Why do we like being scared on Halloween? For many of us, it’s a thrill that gets our heart racing and the hair on the back of our neck standing up. Still, others seem to like the challenge of seeing just how much fear and anxiety their bodies can handle. Whatever the reason, the physical and psychological responses are the same for everyone; intense breathing, increased heart rate, sweating and a deep sense of fear that release certain hormones inside us that can stimulate our fight or flight responses.
The very instant that we feel threatened and fear starts to take over us. Our bodies release hormones that trick our brain into making us believe that we are much stronger than we are, much more powerful physically and more intuitive emotionally. This adrenaline rush has been hard wired into humans making us almost drawn to this feeling.
Psychologically, we have always had a certain appeal for the forbidden or bizarre things in our world. For most of us, we can watch these things unfold on the big screen from the safety of our living room and never have to delve any deeper than Hollywood let us. There are even those of us who identify with the villains in movies and on some dark, hidden level, we are cheering them on and hoping they don’t get caught just yet.
It’s this emotional connection to the dark side of human nature that causes us to relish in the thrill of anything scary or twisted. Scary movies, and even scary stories, allow us to release strong emotions that most of us have no other way to release. This is especially therapeutic as it keeps us from keeping these dark feelings trapped inside us until one day we end up releasing them in a not so friendly way. Allowing ourselves to act out these emotions through the eyes of a movie villain is much safer for us and everyone around us as well.