When I first moved to New Orleans at the age of five, my parents thought it would be fun to bring me to see a few sites and see the city. One of the first places they took me was the Musee Conti Wax Museum, on Rue Conti in New Orleans. It’s the only wax museum New Orleans has, and I had never been to one before.

But that day, I was in for a surprise! The wax museum is full of “boring” historical characters modeled in wax…but there is also a haunted dungeon. I was terrified when I saw the entrance, and my parents begged me to enter. I refused and stood my ground.

A minute later, two elderly ladies came to the entrance of the dungeon and they apparently saw the commotion I was causing. One of the ladies said, “Would you like to come with me, young man?” and for some reason that even I don’t understand, I said, “Okay.” and took her hand. She and her friend led me through the haunted dungeon, and I wasn’t scared at all.

To this day, I remember the experience…and I still love to see monsters - whether in celluloid or wax form!

Monsters are fascinating. The idea of monsters has been around since the beginning of mankind and we continue to think up new and more terrifying monsters. But where did they come from? Who thought up these beings made to scare us? Well, some creatures are based on folklore, some to explain the unexplainable, and some purposely made just to scare us.

Frankenstein is one such monster.

First, please be aware (if you have not read the gothic novel by Mary Shelley, first published in 1818) that the name Frankenstein refers to the mad scientist who created the re-animated monster. In the book, the creature is never given a name. But today most of us refer to the creature as Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley grew up surrounded by literature and books: her father owned a bookstore where authors and intellectuals converged and Mary was able to meet many of the writers of her day. Plus, both her parents were writers as well. When she was 16, she fell in love and ran off with a writer, Percy Shelley. They traveled much and Mary even wrote her first work based upon her travels.

One cold evening, while they were with friends Lord Bryon, John William Polidori, and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland telling ghost stories, the idea came about for each of them to write a scary story to frighten the others. That night Mary had trouble thinking of what to write but then the idea came to her, probably inspired by recent scientific and medical breakthroughs of the time, the Industrial Revolution, and the contemporary interest in alchemy.

She began writing the story and when her husband read it, he encouraged her to write a full novel. She did. And it was an instant success. She was 19 years old at the time.

If you have not yet read Frankenstein, you should. The story is compelling and poses some interesting comparisons between conflicts in the story and in real life. It’s not just a good story that spawned an entire genre of horror stories, but a piece of literature that deserves a deeper analysis.

Regardless of the background of how Frankenstein came to be, he continues to be a central horror figure in our culture - and rightfully so.

Halloween and much of what is associated with it involves some pretty scary ideas and characters: witches, ghouls, horror movies, the devil, blood, death, evil, vampires, or someone wearing your same costume (and looking better). So why do so many people love Halloween and all those scary notions? Why do we like to be scared?

One night close to Halloween, when I was in high school, I remember driving out to a deserted bayou road with my boyfriend, a friend, and her date. We were telling stories of the Loup Garou, a New Orleans-area legend. It was dark and foggy in the swamps and there was not another car in site. It was eerie. We drove to an old graveyard and parked. It was like the scene from a horror movie: the foggy mist all around, the old abandoned graveyard with a certain lone, majestic grave that beckoned to us. We dared our friend and her date to go out to that grave- to prove he wasn’t scared. No one got out the car, though. It was pretty creepy. On the way back, our headlights lighted upon something up ahead in middle of the road. It was a huge owl that turned and looked at us ominously. And it peered at us with those eyes and did not move for what seemed like a whole minute. Given the mood and the circumstances, plus seeing the biggest owl ever (hey, owls aren’t cute and cuddly creatures), we all were startled, to say the least. But it was FUN.

Yes, being scared like that was fun. Why?

According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, fear is an emotion that brings about the reaction called “fight or flight,” which guaranteed our survival in more primitive times. At the moment we are threatened, we have increased strength, power, heightened senses and intuition. This increase in mental and physical capacity is commonly referred as an “adrenaline rush.” It is named after the primary hormone involved.

Adrenaline rush. Heightened senses. Heart pumping harder, faster. Clearer thinking. Exhilarating.

No wonder people seem to be drawn to this feeling. Halloween, it’s predecessors and distant relatives, have been around for hundreds of years because people want this adrenaline rush, this invigorating reaction.

Being scared can be fun and stimulating.