Reasons For The Allure Of Fear

In human nature there exists a morbid desire to explore the darker realms of life. As sensitive beings we make every effort to deny our curiosity in the things that frighten us, and will calmly reassure our children that there aren't any creatures under their beds each night, but deep down we secretly thrive on that cool rush of fear. Despite our efforts to maintain a balance of respectable emotions, we are a society of people who slow down to look at traffic accidents and find excitement in the macabre. We turn off the lights when watching scary movies, and when it's time to go to bed, we secretly make sure the closet doors are shut. Fear keeps our hearts pumping and endorphins rushing, for it is an emotion that reminds us of our

Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat(Websters Dictionary).Fear is something that our lives have adapted to rarely use as our ancient predecessors have.In our day and age the concept of fear comes through the stress of work. We humans no longer fear a cold nor do we fear storms as our houses protect us and on average our life spans are longer as old in the Paleolithic was 33 while currently it is 71.5(Wikipedia Life Expectancy). Why then is our fear so extensive that it can make us freeze up? “The answer is our legacy of ancient fears, the result of having spent millions of years running from predators. Our fear response is more influenced by the ancient species we struggled to escape than any modern challenges.”(The evolutionary legacy of having been prey.By Rob Dunn) This is one of the statements about human life. If this is so how do we develop from terror to finding fear fun?

Have you ever wondered why you enjoy being scared? In Allegra Ringo’s interview, “Why do some brains enjoy fear?”, with Dr. Kerr, a scare specialist, he states that many enjoy being scared because the brain triggers “a flood” of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins. To enjoy the feeling of being terrified, our brains have to process that we are in a safe space. Scary movies, stories, roller coasters, and haunted houses all create a breathtaking response to fear. These experiences we have with fear are said to create self-confidence, relieve stress, and even bring us together. Americans spend over 7.5 billion dollars on Halloween activities and costumes. Dr. Kerr states in the interview, that people love Halloween so much because it constructs a strong emotional response and build stronger memories. Dr. Kerr also says that when we are happy, or afraid we release hormones that help those moments “stick” in our brain. We all love a good scare! “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, and “Beware: do not read this poem”, by Ishmael Reed both analyze the allure of fear through symbolism and descriptive imagery, which is a part of gothic literature. Both Poe and Reed signifies their themes differently but both themes allude to the fascination of fear.

People develop multiple reasons to why they like to receive these odd and fear emotions, which now in society we call insanity. In the “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King, whose main argument is that we watch horror movies to satisfy our curiosity. In the “How Tabloid Train Wrecks Reinventing Gothic Literature” by Carina Chocano, whose main argument is to prove how gothic literature is very similar to gossip; for example, gossiping makes people turn into ghosts, unnatural. It’s tempting to see Gothic tales as escapism, but these stories will sum up during times of trouble. Fascination with fear or Gothic stories satisfies some emotional need of individuals and of society by making people feed on their inner childhood that is inconstantly needed of satisfaction. People can do that by watching horror movies or reading tabloids and that is why they enjoy scaring themselves.

It seems a simple task to create the potential of fear. People have grown to fear mainly similar things and ultimately anything that endangers the innocent part of human kind. Sadly, there is only a slight hint of true innocence that exists in us as humans. How come fear intrueges us, it is not the knowing of its unrealness, because for a moment there, it seems real. Therefore it is an art, how can one be freigthened and fascinated in its most beautiful way. How is it conjured, not just the fear of actual danger, but the art of darkness.

What makes people seek for experiences that make them feel scared? Fear is the expectation or the anticipation of possible harm, so why do people like it? There is a hormone called dopamine, that is released during scary and thrilling activities, according to David Zald, some individuals may get more of a kick of this hormone than others. Lots of people enjoy scary experiences, because of the feeling that they have after these situations. As reported by ABC News, in “Spooky Business American Economy”, people spend about 7 million dollars in Halloween, looking for costumes, decoration objects, and also in haunted houses. People enjoy scary movies, roller coasters, and haunted houses. Similarly, people enjoy thrilling literature, as Edgar Allan Poe and Louise Erdrich poems, “The Raven” and “The windigo” respectively. Both of these authors write and explore death and the ambiguity of what will happen after death, by using concrete examples of imagery and symbols, structured paragraphs, and a certain type of diction.

What is the name that Liberty has given to Equality? Does this name fit? Why?

Why do people enjoy being afraid? When were scared it can bring people closer to one another and it can be fun. But some people go even further, seeking out horror movies and complex haunted houses that are made to scare the daylights out of them.What possesses people to seek out experiences that make them tremble with fear? Experts say Enjoyment likely comes not from the fear itself, but from the physical and emotional toll it has on us,this is the allure of fear,the reason some people like being scared such as people that love the adrenaline rush,things to kinda get them pumped,like roller coasters and bunjee jumping ,or people could love this feeling simply because of a chemical released from our brain called dopamine,its like our pleasure factor.these are the reasons we like to read the books of stephen king or edgar allen poe,these authors use our fears in their stories with descriptive language to draw us in, and we’ll read them to feel more alive,to use as a form of escapism from our reality and

We love feeling terrified of the unknown we feel the adrenaline traveling through our bodies. Slowly waking each vein are hands sticky with perspiration and when the moment comes we jump out of our skin. The scream that can be heard for miles. Most people love the rush from fear adrenaline pounding in our ears. We are so petrified when we watch a scary movie our brains have illusions that the evil doll, for example, is going to get us and most of us believe that the blanket will camouflage us or keep us safe.

I agree that fear is a great motivator to persuade a group of people in a certain direction. Fear is used in parenting, government, and everyday life to make a group of people conform to a set a rules perceived as correct by a society or community. Fear can be used to warn us of something or it can manipulate us into making decisions that we normally would not make. In this case, fear was used to make sure individuals did not participate in witchcraft and continued to practice Christianity.

The purpose of the study done by Brunton-Smith (2011) was to find a causal relationship between fear and disorder. The author wanted to test three hypotheses: “there’s a positive correlation between prior perceptions of disorder and current levels of fear, there’s a positive correlation between prior levels of fear and current perceptions of disorder, and fear of crime and perceptions of disorder are co-determined by external influences” (Brunton-Smith, 2011, 889). This study used data from a longitudinal research design. There are three different types of longitudinal research designs, and Brunton-Smith (2011) utilized data from a panel longitudinal research design. A panel longitudinal research design looks at the same group of people over

Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear has driven nations and men to make destructive decisions. From burning suspected witches during the Salem witch trials, to the fear of slave revolts such as the Nat Turner rebellion and the persecution of Japanese immigrants in the US following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Fear has for many decades been a driving force in American society. Following this trend, there is no surprise that the USA Patriot Act would be passed. Aristotle felt that great men and women are the ones who overcome fear's effects, and not allow themselves to be consumed. After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, America’s fear of terrorism was at an all-time high. Specifically, radical Islamic terrorist were the primary source

Society reflects who we are as people. It reflects how we feel, act, and deal with our problems as a nation. I believe we have failed in society by spreading the ideas of hate and fear. These ideas have led to police brutality, the Black Lives Matter campaign, and segregation.

Fear can be a pleasurable experience such as riding a roller coaster, watching a horror movie or climbing treacherous mountains. Roller coasters use fear for pleasure by using the senses of falling and traveling at uncontrollable speeds to produce a rush of adrenaline. People use horror movies to stimulate fear which in turn creates pleasure due to the fact that the fear is in the confines of safety, typically only producing goose bumps or a slightly increased heart rate. Mountain climbing differs from

“One of the main hormones released during scary and thrilling activities isdopomain. It turns out individuals may get more of a kick from this dopamine response than others do,” By Ringo. Everyone has been scared before, and people may enjoy it more than others do. Such as spiders, darkness, and even clowns. Regardless in what your scared of everyone enjoys a scary story. Through this we know transformation in stories creates fear through the use of supernatural elements, the unknown, and death.