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.