animals out to do us harm. Think of the films depicting the aftermath of nuclear war ("The Day After"), the takeover of machines ("Terminator"), and wars with aliens ("War of the Worlds," "Independence Day").

I would also offer the idea that we may like spooky stories because we don’t know it all. These stories may offer glimmers of possible explanations. And I think intrigue is something most of us find compelling. 

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
-William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

Learn more
​Article: The Guardian, “Why We Enjoy Fear…”

​
Originally published October, 2022