The Science Behind Fear- Why Do We Love Halloween So Much?

Halloween season is the time of year when horror theme culture seeps into daily culture to get excited imaginations of evils, deaths, and ghosts. When you go out to purchase Halloween costumes and decorating items for your workplace and house, zombies are all around you.

It is the reality that to get scared or make others scared is not a new thing rather people are trying to find out different ways to frighten people. They either hide behind the door or use different gimmicks and stunts to stir up fear and frightening feelings.

People write horror messages and make emojis on mirrors to scare others in the darkness. People like to be scared therefore horror TV shows, movies, videos, games, and books and become popular sources of entertainment for most people.

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The Science Behind Fear Feelings:

When you see something scary you get scared and this happens unintentionally because your brain is controlling this biological response. This is an emotional response that is produced in the body when you are in danger or a threatening condition.

This emotional response is directly linked to the production of a chemical in the body called adrenaline and other related hormones. These chemicals and hormones are produced in the body to help the body overcome the fearful situation of the body.

In scientific terms, this response is called a fight or flight response. You can experience similar responses when you watch a horror movie, TV shows having ghost characters, video games with horror themes, and haunted house visits in any game.

How Halloween Activities Produce Excitement:

When you are in actual danger, a fight and flight response is produced in the body due to the production of adrenaline and other hormones to handle the situation. The case is different when you see something scary while you know that you are not in danger in reality.

Recent research studies have concluded that people feel excitement due to the release of different hormones during scary conditions when they know that they are safe and at home. It has been observed that people want to experience fear for novelty and excitement.

When people want to enjoy scary events like Halloween day, for an intense and complex emotional experience, it is called sensation seeking. Therefore science behind fear is quite interesting and it has two main types;

In the first case, you have real fear and danger and your body releases chemicals to handle the situation.
In the second case, you experience fearful events to just get those chemicals for excitement and novelty.

Why We Love Halloween Night:

Although Halloween night is celebrated for fun you can see haunted homes everywhere with scary decorations and terrifying dresses or costumes but it gives unlimited source of fun and amusement.

The science behind fear and fun feelings is the release of different chemicals in the body in response to different activities. When you are in a Halloween house and someone with a scary Halloween costume comes in front of you, you feel fear at once and your brain orders adrenaline to release.

Adrenaline is released but suddenly you remember that you are just at a haunted home and this is a Halloween event so your fear will ward off and you feel excitement and novelty. Although you are in fight or flight mode you consider yourself safe and sound.

Due to this science behind fear, Halloween activities are considered a continuous source of joy and happiness annually to send back ghosts that come to their home that night. Costumes, decorations, and pumpkin activities are done to frighten the departed souls.

Negative Effect of Halloween Night:

We all are different from each other because we are unique and responses produced by different bodies are different. If someone feels scared by seeing a big snake, there are equal chances that others may not be fearful of watching a snake.

Therefore, we can not say that everyone can enjoy Halloween night because the fight and flight response produced by different people is different. Few people get scared and feel excitement for a shorter duration while others do for a longer period.

A survey shows that there is a considerable number of people who don’t like Halloween night because their brain perceive Halloween night fear as a real fear and they are unable to enjoy activities on Halloween night.

The science behind this fear is the release of dopamine that is in less amount as compared to other individuals because dopamine initiates the feeling of excitement and pleasure therefore Halloween night becomes a fearful night for them.

It is amazing to enjoy Halloween night every year by keeping in mind the science behind fear but different people have different responses. Therefore it is important to take safety measures on Halloween night by both kids and adults.

FAQs:

1. Why Halloween is one of the favorite events of people of all ages?

Halloween is an exciting event because people portray a unique role and activity that attracts everyone especially kids make fun by wearing different costumes. Change is also attractive and if you become someone else, it amuses you and others.

2. What is the psychological phenomenon behind the Halloween activities?

It is generally accepted that Halloween activities provide anonymity by wearing different costumes and it has a relaxing effect on the mind because you can escape from the sense of yourself and enjoy it. It is a unique appearance of yourself is a greeting component of what you are.

3. Do you think Halloween is a healthy activity?

Halloween is a festivity that is very common for socialism and this social activity boosts the immune system and brain health. Therefore it has an overall positive impact on the overall well-being of human beings.