Why is it we like to be scared? It seems a little counterintuitive to purposely watch something or do something that we know very well will scare us. Being scared is considered a negative emotion and yet we tend to seek it out rather than avoid it. Certainly most of us have our limits on when scary fun become scary not so fun but it does seem that nearly everyone enjoys the occasional fright.
It’s the type of thrill we seek out that keeps me from thinking we are all insane. It’s a safe scare most seek out, sure there are some people who push those boundaries a little far and those who don’t like to be scared at all but the vast majority of us like to experience the occasional thrill by doing or seeing something we know logically can’t really hurt us.
That’s the key If we don’t believe it can actually hurt us its fun. I can’t help but subscribe to the notion the fear itself is not what we crave but the adrenaline rush when the scary part has passed and we are left standing feeling more alive and aware of our world than at any other time. We don’t seem to have any desire to put ourselves in situations which could actually harm us or are really dangerous after all.
This has come to mind as my husband and I who have made it practically a tradition each Halloween to visit a haunted farm and are planning on going this weekend. There are a lot of these corn mazes and haunted farms near Winnipeg this time of year, each one has a fairly similar basic idea but some are scarier than others. The one we are planning on visiting tonight is the most frightening of them all and actually requests no children under 15 as it really is that scary.
I for one love a good scare weather from a horror movie, a book, or a thrill ride I love the experience. I’m very much of the “that scared the crap out of me, let’s do it again” persuasion. I can’t go on rides like I once did as my stomach can no longer handle it but I still enjoy the thrill just not the nausea that now goes along with the experience.
I am looking forward to going however I can’t help but feel a little bit of trepidation which I’m sure is why I’m questioning this whole scare ourselves half to death urge that so many of us seek out.
