Halloween

This last weekend my friends and I decided to visit our local theme park for some halloween-themed fun. This of course involved the occasional screaming as people dressed up in scary costumes and makeup jumped out  at us, the usual going on rides, and them (not me) visiting one of the haunted houses. Now, you should know that I do like some scary things but I am definitely not the type of person who is obsessed with being scared and who watches fright films all the time. 

While I was waiting for my friends who went inside the haunted house, I started thinking. I started to wonder exactly why some people love to be scared. Is it the rush of adrenaline that comes with it? Do they love the elevated heart beat that happens when they get surprised? Or is it something more deep set in us as human beings, maybe some people love to be occasionally frightened because our ancestors used to live in fear of the many natural disasters or problems that threatened ancient societies. Maybe people feel like like something is missing because they are comfortable enough in their own lives and the only thing that can fill that gap is fear. Who knows, it could be that we, as human beings, have to keep a balance in our lives as compared to our ancestors, that even though people live very differently now than they did back then maybe we still have to have the foundation of our lives the same. 

Then of course there are always adrenaline junkies. I know some people who watch horror films almost religiously, in some ways these people are addicted to the feeling they get when they watch a scary movie. They crave the feeling of adrenaline rushing throughout their body, and watching these types of movies satisfies their needs. I know I can love the feeling I get when I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out if one of the characters in a book or movie will live or not. It keeps me motivated to keep watching or reading, it's hard to look away when there is so much tension in a story. 

Of course most thriller films are fake, and according to a lot of people getting haunted by an evil spirit or getting murdered by a serial killer "could never happen." But why do we think it's "fun" to sometimes watch actors get killed on the big screen. Do we all have an instinctual urge to kill that has become buried over that last who-knows-how-many years, is watching scary movies, going to haunted houses or reading spooky stories the only thing that satisfies it? These are a few of the many questions that haunt me. 

On that note, have a happy Halloween! 

The new remake of Carrie.

One of the Chucky movies, and in my opinion still one
 of the creepiest dolls ever. 

  

(I am in no way an expert in psychology or the way the human brain works. I am only very interested in it and love to think about the puzzling ways that humans think, please excuse any drastic mistakes in this.)